Jerome (Jerry) M. Williams, founder of Williams Reproductions, died November 1, 2016. He was born March 1, 1937. In 1969, he and Fred Mill founded Classic Models Corporation, producing new standard-gauge model trains. Several years later he parted with Mills to form Williams Reproductions Limited, which made reproductions of popular tinplate Ives and Lionel models. […]
Section: News & Reviews
Last rotating Griswold signal mechanism removed NEWSWIRE
A Griswold mechanical stop signal in Minneapolis. Nick Benson MINNEAPOLIS — The last mechanically operable stop signs on a Griswold crossing signal were removed in late October, having protected a BNSF Railway grade crossing in northeast Minneapolis, just 2.5 miles from where they were manufactured by the Griswold Signal Company. While the stop signs are […]
Meet members of the Model Railroader staff at Trainfest 2016
Trainfest, America’s largest operating model railroad show, will be held on Saturday, November 12, and Sunday, November 13, 2016, from 9 AM to 5 PM at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park in West Allis, Wis. The show will feature more than 70 model railroad displays and more than 100 hobby manufacturers and […]
New model trains for the week of November 3, 2016
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotive. Andesite Rock Co. (Denver & Rio Grande Western scheme, two road numbers); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Boston & Maine (Guilford scheme); Southern Pacific; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern (two numbers); and Progressive Rail (one number). Four numbers per scheme unless noted. Factory-installed grab irons, Flexicoil-C trucks with […]
Florida East Coast engine to steam again NEWSWIRE
Florida East Coast No. 148 heads east on a Union Pacific train near Commerce City, Colo., on Oct. 18. Chip Sherman Florida East Coast Pacific-type 4-6-2 No. 147 is a sister locomotive to No. 148 shown in this undated photograph. Workers at ALCO Richmond, in Richmond, Va., built both locomotives for passenger service. C.W. Witbeck […]
O gauge 4-4-0 American-type from MTH
O gauge B&O 4-4-0 by MTH Electric Trains Price: $799.95 (no. 20-3591-1) Min Curve: O-42 Cmd Low: 2.47 smph Cnv Low: 2.5 smph High: 62.9 smph Drawbar pull: 1 pound, 4 ounces Features: Can-style motor, tender-mounted coil coupler, smoke unit, DCS command and sound system Current-production road names: Baltimore & Ohio, Jersey Central, Long Island […]
O gauge GP30 diesel by MTH
O gauge Milwaukee Road GP30 by MTH Electric Trains Price: $479.95 Min Curve: O-31 Cmd Low: 2.5 smph Cnv Low: 5.1 smph High: 54.6 smph Drawbar pull: 1 pound, 10 ounces Features: Two can-style motors, coil couplers, smoke unit, DCS command and sound system Current-production road names: Baltimore & Ohio; Chicago & North Western; EMD […]
More than 20 charged with drug smuggling on the ‘Southwest Chief’ NEWSWIRE
CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors have accused 24 people of using Amtrak’s Southwest Chief to move cocaine and heroin from California to Chicago, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago says the charges were the result of a multi-year investigation called “Operation Derail.” According to court documents, the suspects would often hide the […]
VIDEO: Connecticut becomes first New England state with grade crossing horns NEWSWIRE
MERIDEN, Conn. — On Monday, the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced that Connecticut would become the first state in New England to install automated horn systems, commonly known as wayside horns, at various rail at-grade crossings. Installed as part of the department’s noise mitigation efforts along the CTrail Hartford Line, the first horn became operational […]
Video: TCS WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder
Senior editor Dana Kawala recently installed a WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder and 28mm high-bass WOWSpeaker with enclosure from Train Control Systems into an HO scale 2-8-2 Mikado. The upgraded TCS decoder includes a new Calibrated Proto Chuff feature. Hear the new decoder in action as the HO scale steam locomotive speeds along the main […]
Digitrax DCS240 Command Station
Digitrax DCS240 Command Station It isn’t often that a DCC manufacturer releases a new command station, so the new Digitrax DCS240 has drawn interest. After all, their DCS100 and DCS200 command stations have been around for 20 and 16 years, respectively. The big attention grabber is the statement the unit can “run up to 400 […]
Walthers HO scale SD45 diesel
Walthers HO scale SD45 diesel locomotive From its flared radiators to its Flexicoil trucks, the HO scale SD45 from WalthersProto captures the look of this second-generation diesel. All the versions offered also feature roadname- and era-specific detailing. I tested a Wisconsin Central Ry. version that came equipped with a SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder. The prototype. With […]
