Southern 4501’s first excursion

FULL SCREEN John Gruber Graham Claytor Jr. (left) appears apprehensive as he talks with D. W. Brosnan and Walter Dove on the platform at Asheville, N.C. But the conversation was friendly and the 4501 soon was on its way. FULL SCREEN John Gruber Locomotive 4501 proudly poses at Terminal Station, about ready to leave on […]

Read More…

From Sweden to Rhode Island

As a prelude to today’s high speed Acela Express service, Amtrak tested two types of European high speed trains, a German ICE trainset and this tilting X2000 train from Sweden. The demonstration equipment made revenue runs on the Northeast Corridor and toured other parts of the country. Pushed by two Amtrak Tubroliner power cars, the […]

Read More…

Tinplate Line starter set by MTH

PR0112_Standard-set

Set aside all your prototype railroad reference books. This outfit is from the fun era of toy trains, when trains were actual toys and what people bought were representations of the real thing, not scale models. You get the prewar Lionel heritage, except the trains are made better! LocomotionThis may be anathema to most train […]

Read More…

Fox Valley Models B&O Wagon Top Boxcar

Fox Valley Models BO Wagon Top Boxcar

Fox Valley Models B&O Wagon Top Boxcar If you receive the monthly NMRA Magazine, you may have noticed the Fox Valley Models announcement of a Baltimore & Ohio M53 “Wagon Top” Boxcar in HO & N scale. I have very clear memories of this car from my very early childhood so I asked my local […]

Read More…

Big Saturday night

CS1-E1111_13

Frisco 4501, one of the road’s three 4500-series 4-8-4s assigned to passenger service, rolls the Meteor into St. Louis. Ben F. Cutler About midnight on a Saturday in 1944 on the station platform in Neosho, Mo., are 500 guys with suntans, each carrying a one-day pass and probably a railway ticket tucked in his wallet. […]

Read More…

Trainfest 2011 show report

Athearn Trains HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe

Athearn Trains HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe. New paint schemes: Montana Rail Link, CSX, Ferromex, and Union Pacific (Missouri-Kansas-Texas heritage scheme). Five-pole skew-wound motor with two flywheels, factory-installed detailed parts, and detailed cab interior. Direct-current models, $189.98. With SoundTraxx Digital Command Control and sound, $289.98. Genesis series. Athearn Trains, […]

Read More…

Athearn Trains HO scale U50 diesel locomotive

Athearn Trains HO scale U50 diesel locomotive

Athearn Trains HO scale U50 diesel locomotive The Union Pacific RR is a pioneer in the use of high-horsepower diesel-electric locomotives, such as the General Electric U50 accurately modeled in HO scale by Athearn Trains. The direct-current model has a smooth-running mechanism that’s designed for the easy installation of a Digital Command Control (DCC) sound […]

Read More…