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 […]
NCE Corp. PowerCab Model railroaders face many options when choosing their first Digital Command Control (DCC) system. The NCE Corp. PowerCab has enough power for a modest-sized layout and is easy to install and operate. The PowerCab has recently been upgraded to support 29 decoder functions. Easy set up. Setting up the PowerCab was extremely […]
Walthers HO scale Superliner II cars Amtrak Superliner II passenger cars are now available as HO scale plastic models from Walthers with a plated finish that simulates the prototype’s stainless-steel body like nothing else I’ve seen. The model’s wire grab irons, crisp printing, built-in electrical pickup for optional interior lighting, and faithfulness to the prototype […]
MTH Electric Trains HO scale Mohawk 4-8-2 Hudsons and Niagaras made the headlines on the steam-era New York Central, but Mohawks and Mikados made the profits. Plastic models of Hudsons, Niagaras, and H-6 Mikes have been available for several years, but Mohawks were available only in brass. Now the MTH HO L-3 and L-4 Mohawks […]
After a three-year wait, Precision Craft Models I1sa Decapod is finally here…and well worth the wait. History The Prototype I1s was developed for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1923 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. After the overall tests were completed, results showed that the I1s outperformed the roads L1s Mikado’s by a whopping 41% more horsepower while […]
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 […]
Rapido HO scale TurboTrain With a recorded speed of 170.8 mph, the TurboTrain remains the fastest passenger train to run on North American rails, and that was 40 years ago. The Rapido HO TurboTrain includes a dual-mode Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder and is available in all the different prototype versions. For this review […]
Broadway Limited Imports HO scale EMD F7 A-B set An HO scale model of an Electro-Motive Division F7 A and B set puts sophisticated, configurable sound in a direct-current locomotive. Though the BlueLine locomotives from Broadway Limited Imports don’t have Digital Command Control (DCC) installed, they do have a sound system. The engine features synchronized […]
International Hobby Corp. HO scale USRA Light Mikado This 2-8-2 Mikado is a medium-size steam freight locomotive that comes ready-to-run and performs extremely well. It includes a Digital Command Control socket for easy conversion to DCC. The model comes decorated in 11 road names and includes a USRA 32-foot rectangular coal tender. Made by International […]
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 […]
