Athearn Ready To Roll HO scale SD40-2 Although it’s part of Athearn’s value-priced Ready-To-Roll series, this SD40-2 bristles with enough roadname-specific detail to satisfy most prototype-savvy modelers. The SD40-2 also marks a big upgrade for Athearn RTR locomotives. Instead of the SoundTraxx RTR decoder with limited functionality found in previous Athearn RTR releases, this new […]
Truck shown with coupler removed Flashing rear-end devices, or FREDs, started taking the place of cabooses on trains starting in the 1970s. The small rectangular boxes are now a ubiquitous part of modern-era railroading. Bachmann Trains is offering a light-emitting-diode (LED) illuminated HO scale FRED that works on direct-current (DC) or Digital Command Control (DCC) […]
Atlas HO scale General Electric U33B diesel locomotive The Rock Island was a mighty fine line, but by the time General Electric’s U33B locomotives were delivered in the late 1960s, the Rock was in a hard place. The 3,300hp diesels were designed for fast freight, but the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific was a granger […]
Lowell Smith N scale sleepers Price: $54 each Manufacturer Lowell Smith Signature Series P.O. Box 219 Gresham, OR 97030 www.lowellsmith.net Car names: Death Valley and Grand Canyon Era: late 1940s to early 1950s Comments: The Lowell Smith Signature Series has launched a new line of N scale passenger cars, the Pullman Park Series. The first […]
Woodland Scenics HO scale Double Decker Trailer Price: $74.99 Manufacturer Woodland Scenics P.O. Box 98 Linn Creek, MO 65052 www.woodlandscenics.com Versions: Sunny Days, Grillin’ & Chillin’, and Double Decker trailers Era: 1950s to present Comments: Modelers looking for downscale housing for their trackside towns should check out this Landmark Structures offering from Woodland Scenics. The […]
50 Years-North American Railroads: Vol. 1-The Far West By Don Jocelyn Four Ways West, La Mirada, Calif.; 154 pages, hardcover, $69.95. fourwayswest.com Four Ways West has released the first volume in a new pictorial book series featuring a photographic retrospective of North American railroads during the past 50 years. Volume one looks at the railroads […]
Guide to North American Diesel Locomotives By Jeff Wilson Kalmbach Books; 350 pages, 400+ photos, softcover, 8.25 x 10.75 inches; $27.99. www.kalmbachhobbystore.com Back in the late 1950s/early 1960s, many “old guard” railfans held the opinion that the hobby of train watching would gradually die out concurrently with the demise of steam. In 1963, Lucius Beebe, […]
O GAUGE SW8 DIESEL FROM MTH Price: $329.95 (no. 30-20408-1) Min Curve: O-27 Cmd Low: 2.9 smph Cnv Low: 3.1 smph High: 73.6 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 2 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, ProtoSound 3.0 command and sound system, coil couplers Current-production road names: Chicago & North Western, GM Diesel Division (Canada), Nickel Plate […]
O SCALE MOBILE HOMES BY WOODLAND SCENICS Price: $94.99 each Features: Fully assembled and decorated, interior decoration and illumination, made for the Just Plug lighting system The three Built-&-Ready mobile homes from Woodland Scenics prove that astonishing things can come in relatively small packages. I will confess to some confusion with the idea, but when […]
Atlas O 55-ton coal hopper Price: $74.95 Manufacturer Atlas O 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 www.atlasrr.com Era: 1960s (as decorated) Road names: Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf; Boston & Maine; Canadian National; Virginian; and Westmoreland Coal Co. Four road numbers each. Data only and undecorated versions also available. Comments: One of the enduring freight-car designs […]
Part of Athearn’s Genesis series of superdetailed locomotives, this HO scale Electro-Motive Division SDP40F models Amtrak’s first purpose-built locomotive. The model also comes equipped with a new SoundTraxx Tsunami2 Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear the HO scale SDP40F in action as it hauls an Amtrak train along the Milwaukee, Racine & […]
The Model Rectifier Corp. Prodigy WiFi module is a plug-and-play component that makes it easy to add smartphone-app control to your MRC Prodigy DCC system. Check out this quick demo with Model Railroader senior editor Dana Kawala where he demonstrates how the MRC WiFi system works with the Engine Driver and WiThrottle smartphone apps. […]
