THE DREYFUSS HUDSONS look fast standing still and they backed up their speedy image with superb performance. In the 1930s, the New York Central streamlined 10 of the line’s famed 4-6-4 Hudsons as part of an upgrade of the railroad’s premier express, the 20th Century Limited. But despite their celebrity status, in time the locomotives […]
LOOKING AT THE SHIPPING list citing the box’s contents as a New York Central Hudson, my first words were, “Been there, done that.” After all, seemingly dozens of the Central’s classic 4-6-4 Hudsons have been produced by Lionel, MTH, K-Line, and Williams, in scale, semi-scale, and toy-like versions. There are even more Hudsons out there […]
AMONG THE LATEST in Lionel’s LionMaster line of traditional-sized locomotives is an exceptionally sharp rendering of a Union Pacific-style 4-6-6-4 Challenger, painted and lettered for the Western Maryland Railroad. Although in real life that Appalachian coal hauler used a different style of 4-6-6-4 locomotive, Lionel’s model will probably please everyone but the most die-hard, rivet-counting […]
ONE OF THE MOST recognized American locomotives is the bullet-faced Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 Northern. Between 1941 and 1950 the railroad, which stubbornly supported steam locomotives while other roads embraced diesels, built 14 J and J-1 class locomotives, keeping them on the active roster until 1959. The notable exception to retirement was no. 611, […]
NOT SO LONG ago, crowds at passenger terminals flocked to the enormous automatic boards that informed them when trains were due to arrive and depart. The clicking sounds and illuminated names of crack trains and faraway cities added to the romance of railroading. The MTH no. 30-9022 Dispatch Board lets you add one of these […]
LET’S FACE IT: Most U.S. railroad enthusiasts don’t know much about the railways or trains run by our Canadian cousins. This is unfortunate, since the railroad history of the Great White North is just as interesting as that of the Lower 48. Until recently, the major toy train manufacturers applied Canadian National and Canadian Pacific […]
Z-STUFF FOR TRAINS has put it all together – O scale sized crossing gates or signals and infrared technology – all in one box. Z-Stuff’s operating highway crossing sets come in two styles: blinking signals with gates or blinking signals without gates. Both also play the sound of a ringing warning bell. The sets are […]
THE PENNSYLVANIA A5-class 0-4-0 may be among the smallest steam switchers this side of a tenderless tank engine, but K-Line Electric Trains has big hopes that its attractive switcher will draw new members into the company-sponsored K-Line Collector’s Club. The A5-class switchers consisted of 47 locomotives built in three groups in 1916, 1917, and 1924, […]
MR. ELECTRICITY can be a tricky old soul. For decades the electric train hobby was based upon the easy-going, plain but reliable unmodified sine wave. “Sine wave,” you say? Well, like the ocean, electricity moves in waves. The normal fluctuation of AC electricity in a traditional toy-train transformer forms a pattern known scientifically as a […]
THE M-10000 UNION PACIFIC streamliner looks like something out of Astounding Science Fiction rather than the trade journal Railway Age. It was the first of the modern streamlined passenger trains, and its unique design, old enough today to qualify for full Social Security benefits, still stands out. Author Robert Reed, in The Streamline Era (Golden […]
OFTEN SIMPLE IS better, and that’s exactly the case with the Hooter horn from QSI. The Hooter is a compact digital horn and bell designed as a drop-in replacement horn for Lionel postwar diesels, although it can be used in any diesel from any era. There are no diesel engine sounds, just a horn and […]
THE EMD F3 DIESEL is the most recognized diesel engine, ever. Its image is a fixture from book jackets to advertisements for trainload carpet sales! And the locomotive also makes for a terrific S scale model from S-Helper Service. Between 1945 and 1949, more than 1,700 A and B units were sold to North American […]
