Railroads were the primary means of moving men and materiel within the United States during World War II. Here a freight conductor walks beside flatcars loaded with M3 Lee tanks at an unknown location. U.S. Army Signal Corps photo […]
Seventy-five years ago on Nov. 25, 1939, Electro-Motive Corp.’s FT demonstrator diesel locomotive No. 103 left its birthplace at the company’s La Grange, Ill., plant. Nobody, not even its builders, knew what the new creation could do. True, the 17-year-old Electro-Motive had been a pioneer in diesel propulsion for railroad use, having built a successful […]
Name: Rio Grande Summit Line Layout owner: John Mellowes Scale: HOn3 Size: 49′-6″ x 80′-21⁄2″ Prototype: freelanced, inspired by Denver & Rio Grande Western Locale: Southwestern Colorado Era: 1940 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 420 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: 42″ to 60″ Roadbed: cork […]
Great Northern Railway used three-phase locomotives in the 1920s. This General Electric locomotive operated with three-phase power. General Electric Q In a September 1999 article in Trains, I read that the Great Northern Cascade Tunnel electrification project was the first and only three-phase A.C. system in America. Was three phase delivered to a moving locomotive? […]
Name: Oakhurst RR Layout owner: Marty Bradley Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 8′-6″ x 11′-0″ Prototype: freelanced Locale: California Sierra Nevada Era: 1920s Style: walk-in double-deck Mainline run: 88 feet (point-to-point); 48 feet (continuous) Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 6 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: 34″ to 56″ Roadbed: Woodland Scenics N […]
Name: New Baltimore & Fair Haven Ry. Layout owner: Greg Rich Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 40 x 48 feet Locale: freelanced Era: 1928 Style: walk-in Minimum radius: 29″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 2.8 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: 441⁄2″ to 54″ Roadbed: Homasote on 1/2″ plywood Track: flextrack and handlaid code 83, 70, […]
Erie No. 2603, later No. 5014, was built in 1914 by Baldwin in Philadelphia. None of these 850,000-pound-plus locomotives were preserved. Herb Broadbelt Q With so much talk about Union Pacific’s Big Boy, I was wondering about other North American “big steamers.” Do you know the current location of any of the Erie Railroad’s three […]
Name: Coalton & Silver Range RR Scale: N (1:160) Size: 4 x 8 feet Theme: Rocky Mountain mining Locale: Colorado Era: 1920s Style: island Mainline run: 37 feet Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 3 percent This track plan was originally published in the March 2016 Model Railroader. Click on the link to download […]
Name: Fremont & South Park RR Layout owner: Lynn Draper Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 14 x 51 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: Colorado Era: 1930s to 1940s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 280 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: Peco no. 4 Maximum grade: 4 percent Benchwork: open grid and L-girder on I-joists Height: 52″ to 65″ […]
Discovering Lionel’s finest layouts and other displays […]
Townsfolk of New Lisbon, Wis., inspect Milwaukee Road Class A No. 2 after the 4-4-2 clipped off 14 miles at a steady 112.5 mph on a Hiawatha pre-inaugural test run on May 15, 1935. MILW photo […]
Name: East Broad Top RR Scale: HOn3 (1:87, 3-foot-gauge track) Size: 15′-8″ x 19′-8″ Prototype: East Broad Top RR Locale: south-central Pennsylvania Period: 1926 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 110 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 4 percent Benchwork: L-girder Height: 48″ to 52″ Roadbed: Homasote on plywood Track: Micro Engineering code […]
