Atlas O Industrial Rail Line Pennsylvania Steam Starter Set

Atlas O industrial rail starter set

ATLAS O’S PEDIGREE includes the Atlas product lines in N and HO scales. The same attention to detail and overall quality that goes into the Atlas product line is the foundation of Atlas O’s three product groupings: The Master line of rugged, high-end, superbly detailed O scale locomotives and rolling stock; the Trainman line of […]

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MTH Premier line P5a O gauge locomotive

FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES, the center of electric-powered railroading in North America was the Pennsy. Oh sure, you might have had a little out west or on the New Haven, but the Pennsylvania RR’s electrified operations were the pinnacle of high-speed and high-tonnage operations in the United States. The Pennsylvania had an eclectic mix of […]

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O gauge starter-set 0-8-0 by Lionel

OKAY, SO THE BRASS IN LIONELVILLE was trying to come up with a new engine for starter sets. Or, better said, they were trying to develop a new value-priced locomotive that could be sold separately or in starter sets. Of the gazillions of prototypes out there, Lionel settled on the USRA 0-8-0 steam locomotive. That […]

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Superstreets sets by K-Line by Lionel

OKAY, THE SUPERSTREETS STUFF IS, well, kinda starter-set material – but not quite in the sense of there being a train involved. Both of these sets have a powered unit and track with metal rails, and even a power supply. And oh, yes, trains can run on the track, too. But strictly speaking, they aren’t […]

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Ask Trains from May 2007

Q On page 57 of January TRAINS is a magnificent photo of a BNSF train about to hit the diamonds at Savanna, Ill. What intrigues me is thepattern on the railheads within the diamond. They appear to be deliberate and not just from wear. Is there a reason for them, or are my eyes deceiving […]

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Ask Trains from September 2007

Q Lately I have noticed that many freight cars, including tank cars, boxcars, and hoppers, have five to seven vertical reflective strips on their sides. What’s the deal? — Frank C. Darling Jr., Wolcott, N.Y. A The objective is better nighttime visibility. In January 2005, the Federal Railroad Administration issued “The Final Rule on Reflectorization […]

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A look back in time: November 1958

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Rock Island buys GM’s two Aerotrains for suburban service out of Chicago, where they join RI’s own Jet Rocket Talgo train, powered by an Aerotrain-style locomotive. . . . Illinois Central buys eight sleeping cars (four 10-5’s, four 4-4-2’s) from New York Central for City of Miami service. . . . Pullman-Standard’s first 85-foot flatcar […]

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Ask Trains from May 2008

Q As a boy, I used to watch the magnificent Southern Pacific cab-forward steam locomotives on their way to Donner Summit in Northern California. Someone referred to them as Mallets. What’s the true definition of a Mallet? — C.W. Haffey, Bakersfield, Calif. A By definition, a Mallet (mal-LAY) is an articulated, meaning the two engine […]

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TRAIN CONSISTS: Champion and Auto-Train

In his article “One Day at . . . Sanford, Fla.” in the Winter 2008 issue of Classic Trains, author George Hamlin presents his photos of the northbound Auto-Train and Amtrak’s northbound Champion. Here are the consists for those trains. Amtrak No. 88, the Champion, at Sanford, Fla., on November 15, 1975: SDP40F 641; baggage […]

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Build a 1:24-scale combine PDF

Build a 1:24-scale combine

Download the PDF of this project here. Note: This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most pieces are formatted to fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. For larger parts of the plan, you will see “break lines.” Line up the break lines to create the larger piece. Despite our […]

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Full-size plans for a 1:20.3-scale structure

Full-size plans for a 1:20.3-scale structure

Download the PDF of this project here. Please note: Despite our best efforts to compress this file, it is graphically intense and may take a few minutes to download. NOTE: Please make sure that “none” is selected for “page scaling” and “auto-rotate and center” boxes are NOT checked when you print this file. […]

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Accucraft’s Southern Pacific caboose

Marc Horovitz 1:32 scale, gauge-1 brass Southern Pacific cabooseAccucraft Trains33268 Central Ave.Union City CA 94587Price: $399 Web site: www.accucraft.com All-brass model of a Southern Pacific C-30-1 caboose; interior detail; lighted. Dimensions: length, 133/8″; width, 33/4″ (exclusive of marker lamps); height, 57/8″. In 1:32 scale, this works out to 35’8″ x 10’0″ x 15’8″, respectively. Minimum […]

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