Ron Hoess’ Eastbound Chestnut Hill & Stifftown Branch PRR

Scene of model train layout

This HO scale layout (13′ x 18′) is a point-to-point switching layout that depicts the Stifftown Branch and the first portion of the Chestnut Hill Branch of the PRR. The setting is North Philadelphia circa 1958. Since this is a prototype layout, all of the structures are scratchbuilt to better match the prototype. Key signature […]

Read More…

Ron Hoess’ Eastbound Chestnut Hill & Stifftown Branch PRR

Scene of model train layout

This HO scale layout (13′ x 18′) is a point-to-point switching layout that depicts the Stifftown Branch and the first portion of the Chestnut Hill Branch of the PRR. The setting is North Philadelphia circa 1958. Since this is a prototype layout, all of the structures are scratchbuilt to better match the prototype. Key signature […]

Read More…

Final effort to save Black Mesa & Lake Powell fails NEWSWIRE

BlackMesaLakePowell

Black Mesa & Lake Powell electrics move coal in 2017. Robert Kaplan PAGE, Ariz. — Efforts to save the Black Mesa & Lake Powell Railroad, the electrified captive railroad that runs 78 miles between mine and power plant in northeastern Arizona, have ended unsuccessfully. Earlier this month, the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. said it would […]

Read More…

MBTA interested in testing electric locomotives NEWSWIRE

MBTA

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has asked Amtrak about the possibility of leasing electric locomotives for testing on its commuter rail service, the Boston Globe reports. Joseph Aiello, chairman of the Fiscal and Management Control Board that oversees the MBTA, mentioned the request at recent event, but an MBTA spokesman said the discussion […]

Read More…

Liberty Limited at Baltimore

20190312

GG1 4901’s nose door is ajar as it leads sister 4894 on the Pennsy’s Liberty Limited out of Baltimore in September 1954. The train came in from Chicago behind diesels; the track arrangement at Baltimore required it to be hauled backwards to Washington (note the observation car behind the second G). H. N. Proctor photo […]

Read More…

PIKO America General Electric 25-ton switcher

piko_callouts

Piko 38502 Blue Goose William Zuback Manufacturer PIKO America LLC 4610 Alvarado Canyon Road, Suite 5 San Diego CA 92120 www.piko-america.com Price: $199.99 (Track cleaning version is $229.99) Paint schemes: Denver & Rio Grande Western and painted blue and yellow but unlettered. Track cleaning version is painted yellow and black with Clean Machine/Maintenance of Way […]

Read More…

Bachmann HO scale Sound Value GG1

Bachmann HO scale Sound Value GG1

Bachmann HO scale Sound Value GG1 GG1s have been riding the model rails almost as long as they did the prototype railroads. Bachmann Trains has added an HO scale model of Raymond Loewy’s Pennsylvania RR masterpiece to their Sound Value line. The dual-mode-decoder-equipped model operates with sound on direct-current (DC) and Digital Command Control (DCC) […]

Read More…

SEPTA’s AEM-7s get second lease on life in New Jersey NEWSWIRE

SEPTAAEM7sFrazerPA1

A string of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority AEM-7 locomotives at Frazer, Pa., before relocation to Morrisville, Pa., and lease work on NJ Transit. Gary Pancavage PHILADELPHIA — Railfans who’ve yet to see AEM-7 locomotives in the wild will get one more chance to do so in the coming weeks as the last of Philadelphia’s operational […]

Read More…

SEPTA gives ‘toasters’ tasteful send-off NEWSWIRE

FULL SCREEN Patrick Yough An image of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s last run of an AEM-7 locomotive, affectionately known by railfans as “toasters.” FULL SCREEN Patrick Yough An image of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s last run of an AEM-7 locomotive, affectionately known by railfans as “toasters.” FULL SCREEN Patrick Yough An image of […]

Read More…

SEPTA says farewell to the AEM7s NEWSWIRE

TOASTER1

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority AEM-7 No. 2307 pushes a train away from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station in September 2016. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A close-up image of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority AEM-7 No. 2304 paused at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station in September 2016. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney PHILADELPHIA — The Toasters are finally toast. Philadelphia’s commuter agency […]

Read More…

Bachmann HO scale ACS-64 electric

MRRPR0119_04

Amtrak’s ACS-64 Cities Sprinter has been rushing passengers up and down the Northeast Corridor for nearly five years, including a stretch not far from the Bachmann Industries headquarters in Philadelphia. Now you can add it to your layout with Bachmann’s latest sound-equipped HO scale release. The prototype. The Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS) 6,400kW (the -64 […]

Read More…