WORN DOWN BY THE Depression and the war years, the Virginian Railway embarked on a program in the 1940s to revive its aging fleet of locomotives using existing designs developed for railroads briefly owned by the Van Sweringen Brothers (Chesapeake & Ohio, Erie, Nickel Plate Road, and Pere Marquette). From these plans the Virginian produced […]
AMONG THE MOST MASSIVE locomotives on North American rails just about 100 years ago was the 0-8-8-0. Surprisingly, 85 locomotives with this wheel arrangement were in service in the early years of the 20th century. Surely the most interesting of them all were the Camelback, or Mother Hubbard, 0-8-8-0s run by the Erie Railroad. The […]
THE STORY OF THE A2a-class Berkshires of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad is a pretty sad one. In the waning days of steam operation, the company decided that it needed to replace its World War I-vintage H7-class 2-8-2 Mikados with newer power. The railroad didn’t believe there was a viable diesel on the market […]
NO, THIS ISN’T THE review about the blue Erie 0-8-8-0. While this Triplex locomotive shares much in common with the 0-8-8-0 (blue boiler, Erie Railroad, same O gauge manufacturer), it’s got even more wheels – 28 in total! A Baldwin Locomotive Works engineer created the Triplex to balance the costs (in men and machines) associated […]
REMEMBER THE Visible V-8? When I was a kid, I begged and begged my mom and dad to get me one for Christmas. The Visible V-8 was a clear plastic model of an automobile engine. It was big – 14 inches long. And it worked. In the original version, flashlight batteries hidden within a “car […]
A SMALL BUT NOTABLE trend in our hobby is the steady re-emergence of British three-rail O gauge toy trains, led by Ace Trains in London. In recent years we’ve reviewed Ace’s 4-4-4T steamers, electric multiple-unit commuter trains, passenger car sets, and, most recently, its new line of O gauge tank wagons. Each is beautifully crafted […]
IT WAS THE DAWN of time. Electrification hadn’t strayed far from Thomas Edison’s lab. In the 1880s mechanical coal stoker was a wild fantasy of overworked firemen. Balloon stacks ruled the rails, and the Pennsylvania was still struggling to make its claim as the Standard Railroad of the World. It was in this dark era […]
THE PAST YEAR has been a busy one for fans of small and inexpensive O gauge locomotives. We’ve seen several manufacturers turn their attention toward the $100 price point. But while a low price might catch a hobbyist’s attention, it is the appeal of the locomotive that sells it. K-Line’s latest entry into this niche […]
IN THE GOLDEN YEARS of railroading, the Great Northern route from the Midwest to Seattle was undoubtedly the premier way to get to the Pacific Northwest. With such named trains as Empire Builder, Oriental Limited, and Fast Mail, the line’s reputation hung on swift, reliable passenger transportation as much as it did freight. In 1929 […]
Marc Horovitz Gauge 1, 1:20.3-scale Heisler Accucraft Trains 31112 San Clemente St Hayward CA 94544 Price: $2,199 Web site: www.accucraft.com All metal, painted, electrically powered model of the West Side Lumber Company’s No. 2 Heisler geared locomotive; unit is DCC ready, sound ready, and smoke-unit (not supplied) ready; eight-wheel electrical pickup; instructions provided for maintenance, […]
Marc Horovitz 1:32 scale, Gauge 1, live-steam 2-8-2 kit Aster of Japan (For further information and US dealer list contact: Hyde-Out Mountain Live Steam) 89060 New Rumley Road Jewett OH 43986 Prices: kit, $3,995; built up, $4,675 All metal, prepainted, screwdriver-assembly kit for a USRA light Mikado; internally-fired boiler; working Walschaerts valve gear; alcohol burning. […]
Marc Horovitz 1:20.3 scale, gauge 1, 25-ton Class B Climax Bachmann Industries. 1400 E. Erie Ave. Philadelphia PA 19124 Price: $799.95 Highly detailed plastic-and-metal model; accurate representation of the prototype; all-wheel electrical pickup; ball-bearings on axles; many metal details; two five-pole motors; directional lighting; cab and firebox lighting; smoke unit; opening doors and windows; engineer […]
