For three days in July 1905, the American public was transfixed by a fast train, racing from Los Angeles to Chicago with one goal: to make the trip faster than anyone had before. The train did, making 2,265-mile trip in 44 hours, 54 minutes, a new cross-country record. But after the hype died down, questions about the […]
Two eastbound movements on Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Line: a stack train pushed by two SD40E helpers is overtaken by another SD40E helper set in Lilly, Pa., on Dec. 27, 2009. Barely three years earlier, Lilly and surrounding communities opened the Central Mainline Sewer Authority — named after the Pennsylvania Railroad, which preceded NS. Photo by […]
Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division GP35 diesel locomotives HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP35 diesel locomotive. New paint schemes and road numbers: Southern Pacific; CP Rail; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Nickel Plate Road; Toledo, Peoria & Western; and Western Maryland. Three road numbers each. Directional headlights, prototype-specific details, and McHenry scale magnetic knuckle couplers. […]
The Canadian Maple Leaf freight set may be the “Sir Mix-a-Lot” of starter sets because it jumbles up Canadian road names as well as eras. This is the third Lionel O gauge set we received for review in late 2011, and it may be the best of them. It combines an uncommon road name (for […]
Why, oh, why, you ask, is Bob reviewing plastic buildings? Has he gone crazy? Are submarines from the HO-conspiracy torpedoing container ships hauling O gauge trains from China to America? Are there no new boxcabs or triplexes to cover? Nope. It’s not that. The answer is actually quite simple. Here is a smart new product […]
FULL SCREEN Fred Springer George Springer, the photographer’s father, leans out the window of Rio Grande Southern’s Gallloping Goose No. 4 on the lower curved trestle of the Ophir Loop. The high trestle is in the background. The railroad had 142 bridges and trestles between Ridgway and Durango. FULL SCREEN Fred Springer Galloping Geese, Nos. […]
While waiting for their train at Bellows Falls in 1952, author Beardsley and his dad saw Rutland 4-8-2 No. 93. Kenneth D. Beardsley Catching up on my reading a while back, I had my memory jogged by David Lustig’s “One Day in March” and Curt Tillotson Jr.’s “Magic Carpet to Durham” in Spring 2003 Classic […]
GrassTech static grass applicator Price: $39.95 ManufacturerGrassTech USA17011 Lincoln Ave., no. 424 Parker, CO 80134grasstechusa.com Comments: This compact static grass applicator is one of several new products from GrassTech USA. The static grass applicator shown features a plastic handle, a plastic-rimmed metal sieve, and a wire with an alligator clip attached. The electrical circuit in […]
Micro-Trains N scale heavyweight coach A paired-window steel coach built in the 1930s is the latest Pullman heavyweight car modeled in N scale by Micro-Trains Line Co. Though less glamorous than Pullman’s many types of sleeper cars, 78-foot coaches like these were common on railroads across the country in the steam era. A heavyweight champ. […]
Atlas HO scale coil steel car An HO scale model of a 52-foot coil steel car with distinctive fish-belly side sills is now available from Atlas Model Railroad Co. The ready-to-run car is based on a modern prototype introduced by Canada’s National Steel Car Co. in the mid-1990s. The new NSC cars are 51′-10″ long […]
Walthers HO scale Pennsy observation car The Pennsylvania RR had a lot of distinctive rolling stock, including two tapered blunt-end observation cars. This HO scale model of a View-series observation car has a lot of great details inside and out. The model is also the last car in Walthers’ Broadway Limited series. The prototype. In […]
Spring Mills Depot canstock boxcar At first glance, this Baltimore & Ohio model looks like a boxcar with off-center doors. However, it’s actually a specialized heavy-duty car designed to haul coils of thin aluminum or tin used to manufacture cans for the food industry. The prototype. In the late 1960s, the B&O’s mechanical engineers were […]
