HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division FP9 and F9B diesel locomotives. Algoma Central (two numbers available for A unit, one for B unit), Canadian National (A and B units, four numbers each), Chicago & North Western (A unit only, four numbers), and CP Rail (A and B, four numbers each). Etched-metal details, wire grab irons, and […]
Factory Direct Trains HO scale Trackmobile A ready-to-run die-cast metal Trackmobile 4850TM with a three-pole can motor, detailed cab interior, and acetal handrails is available from Factory Direct Trains. The bi-modal vehicle is the firm’s first model and is offered as a direct-current model and with Digital Command Control (DCC). The latter uses a North […]
Walthers N scale 0-8-0 In the steam era, an 0-8-0 shifting back and forth in a freight yard was a common sight on many North American railroads, and now an accurate depiction of such a yard goat is available in N scale. This Heritage Steam Collection by Walthers N scale United States Railway Administration (USRA) […]
Rapido HO lightweight passenger cars These new HO passenger cars from Rapido Trains are among the best-detailed mass-produced models we’ve ever seen. Each plastic model comes assembled and ready-to-run with McHenry magnetic knuckle couplers, interior and underbody details, lighting, removable marker lights, and an end gate across the vestibule. The two samples reviewed here are […]
Electro-Motive Division SD38 and SD38AC diesel locomotives HO scale locomotivesElectro-Motive Division SD38 and SD38AC diesel locomotives. SD38 decorated for Elgin, Joliet & Eastern and McCloud River; and Grand Trunk Western. SD38AC painted for Bessemer & Lake Erie and Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range. Ex-Rail Power Products shell with Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder Quick Plug, […]
Micro-Trains Line Z scale EMD GP35 diesel This extremely accurate model of an Electro-Motive Division GP35 is detailed enough for even the most demanding modeler. Rivets are visible (with a magnifying glass, unless you have young eyes), dimensions are right on, and the delicate, etched-metal handrails are accurate down to the number of stanchions. Micro-Trains […]
At 17 feet, 5 inches, the caboose cleared all bridges and power lines on its 20-mile road trip. Steve Hendrix Preserving a 25-ton caboose in my backyard wasn’t something that I had always planned on. Sure, I liked trains as a kid and even have a small model railroad layout. But an HO-scale train circling […]
Four-unit locomotive No. 103 of GM’s Electro-Motive Corporation. Electro-Motive FT Tagged “the diesel that did it” by David P. Morgan, longtime editor of Trains Magazine, in a 1960 feature story, four-unit locomotive No. 103 of General Motors’ Electro-Motive Corporation was outshopped at a Grange, IL, plant in November 1939 (the firm later became GM’s Electro-Motive […]
“COVERED WAGONS.” “CARBODY UNITS.” “STREAMLINERS.” “F UNITS.” Call ’em what you will, when you’re talking the F-for-freight series from General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division, you’re talking the most famous diesel in railroading. Maybe “F” should stand for Face. It’s the famous “bulldog nose” that did it. It hit the road with FT demonstrator quartet 103, “the […]
Norfolk & Western 0-8-0 switcher No. 244 holds the distinction of being the last U.S. reciprocating steam locomotive built for an American Class 1 railroad. It was the final steam engine to emerge from N&W’s Roanoke Shops, delivered to the railroad in December 1953. Norfolk & Western The first 0-8-0 was built in 1844 by […]
Q What does the name “Soo Line” mean? Is it an acronym, an abbreviation, or something else? I’ve asked many rail enthusiasts and gotten many different answers. – Reed Newlin, Maryville, Ill. A The Soo Line got its nickname from its original full name, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie. “Sault,” pronounced “Soo,” […]
Delaware & Hudson Railway Delaware & Hudson, calling itself the longest-lived transportation company in the U.S., dates to an 1823 charter of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. “The D&H” operated the first steam locomotive on rail in the U.S., the Stourbridge Lion, in 1829. Amid modern Northeastern U.S. railroad uncertainty, D&H came under Norfolk […]
