Q: I am trying to familiarize myself with my postwar Lionel nos. 675, 2025, and 2035 locomotives by reading several of the Greenberg reference books. The more I read, the more confused I get. One book states that the no. 675 has Baldwin disc drivers. Another guide lists both disc and spoke drivers. One reference […]
Scale: O Scale
Atlas O EMD GP15 diesel light road switcher
Atlas O EMD GP15 diesel light road switcher Atlas O’s new Trainman GP15 is a scale-detailed, dual-motored light road switcher that lists for $239.95, about $200 less than a Silver Series Atlas O diesel. The model also includes directional lighting and a DCC (Digital Command Control) socket and wiring harness. Rebuilt road switchers. Introduced in […]
Atlas O Trainman line O gauge GP15 set
DURING THE FRANTIC hours of setting up the CLASSIC TOY TRAINS’ booth at the TCA Eastern Division’s semi-annual York, Pa., train meet, I was speeding past the Atlas O booth. I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned so fast I almost got whiplash. I saw a box. A big box. […]
Lionel O gauge TMCC crane and boom car
BATMAN AND ROBIN, Minneapolis and St. Paul, peanut butter and jelly take notice. There’s a new inseparable pair now available from Lionel. Not since the release of Lionel’s culvert loader and unloader has there been two separate-sale accessories as well suited for each other as the Lionel no. 29832 command-controlled crane car and the no. […]
MTH Premier line O gauge A5-class switcher
THE DIMINUTIVE A5-class 0-4-0 switcher will never be first in line when thinking about the stellar locomotives of the great Pennsylvania Railroad. But from the look of this steamer, its lineage to the Standard Railroad of the World is plainly evident. It has closely positioned domes, a Belpaire firebox, a headlight square above the number […]
Atlas O Alco Century 628 heavy duty road diesel
Atlas O Alco Century 628 heavy duty road diesel An excellent model of one of the true monsters of mainline railroading, Alco’s Century 628 has been released by Atlas O. The powerful model is offered in a DC version with an optional (user installed) Digital Command Control (DCC) wiring harness, and unpowered. Horsepower plus. Billed […]
Atlas O O gauge Alco C-628
WITH THE DEVELOPMENT of the Century-628 diesel in 1963, Alco hoped to secure the number two spot in the three-way race among locomotive builders. The firm, based in Schenectady, N.Y., conceded supremacy to Electro-Motive but hoped to vanquish General Electric. Of course, Alco didn’t secure anything, but the 180 C-628s the factory cranked out were […]
Lionel O gauge SD40T-2 diesel
AS THE SAYING GOES, necessity is the mother of invention. As proof, we give you the SD40T-2. The diesel locomotive, nicknamed the “tunnel motor,” was born out of a specific need among western railroads. Air problems in mountain tunnels and long snowsheds are not new. The lack of fresh, cool air plagued locomotive crews in […]
Ready Made Toys O-27 caboose
I HAVE A VISION of Walter Matuch, the owner of Ready Made Toys, dashing around the country in search of some lost or forgotten toy train tooling. On discovering something, he holds it up to the light and asks, “How can I improve this?” The RMT O-27 gauge caboose is one of those items that […]
K-Line O gauge Boston & Maine 2-8-4 Berkshire
WELL, THE MAURY KLEIN era of K-Line Electric Trains is toast. In a quarter century he took his company, MDK Inc., from re-issues of Marx trains to some of the hottest new trains in several price ranges on the market. Alas, K-Line went out in a blaze of litigation, debt, and innovative model railroad products. […]
MTH Premier line O gauge R-1 subway train
MTH HAS STEPPED BACK in time in an exciting way with an O gauge model of New York City’s rumbling R-1 subway cars. Until now, MTH has offered more contemporary models of mass transit equipment, in both its Premier and RailKing lines. The R-1 changes all of that. Between 1930 and 1931, American Car & […]
Weaver O gauge VO-1000 diesel
THE VO-1000 IS one of my favorites of the early diesel years. Baldwin Locomotive Works built more than 500 of these 1,000-horsepower locomotives between 1939 and 1946. The VO-1000 was replaced in 1946 by the outwardly similar DS-4-4-10, which came equipped with a different diesel engine. The VO-series switchers were exemplary at their job. As […]
