Locomotives and rolling stock
Bachmann Trains, 1400 East Erie Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19124, is releasing the former Aristo-Craft Eggliners in five new paint schemes: Christmas (illustrated), Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, and Ladybug. These self-propelled units feature a seamless one-piece shell, LED headlights and marker lights, and a polarity-selector switch for operation according to NMRA or large-scale-railroading practices. Price: $219 each. Website: www.bachmanntrains.com
LGB (Märklin) has an Alpine Classic Salon Car (#L33520) in 1:22.5 scale, made from new tooling. The RhB Alpine Classic Salon Car is a model of the RhB salon car, Nº As 1161. Paint and lettering are prototypical for Era VI, and are the same as the car used today on the Alpine Classic Pullman Express. This model has many separately applied details and openable doors. It also has interior details and factory-installed interior lighting, along with metal wheelsets. Price: $349.99. Also from LGB is a Building Block Starter Set (# L90463) containing a steam locomotive, two flat cars with building-block plates, and 30 building blocks (blocks from well-known manufacturers can also be used with this set). The set also includes a circle of track, a locomotive controller, a power supply, and feeder wires. Price: $274.99. To complement the Building Block set is an add-on car (#L94063), a two-axle flat car with pegs in the floor so that different superstructures can be built with the blocks of well-known manufacturers. Price: $44.99. Website: www.lgb.com
Piko America, 4610 Alvarado Canyon Rd., Suite 5, San Diego CA 92120, has announced a variety of new items. These include the DB IV Railbus VT98 “Jägermeister” (#37307, illustrated) with directional lighting, $429.99; Santa Fe auto transport (#38746) with removable sideboards, molded-in wood detail, and a diecast-metal model of a 1950 Chevy Bel Air, $114.99; a Union Pacific container car (#38750) carrying a container with openable doors, $89.99; a Pennyslvania low-side gondola (#38754) that has removable sides and a load of roof trusses made of real wood, $119.99; a Christmas Camelback locomotive (#38246) with directional LED lights, smoke, digital sound, and full features on either analog DC or digital DCC, $624.99; and a Christmas boxcar (#38875), the seventh in the “Night Before Christmas” series, $89.99. Website: www.piko-america.com
Electronics & software
Dallee Electronics, 246 W. Main Street, Leola PA 17540, has released a turntable indexer (#1700). Features include reflective optical alignment with on/off selection; variable DC-motor-control voltage with momentum starts; up to 21⁄4 amps output, with overload protection; alignment LEDs to facilitate easy setup; DPDT direction switch with center-off position; faceplate made of black anodized-aluminum with laser-cut text; requires 16V AC input with 21⁄2 amps of input current (item #690). Price: $199.95. Website: www.dallee.com
Club news
The Northern Ohio Garden Railway Society (NOGRS), in response to a request from the North Central Ohio Chapter of A Special Wish Foundation, rallied to build a garden railway for Jack Dennis, a boy afflicted with cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Jack is a train lover and his parents felt that a garden railway would be of great benefit to him. NOGRS built the entire railway, with donated trains and materials from a variety of sources, in a single day. Read the whole story of this remarkable event, written by Kate Pruchnicki, on Garden Railways’ website.
