Lionel Santa Fe set pays tribute to the Super Chief

Hal Miller with a Lionel Santa Fe set.

A close-up look at the O gauge Lionel Santa Fe set featuring the Super Chief passenger train (no. 6-84719). There’s a reason it’s a perennial catalog favorite. This entry-level LionChief outfit comes with everything you need to get started in the hobby including a great-looking passenger train, an oval of track, and a remote control. […]

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Atlas HO scale ACF 5250 covered hopper

ACF 5250 hopper

An American Car & Foundry (ACF) 5,250-cubic-foot-capacity covered hopper makes its debut in the Atlas Model Railroad Co. Master Plus line. The HO scale model has prototype-specific hatch and outlet configurations; separate, factory-applied wire grab irons and wire brake lines; and metal couplers. The ACF 5250 Center Flow made its debut in November 1964. The […]

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Holiday boxcars from Atlas

Three holiday boxcars

Atlas O has introduced the first three of four new holiday boxcars that salute traditional American celebrations. I’m very impressed with them. Most holiday boxcars that I’ve owned were simply a basic boxcar with some cheery graphics. Not so with these; Atlas O applies the fun graphics to a top-of-the-line car that the most dyed-in-the-wool […]

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MTH RailKing SW1 locomotive is small but mighty

MTH RailKing SW1 locomotive

The MTH RailKing SW1 locomotive is a model of a humble but evolutionary piece of machinery. Steam locomotives truly were amazing transportation machines, but they basically shook themselves apart as they ran. As such they required lots of care and feeding to keep them service. Accordingly, railroads needed substantial support networks including engine shops, turntables, […]

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ScaleTrains.com N scale GE Dash 9-40C

ScaleTrains.com N scale Dash 9 locomotive

In 1995, Norfolk Southern was in the market for a modern, high-horsepower diesel to add to its roster. If you run an N scale railroad, you can do as NS did and pick up the General Electric Dash 9-40C, the latest offering from ScaleTrains.com’s high-detail Rivet Counter line. This modern six-axle workhorse is available as […]

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Tangent HO scale Greenville 86-foot high-cube boxcars

Tangent HO scale Greenville 86-foot high-cube boxcar

High-cube boxcars seemed to be everywhere in the 1970s, and thanks to Tangent Scale Models, highly detailed models of Greenville Steel Car Co. 86-foot high-cubes can roll on your HO layout, as well. These monster cars were products of the 1960s, when bigger was better and efficiency was the watchword of corporate America. Earlier methods […]

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Micro-Trains N scale NSC 60-foot high-cube double-door boxcar

A contemporary 60-foot high-cube double-door boxcar with exterior posts is the latest N scale body style from Micro-Trains Line Co. The model, based on a National Steel Car (NSC) prototype, has body-mounted couplers, metal wheels, and a mix of molded and separate, factory-applied details. Exterior Our sample is decorated as TBOX no. 667101, part of […]

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WalthersProto HO scale EMD FP7 and F7B

WalthersProto HO scale EMD FP7 and F7B

Walthers has reissued its HO scale Electro-Motive Division FP7 and F7B diesel locomotives with new tooling and a LokSound 5 Digital Command Control sound decoder. And wow, is it a brute. The pair of locomotives together mustered almost 2⁄3 of a pound of drawbar pull in our benchwork test and wrestled 30 cars up a […]

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