Interurbans Interurbans were electric railroads running between cities, often of lighter construction than “steam” railroads. They had their own rights of way through the countryside but usually ran in streets when in town, often sharing tracks with city streetcars. Trains consisted of one (sometimes more) cars. Passengers were their primary focus, though some lines came […]
Con-Cor N scale Zephyr An excellent replica of a famous early streamlined passenger train – the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s Zephyr is now available in N scale. The drawbar-coupled, articulated three-car model combines fine detail, clever construction, and jaw-dropping performance – our sample crept at just 1 mph! The train. A joint project by the […]
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Bachmann’s HO Acela HHP8 A nicely detailed HO model of Amtrak’s ultra-modern Alstom/Bombardier HHP8 has been released in Bachmann’s Spectrum line. The ready-to-run model has terrific pulling power and can operate using conventional track power or – just like its real-world counterpart – it can draw current from an overhead catenary system. Prototype background. Amtrak […]
Kato HO scale Pullman Standard A series of nicely done HO scale Pullman Standard bi-level commuter coaches and cab cars are new from Kato. These quality models roll and track smoothly and feature fine details inside and out. When combined with Kato’s F40PH locomotive (reviewed in the September 2005 issue of MR), it’s easy to […]
Wanting to get a look at the Jersey Central and Lehigh Valley just before they disappeared into Conrail, future Classic Trains magazine Editor Rob McGonigal spent several hours on March 17, 1976, at CNJ’s Bound Brook station. Here is his train log. 08:51 Reading RDC2 9165 and RDC1 9164, Crusader, eastbound 08:55 CNJ GP7 1524 […]
Walthers HO 12-1 Pullman Walthers’ 12-1 Pullman is likely to become a staple of HO model railroad layouts set any time from the late 1920s through the early 1960s, just as the prototype 12-1 (12 sections, 1 drawing room) heavyweight Pullman was a staple of American railroad travel. The car combines the modular construction of […]
It was on March 5, 1850, that the Kentucky legislature approved a charter for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. The first through train operated between L&N’s namesake end points in 1859. Had it not been for dynamic leadership, vision, money, and some luck, the L&N might not have matured beyond this original route and […]
Branchline Trains’ NYC passenger car In an editorial on the state of the art in passenger car modeling (January 2000 Model Railroader), I wrote that we were still missing the passenger equivalents of the best plastic mass-produced freight car kits. The new HO scale heavyweight coach kit from Branchline Trains is an answer to that […]
Pennsylvania Railroad’s coast-to-coast air-rail service, run jointly with the Santa Fe and Trancontinental Air Transport, was championed by PRR president Gen. William Wallace Atterbury. (A promotional video clip of that service is available on our site. See the link at the bottom of this story.) The Winter 2003 issue of Classic Trains magazine takes an […]
Walthers HO Pullman-Standard lightweight 6-6-4 sleeper A lightweight sleeper from 1942 is the first model of a Pullman-Standard prototype included in Walthers’ current line of HO passenger cars. This “6-6-4” is a model of the second-most-popular type of streamline sleeper, representing a car with six open sections, six roomettes, and four double bedrooms. It comes […]
