NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Skip Lichter’s Polson Lumber No. 2 is loaded, chained, and ready for a new home in Oregon. A volunteer crew of friends who wish the locomotive could have stayed in Wisconsin helped Lichter prepare the locomotive for loading along with a four-person team from the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, where No. […]
Section: News & Reviews
New model trains for the week of October 5, 2017
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SDP40F diesel locomotive. Amtrak (phase I and II schemes). Four road numbers each. Road-number-specific details, detailed cab interior, and factory-installed and painted wire grab irons. Direct-current model with 21-pin connector for Digital Command Control decoder, $219.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder, $309.98. September 2018. Genesis series. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, […]
O gauge F7 diesel from Atlas O
O gauge F7 diesel from Atlas O Price: $499.95 (No. 30134013) Min Curve: O-36 (A unit), O-45 (B unit) Cmd Low: 4 smph Cnv Low: 9.9 smph High: 71 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 6 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, Lionel TrainMaster Command System, Electric Railroad Co. Cruise Commander speed control, smoke unit, alternate scale […]
O gauge GE AC4400CW from MTH Electric Trains
O gauge GE AC4400CW from MTH Electric Trains Price: $499.95 (no. 20-20641-1) Min Curve: O-42 Cmd Low: 2.89 smph Cnv Low: 3.8 smph High: 54 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 12 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, ProtoSound 3.0 command and sound system, smoke unit Current road names: BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union […]
Progress Rail unveils new EMD Tier 4 switcher in California NEWSWIRE
Progress Rail officials unveiled their new Tier 4 emission standard-compliant EMD GP24B at Long Beach, Calif., on Monday. Charles Freericks LONG BEACH, Calif. – There is a new Tier 4 road switcher option for railroads now demonstrating on the Pacific Harbor Line in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Progress Rail, a wholly […]
Western Maryland diesel stands in for big steam this fall NEWSWIRE
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad workers pose on the nose of recently re-painted GP30 No. 501. Excursions pulled by the locomotive in the “circus” paint scheme will benefit continued restoration of Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309. Western Maryland Scenic Railroad CUMBERLAND, Md. — Western Maryland red, white, and black could mean green for the Western […]
FRA approves Atlanta high-speed route NEWSWIRE
Three Chattanooga, Tenn., to Atlanta high speed rail route alternatives. Federal Railroad Administration WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration today released a Tier I combined Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the High-Speed Ground Transportation project that will ultimately connect Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tenn. The decision marks the […]
Smartening the average bear NEWSWIRE
A bear along the Canadian Pacific main line in Banff National Park. Niels de Nijs BANFF, Alberta — Canadian Pacific, Parks Canada and a group of university researchers have teamed up to try and reduce the number of grizzly bear deaths along the railroad’s main line through Banff and Yoho National Parks. Now, after five […]
East Broad Top owner trying to sell railroad in one piece NEWSWIRE
INDIANA, Pa. — “The East Broad Top is sleeping,” Joe Kovalchick says. Indeed, it’s been five years since the legendary narrow gauge railroad has operated for the public. The famed narrow-gauge coal hauler’s modern-day owner, Kovalchick, says he’s trying to find someone, some group or agency to buy the 33-mile railroad. “I want to keep […]
METRA seeks to “break silence” on suicide by train NEWSWIRE
CHICAGO — Officials at Chicago’s Metra say it’s time to tackle a topic that many in the rail industry have long considered taboo: death by train. The commuter rail agency, in partnership with Amtrak and Chicago-area safety advocates, sponsored a daylong symposium entitled “Breaking the Silence.” The session Wednesday at Chicago Union Station was intended […]
NY judge sides with railroad in trail case NEWSWIRE
An Adirondack Scenic Railroad passenger train to Thendara, N.Y., prepares to depart the station at Big Moose, N.Y. The four-car train is powered by RS18 No. 1845, built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1958. This line was previously the New York Central’s Adirondack Division, and saw as many as 10 passenger trains a day. Alex […]
Video: ScaleTrainscom HO scale SD40-2
This HO scale SD40-2 from ScaleTrains.com is part of the firm’s Rivet Counter series. Our Norfolk Southern version features an admiral cab and bristles with other roadname-specific detail. The HO scale diesel locomotive also came factory equipped with an ESU LokSound decoder. Follow along as senior editor Dana Kawala uses the SD40-2 to work a […]
