First Look Review: Walthers Mainline HO scale Plymouth ML-8 switcher

WalthersHOscalePlymouthML8

The Walthers Mainline HO scale Plymouth ML-8 switcher is available with a SoundTraxx Digital Command Control (DCC) motor decoder with a CurrentKeeper capacitor cluster. Small switchers such as the Plymouth ML-8 toiled away for decades at various trackside industries and railroad shops. Walthers is releasing an HO scale model of a Plymouth ML-8, and I […]

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Steam whistles

TRNAT0914_03

From the beginning of U.S. railroading, each railroad chose its own whistles that varied from high to low in pitch. Alex Mayes Q Have American steam engines always used a low-pitched or bass whistle, instead of a high-pitched whistle? – James Kelty, San Anselmo, Calif. A Steam whistles chosen by American railroads were almost always […]

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Visit the Polar Express Railway

O gauge Polar Express train set

Name:    Kevin Grant Railroad Name:    “Polar Express Railway” Location:    Louisiana Scale:    O/1:48 Gauge Theme:    Polar Express Description:    Video of my old 8×8 O gauge 1:48 layout I had in a small section of my home. Most of the building are Department 56 and Lemax with a few kit built buildings I’ve constructed over the years. […]

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Visit the Polar Express Railway

O gauge Polar Express train set

Name:    Kevin Grant Railroad Name:    “Polar Express Railway” Location:    Louisiana Scale:    O/1:48 Gauge Theme:    Polar Express Description:    Video of my old 8×8 O gauge 1:48 layout I had in a small section of my home. Most of the building are Department 56 and Lemax with a few kit built buildings I’ve constructed over the years. […]

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Remembering the C&NW in Madison

CNWmadison

Running left-handed per C&NW practice, E-class Pacific 1634 skirts Lake Monona as she departs Madison with the evening local to Chicago. Frank Rogers Back in the days when there were enough railroad companies to make train-watching really interesting, Madison, Wis., was served by three: the Milwaukee Road, the Chicago & North Western, and the Illinois […]

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Video Review: 20th Century Limited

20thCentury

20th Century Limited Kalmbach Publishing, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. 56 minutes kalmbachhobbystore.com Just under 50 years ago, a famous train ended a 65-year run as the premier conveyance linking New York and Chicago. Operated by the New York Central Railroad, the 20th Century Limited was launched in 1902 during the “the age of […]

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