OTHER THAN THE venerable train station, no structure says “railroad” in the minds of the masses like the roundhouse. It’s a term that easily rolls off the tongue, even from people who often have never seen this near-extinct locomotive servicing/storage facility. The traditional roundhouse is fast becoming a memory. Modern diesel locomotives are serviced in […]
WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT is not a locomotive DNA experiment gone terribly wrong. It’s a steam locomotive known as a Garratt. A fellow named H.W. Garratt came up with a patented design for an articulated locomotive with a water tank up front, a boiler in the middle, and a coal bunker (and smaller water tank) […]
K-LINE ELECTRIC TRAINS has added a new engine to its roundhouse of affordable, well-detailed O gauge locomotives – the Fairbanks-Morse Train Master diesel. In the world of toy train diesels, the brawny Train Master is something of an icon, probably second only to the Electro-Motive F3. Train Masters have been made by Lionel since the […]
SOME OF THE FINEST American Flyer accessories that the A.C. Gilbert Co. developed in the late prewar and postwar eras fit as nicely on O gauge layouts as they always have on S gauge railroads. For that reason, many of you should consider one or both of the animated Flyer stations being reissued by Lionel. […]
WITHOUT NEW YORK CITY’S Penn Station, there wouldn’t have been a need for the DD1 electric locomotive. And without the shoeboxed-shaped DD1, would Penn Station have been such a success?Nearly a century after the creation of both the station and the locomotive, it’s an interesting question to ponder. The DD1 was born of the need […]
THE MTH RAILKING MODEL of Electro-Motive’s SW9 switcher is a nice-looking, universal locomotive that is great for starting out in the hobby. It also makes a terrific addition to a larger fleet. By sharing an almost generic body with other models from the EMD catalog, the SW9 fits right in on a layout set anytime […]
THE FAMED BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS was one of the major losers in the transition from steam to diesel locomotives in the 1940s and early ’50s. Railway executives, who had held Baldwin steamers in high regard, described Baldwin diesels as “oddball” or “one off.” An observer noted, “They never got the standardization concept like GM did. […]
WILLIAMS HAS DIVED head first into the postwar pool with its new line of “Golden Memories” trains. These Lionel postwar reproductions are attractively priced, built with Williams’ reputation for durability and simplicity in mind, and are being marketed in an illustrated catalog that looks as though famed Lionel artist Bob Sherman had stepped from the […]
ATLAS O HAS CHOSEN to offer an O gauge model of a locomotive that doesn’t get much attention. Yet Fairbanks-Morse’s Alt.100.3 diesel, better know by its “Erie-Built” nickname, illuminates an interesting chapter in railroad history. During World War II, the federal government placed restrictions on the manufacture of diesel locomotives. Firms could make only those […]
THE K-LINE K4s 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive needs little introduction to railroad hobbyists because the prototype steamer was the standard Pacific-type favored by the Pennsylvania Railroad. In its search for the perfect 4-6-2, an engine that could adequately handle freight or passenger work, the Pennsy stumbled onto the K4s design and liked it so much that […]
THE NEW REISSUE OF the American Flyer no. 787 log loader proves that, at least for toy train enthusiasts, the best things in life fit O and S gauge. Thanks to Lionel’s ingenuity, an accessory that began life as an S gauge item is now adaptable to O. I predict you’ll see plenty of these […]
A BIKER FRIEND TOLD ME that no one stops after getting one motorcycle, body piercing, or tattoo. I can’t personally verify his assertion, but I would amend it to read that no one stops with just a single Lionel log-loading accessory. On many of the traditional three-rail layouts that I’ve visited, the owner has a […]
