New products for October 13, 2011

Model Railroad Warehouse HO scale Brill 55 doodlebug railcar

HO scale locomotives Northstar Electro-Motive Division F59PHI diesel locomotive. Two road numbers. Factory-installed grab irons, Digital Command Control wiring harness, and McHenry scale magnetic knuckle couplers. $109.98. Ready-to-Roll. Athearn Trains, 310-763-7140, athearn.com HO scale freight carsTTX Co. 56-foot well car. Capable of carrying 20- to 48-foot containers on the bottom and up to 53-foot containers […]

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Video: Digitrax DCC sound equipped Kato N scale E8

Model Railroader managing editor David Popp used an Aztec Manufacturing Co. milled frame and a Digitrax SDN144K0A Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder to add sound to a Kato USA N scale E8 diesel lcocomotive. Watch the DCC-sound equipped model run on David’s N scale Naugatuck Valley model train layout. […]

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Video: Digitrax DCC sound equipped Kato N scale E8

Model Railroader managing editor David Popp used an Aztec Manufacturing Co. milled frame and a Digitrax SDN144K0A Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder to add sound to a Kato USA N scale E8 diesel lcocomotive. Watch the DCC-sound equipped model run on David’s N scale Naugatuck Valley model train layout. […]

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Running long hood forward

TRN-AT1011_01

Southern Railway SD45 No. 3121 leads long hood forward on a unit coal train at Oreton, Va., in 1984. Such design enhanced bidirectional capability. Ron Flanary Q When did railroads such as the Norfolk & Western stop running their road engines “long hood first?” How effective was this practice for crew safety? Did it have […]

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New products for September 29, 2011

Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesel locomotives

Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesel locomotives HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesel locomotives. New paint scheme: Burlington Northern. Two differently numbered A-B sets available. Five-pole skew-wound motor with dual flywheels, prototype-specific details, and McHenry scale magnetic knuckle couplers. Direct-current models: A unit, $169.98; A-B set $309.98; with Digital […]

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Bowser HO scale Alco C-630 diesel locomotive

Bowser HO scale Alco C-630 diesel locomotive

Bowser HO scale Alco C-630 diesel locomotive All-wheel electrical pickup, newly tooled Alco Hi-Ad or Tri-Mount trucks, and many separate brass, wire, and photo-etched detail parts are some of the highlights of this HO scale Alco Century 630 from Bowser. The model is an upgraded version of the Stewart Alco C-630 reviewed in the March […]

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Ready Made Trains O gauge Mini-F units

CTT-PR1111_Pennsy-outfit

If you’ve been in model railroading long enough, you may recall back in the 1960s seeing ads from the Wm. K. Walthers Co. showing some cute little heavyweight passenger cars all resting on a single truck. Even though dyed-in-the-wool rivet counters might scoff,  you could tell by the crook at the corners of their mouths […]

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Video: Atlas HO scale EMD GP40-2(W)

Atlas locomotive

The Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP40-2(W) includes a QSI Quantum Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. Model Railroader senior editor Dana Kawala runs the locomotive on our model train layout. […]

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Locomotive throttle notches

Q Why do modern locomotive throttles still use notches?— Ben Redl, Williams Lake, B.C. A The primary reason is to help the locomotive’s engineer direct a specific response from the locomotive. Engine RPM speed must be increased gradually during normal operation. As the engineer demands more power from the locomotive by moving a notch at […]

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