New CTT products for September 2023

silver model of locomotive

New CTT products for September 2023 Locomotives and rolling stock An Electro-Motive Division SD70MAC road diesel locomotive has joined the Atlas O Premier Line. Paint schemes include BNSF Ry. (green and cream), CSX (dark blue and yellow), Lake State Ry. (blue and gray), Metra (blue, black, and orange), Paducah & Louisville (green and white), R.J. […]

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Amtrak GE P30CH locomotive

Silver-and-black Amtrak GE P30CH locomotive leads passenger train under highway bridge

  The Amtrak GE P30CH locomotive is the spiritual successor to the GE U30CG passenger locomotive of 1967. Amtrak acquired 25 of the P30CH model, Nos. 700-724, between August 1975 and January 1976. The model designation led to the units’ nickname: “pooch.”   It was essentially a U30C freight locomotive with a cowl body and […]

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Athearn HO EMD SD39

Screen shot of title page for HO scale SD39 review video.

We’ll head down to Larson Stone on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to check out a model from the latest run of HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotives produced by Athearn Trains. Join Model Railroader senior editor Cody Grivno as he points out the features on the six-axle road locomotive, demonstrates some of […]

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Athearn HO EMD SD39

Screen shot of title page for HO scale SD39 review video.

We’ll head down to Larson Stone on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to check out a model from the latest run of HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotives produced by Athearn Trains. Join Model Railroader senior editor Cody Grivno as he points out the features on the six-axle road locomotive, demonstrates some of […]

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E6 with L&N’s Humming Bird

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A single E6 diesel leads Louisville & Nashville’s Cincinnati–New Orleans Humming Bird through Turner, Ky., in 1948. A rebuilt heavyweight sleeper trails the original six lightweight cars of the streamliner. L&N photo […]

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Five of the worst locomotive paint schemes

Cream-colored diesel locomotives pass a green field in the foreground and the tall silver bins of a grain elevator in the background

Five worst paint schemes When it comes to a diesel locomotive’s paint scheme, I know what I like. I’m also 100 percent sure that no one else who follows the industry will agree with what I think of as the worst modern diesel locomotive paint schemes, and that’s okay. Below is my list of five […]

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Nothing beats a Lionel No. 2343 Santa Fe F3 diesel

vintage catalog art of model train

My greatest find occurred in 1957, when I was 13 years old. Before I tell you about it, let me share some memories of my growing up in northeast Philadelphia. Second-hand trains My family wasn’t wealthy, so my trains were mostly what I scrounged up using my allowance. One example was my Lionel GG1 (a […]

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EMD’s Geeps: A rare pair of diesel locomotives

A pair of blue locomotives rest in a freight yard under a sunny sky. The locomotive have white roofs and white road numbers.

GP15D & GP20D A rare pair of Geep diesel locomotives, the GP15D and GP20D, looked like sure winners, but sank with hardly a ripple when they hit the market in the early 2000s. Locomotive builder MotivePower, Inc., based in Boise, Idaho marketed a light road-switcher concept in the early 2000s that should have appealed to […]

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News & Products for the week of September 18th 2023

A set of five model freight cars

News & Products for the week of September 18th 2023   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of September 18th […]

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Georgia Railroad locomotives remembered

Dark blue streamlined Georgia Railroad diesel locomotives

Georgia Railroad locomotives included a mix of small steam designs and EMD models.     By 1914 the Georgia Road was powered by an assortment of 4-4-0s, 0-6-0s, Moguls, Ten-Wheelers, four modern Lima 2-8-2s, and a pair of light Pacifics. A handful of all-steel baggage cars, RPOs, and coaches shared the car roster with a […]

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