A new way to unload sand

This story was related to me by those personally involved in a new but somewhat less-than-satisfactory method of unloading sand. The time was in the middle of the Great Depression. The locale was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the “U.P.” The two unloaders were the sons of a local Methodist preacher, long in spirit and […]

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A Lionel FasTrack modular O gauge railroad that travels

drawing of track plan

Layout designer: Michael Tylick Scale: O Layout size: 11 x 11 feet Track type: Lionel FasTrack Minimum curve: O-36 Originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of Classic Toy Trains. A Lionel FasTrack modular O gauge railroad that travels A Lionel FasTrack modular O gauge railroad that travels schematic A Lionel FasTrack modular O gauge […]

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New products for May 2013

05indiana

BIG RED: MTH’s Premier line of Electro-Motive Division SD9043MAC diesel locomotives includes the Indiana Rail Road paint scheme. The Indiana-based carrier operates approximately 225 miles of track formerly owned by the Illinois Central or the Milwaukee Road. The line also operates between Chicago and Louisville through trackage rights or haulage agreements. This O gauge model, […]

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O gauge GP30 by Williams by Bachmann

gp30

The Electro-Motive Division GP30 road diesel was a milestone. The first of the so-called second generation of diesel engines, it was more modern and efficient than even the F units and Geeps which had replaced steam. Although the timeframe it was produced (1961-63) was limited, nearly 1,000 came off the assembly line at La Grange, […]

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O gauge Swiss Crocodile by MTH Electric Trains

croc

MTH Electric Trains’ latest venture into European outline O gauge is the Swiss Crocodile electric locomotive. The articulated, center-cab locomotive looks like it is straight out of a kid’s book showing the wonders of global railroading.  Opened in 1885, the Gotthard tunnel was a significant engineering feat. The 9-mile long line hosted a 2.9 percent […]

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Railroad photography and the lasting influence of painting

FULL SCREEN Édouard Baldus/J. Paul Getty Museum Toulon Station, c. 1861. Édouard Baldus, who trained as a painter and worked as a lithographer, adopted compositional conventions of painting, such as centered motifs and balanced space surrounding the center, to his railroad photographs. FULL SCREEN Édouard Baldus/St. Louis Art Museum Approach to the Mountain Pass at […]

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