LOOKING AT THE SHIPPING list citing the box’s contents as a New York Central Hudson, my first words were, “Been there, done that.” After all, seemingly dozens of the Central’s classic 4-6-4 Hudsons have been produced by Lionel, MTH, K-Line, and Williams, in scale, semi-scale, and toy-like versions. There are even more Hudsons out there […]
AMONG THE LATEST in Lionel’s LionMaster line of traditional-sized locomotives is an exceptionally sharp rendering of a Union Pacific-style 4-6-6-4 Challenger, painted and lettered for the Western Maryland Railroad. Although in real life that Appalachian coal hauler used a different style of 4-6-6-4 locomotive, Lionel’s model will probably please everyone but the most die-hard, rivet-counting […]
ONE OF THE MOST recognized American locomotives is the bullet-faced Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 Northern. Between 1941 and 1950 the railroad, which stubbornly supported steam locomotives while other roads embraced diesels, built 14 J and J-1 class locomotives, keeping them on the active roster until 1959. The notable exception to retirement was no. 611, […]
LET’S FACE IT: Most U.S. railroad enthusiasts don’t know much about the railways or trains run by our Canadian cousins. This is unfortunate, since the railroad history of the Great White North is just as interesting as that of the Lower 48. Until recently, the major toy train manufacturers applied Canadian National and Canadian Pacific […]
THE PENNSYLVANIA A5-class 0-4-0 may be among the smallest steam switchers this side of a tenderless tank engine, but K-Line Electric Trains has big hopes that its attractive switcher will draw new members into the company-sponsored K-Line Collector’s Club. The A5-class switchers consisted of 47 locomotives built in three groups in 1916, 1917, and 1924, […]
THE M-10000 UNION PACIFIC streamliner looks like something out of Astounding Science Fiction rather than the trade journal Railway Age. It was the first of the modern streamlined passenger trains, and its unique design, old enough today to qualify for full Social Security benefits, still stands out. Author Robert Reed, in The Streamline Era (Golden […]
THANKS TO THE BOARD GAME Monopoly, tens of millions have taken a ride on the Reading, although far fewer ever saw its 1,500 miles of rails. Had the ride on the Reading been real, by chance the locomotive out front might have been a high-wheeling 4-6-2 Pacific. According to A Century of Reading Company Motive […]
K-LINE’S O gauge Big Boy locomotive is made for John Q. Trainguy or Susy Q. Tinplater: the operator with a tight-radius layout and an equally tight budget, but who longs to operate trains at the Big Boy level. MTH and Lionel in their RailKing and LionMaster lines have used selective compression to build articulated locomotives […]
I HAVE A CONFESSION to make: I have a bias regarding steam locomotion. My favorite steam locomotives have the wheel arrangements 2-8-2 and 4-8-4. Everything else is “too big,” and the rest are “Weak Willies.” My bias began to crack with the MTH Premier line 4-4-2 Atlantic steamer (CTT, May 2001) and that crack has […]
I’VE PROBABLY evaluated more than 100 locomotives for Classic Toy Trains, but I can’t recall being as pumped up as when I popped open an orange and blue Lionel box and pulled out a black and gray New York Central SD80MAC. Yes, yes, I know. Despite being a die-hard New York Central fan, I am […]
WITH A LIST PRICE OF $649.95, the no. 31902 Pennsylvania K4 Freight Train set is by no means a child’s basic starter set. It’s an outfit for the grownup who wants to jump back into the hobby, but doesn’t want to go the entry-level $150 “New York Central Flyer” route. Included in this “return to […]
TO CROSS THE Rocky Mountains, the Union Pacific railroad was always looking for the next big thing. This eye toward innovation gave rise to such notable giants as the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, the 4-12-2 Union Pacific, the massive DDA40X diesel, and the turbines. In 1952, the Union Pacific received the first of 10 4,500-horsepower turbine […]
