OKAY, SO THE BRASS IN LIONELVILLE was trying to come up with a new engine for starter sets. Or, better said, they were trying to develop a new value-priced locomotive that could be sold separately or in starter sets. Of the gazillions of prototypes out there, Lionel settled on the USRA 0-8-0 steam locomotive. That […]
OKAY, THE SUPERSTREETS STUFF IS, well, kinda starter-set material – but not quite in the sense of there being a train involved. Both of these sets have a powered unit and track with metal rails, and even a power supply. And oh, yes, trains can run on the track, too. But strictly speaking, they aren’t […]
LIKE THE UNITED STATES, much of Canada is flat and empty with a humongous mountain range over on the left side. Factor in absurdly bad winters, and railroading in Canada requires industrial-strength solutions. It takes quite a bit of effort to haul people and things today, and it was not any easier in the steam […]
THERE WAS A SHORT TIME when the influence of General Motors’ automotive engineering was felt in the real world of locomotion. The two most significant of those designs were the Aerotrain streamliner and the BL2 diesel road switcher. The concept behind the BL2 was, more or less, to take the mechanicals of an F unit […]
Okay, so Czar Nicholas II lost the Bolshevik revolution and allowed Russia to slide into four generations of murderous totalitarian rule. But let’s not dwell on the negative – look at the bright side: American railroads got all those 2-10-0s Decapods that were built in the United States to help the Russians fight the Kaiser […]
Let me get this out on the table. The GP7/GP9 is a key locomotive in the history of American railroading. In the realm of O gauge train operations, I own at least four traditional Lionel GP7/GP9s and a Geep set from Williams. That having been noted, I can think of few locomotives that make me […]
Enjoy a streaming video of the O gauge Premier Line 2-10-0 Russian decapod by MTH. It retails for $999.99 (no. 20-3310-1) and features can style motors, O-31 operation, die-cast metal construction, ProtoSound 2.0, and coil coupler on tender. […]
Enjoy a streaming video of the O gauge Premier Line 2-10-0 Russian decapod by MTH. It retails for $999.99 (no. 20-3310-1) and features can style motors, O-31 operation, die-cast metal construction, ProtoSound 2.0, and coil coupler on tender. […]
Atlas O F2A in O scale With the distinctive rumble of a 567 diesel engine, this O scale F2A replicates the sounds of a first-generation EMD F unit. The Atlas O model features a QSI Quantum sound system with programmable effects in both DC and Digital Command Control (DCC) modes. The prototype. Beginning with the […]
Mountain Model Imports On3 scale K-36 Mountain Model Imports, a division of Precision Scale Company, has released an On3 Denver and Rio Grande Western K-36 Mikado. The prototype locomotives were massive (for the narrow gauge) Baldwin built outside frame Mikados, and were the last new built locomotives received by the D, in 1925. They have […]
All right, already. The Union Pacific was the Big Cheese of big steam. Sure, the Pennsy might have had a zillion K4s and their 4-4-4-4s did turn heads, but it was the UP that had the most amazing giant freight haulers. The O gauge world recognizes this with models of the FEF-class 4-8-4, the large […]
My first introduction to O gauge diesel switchers occurred sometime back in the late 1950s or early ’60s. My Uncle Chuck was the manager of a Moore’s Automotive store in Hamilton, Ohio, and they sold Lionel trains during the holidays. This was a major plus in the kid world of the time. On some dimly […]
