Fire Station No. 9 by Menards

Menards O gauge fire station no. 9

FIRE STATION NO. 9 BY MENARDS Price: $109.99 Stock no.: 279-5927 Features:Helicopter with rotating blades, two moving fire trucks, five figures, and an illuminated American flag. Illumination/animation requires 4.5-volt power supply nos. 279-4050, 4061, or 4062, sold separately. Website: Menards.com/Trains This is Menards’ second entry in the O gauge fire-fighting game, and it’s the most […]

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Fleet fillers: The inexpensive and versatile Lionel 6424 flatcar

Lionel 6424 postwar O gauge flatcar

Consider how many things need to be moved on a railroad. Now think about how many of them are transported (or could be) on flatcars. Lionel’s postwar No. 6424 is really a no-brainer for Fleet Filler status. It comes in a number of iterations, plain or with racks affixed for the lading of various items. […]

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New model trains for the week of November 5, 2020

Accurail HO scale Milwaukee Road 40-foot ribbed-side double-door boxcar

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Diesel/Progress Rail SD70ACU diesel locomotive. Canadian Pacific (red with monochrome beaver herald and maroon-and-gray heritage scheme with script lettering in two road numbers each; Army Arid Regions and Navy schemes in one number each) and Norfolk Southern (Thoroughbred scheme, four numbers). Prototype-specific details, light-emitting-diode headlights, and wire grab irons. Direct-current model […]

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New model trains for the week of October 29, 2020

Wm. K. Walthers HO scale Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive. Great Northern (Empire Builder scheme); Belt Ry. of Chicago (1950s to 1970s scheme); Chessie System (Chesapeake & Ohio reporting marks); Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (black-and-gray scheme); Erie Lackawanna (gray, maroon, and yellow scheme); and Reading Co. (yellow-and-green scheme). Four road numbers per scheme (two each in direct […]

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The ‘Century’ at Syracuse

Hudson 5363 rolls down Washington Street in downtown Syracuse with an eastbound train. NYC passenger trains used this street trackage until a

In 1928 I was a freshman at Syracuse University. I needed a part-time job, and got one with American Railway Express, Inc., which became Railway Express Agency the following year. I worked at the New York Central’s Syracuse depot on the night shift Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m., whenever […]

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Gabriel ­Martinez’s 3 x 3-foot O scale diorama background images

Gabriel ­Martinez’s 3 x 3-foot O scale diorama

Jorge Martinez’ photo of Gabriel ­Martinez’s 3 x 3-foot O scale diorama is this month’s wall­paper. Click on the links below to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. Download the 1600 x 900 image Download the 1600 x 1000 image Download the 1600 x 1200 image […]

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Remembering Pacific Electric Railway locomotives

A steeple cab electric freight motor surrounded by other freight equipment.

  All this month, October 2020, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the legacy and heritage of the Pacific Electric Railway. This week, we’re featuring the motley mix of electric, diesel-electric, diesel-mechanical, and steam locomotives that all operated on the Pacific Electric in Southern California. If you like this photo gallery, you might also like a […]

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