Product news
Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of March 4, 2021.
HO scale locomotives
General Electric Dash 9-44CW diesel locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (red-and-silver warbonnet); BNSF Ry. (red-and-silver warbonnet); Canadian National (red, white, and black); Fortescue Metals Group (blue and white); Norfolk Southern (black and white); and Southern Pacific (scarlet and gray with speed lettering in four road numbers). Three numbers per scheme unless noted. Prototype-specific details; detailed fuel tank with fillers, fuel gauges, and breather pipes; and light-emitting-diode lighting. Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $259.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder, $349.99. March 2022. Genesis 2.0 series. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com
United States Railroad Administration 0-6-0 steam locomotive. With sloped-back tender: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Baltimore & Ohio; Canadian Pacific; Pennsylvania RR; Soo Line; Union Pacific; and Wabash. With short-haul tender: Boston & Maine; Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis; New York Central System; Smoky Mountain Express; and Western Pacific. With Vanderbilt tender: Great Northern, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific. Operating smoke unit and headlight, die-cast metal chassis, metal wheels and side rods, and E-Z Mate Mark II couplers. $155. Bachmann Trains, 215-533-1600, bachmanntrains.com
HO scale freight cars
40-foot gondola. Burlington Northern (Cascade Green), Norfolk & Western (black and white with “hamburger” herald), Seaboard Coast Line (black and yellow), Southern Pacific (brown with Gothic billboard lettering and Southern Pacific Lines herald), Southern Ry. (brown with Roman billboard lettering and road number), and Texas & Northern (Oxide Red). Three road numbers per scheme. Injection-molded plastic body with metal wheels and McHenry couplers. $34.99. March 2022. Roundhouse line. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com
53-foot Railgon gondola. Railgon; Baltimore & Ohio; Chicago & North Western; Delaware & Hudson; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; and Soo Line. Also available undecorated. New tooling based on Railgon 310000-series cars. Proto-Max metal couplers, 100-ton roller-bearing trucks, and 36” turned metal wheelsets. $27.98. WalthersMainline. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Amtrak Material Handling Car-2. Phase 3 and 4 paint schemes. One number per scheme. Diagonal-panel roof, factory-applied ladders and door wheel, and General Steel Castings trucks with 36” turned-metal wheelsets. $34.98. WalthersMainline. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
N scale freight cars
Pullman-Standard 5,277-cubic-foot-capacity boxcar. Primed for Grime: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (Railbox patchout); First Coast RR (Golden Triangle RR patchout); and Railbox (as-delivered scheme with updated capacity data). Additional schemes: Burlington Northern (Cascade Green), Canadian National (Boxcar Red with “wet noodle” herald), and Southern Ry. (Boxcar Red with “Southern Serves the South” slogan). Three road numbers per scheme. Screw-mounted trucks and body-mounted McHenry scale couplers. $29.99 (Primed for Grime, $34.99). March 2022. Athearn N. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com
Pennsylvania RR class K7A stockcar. Chesapeake & Ohio, Nickel Plate Road, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, Pennsylvania RR, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Union Stockyard, and Western Pacific. Also available painted Boxcar Red but unlettered (single car with hog and cattle sounds, two-pack without sounds), Happy Holidays (holiday sounds), and Merry Christmas (holiday sounds). Each road name offered as single car with cattle and hog sounds and in two-pack without sounds. Plastic body and dual-mode motion-activated sound effects (intensity of noises varies with motion). Prices to be announced. April 2021. Broadway Limited Imports, broadway-limited.com
O scale details and accessories
Electric substation. Factory-assembled and painted with control building and modeler-installed signs. Additional factory-applied details include insulators, cables, and circuit breaker. Measures 12-1/8” x 7-15/16” x 8-1/8”. $189.99. Woodland Scenics, 573-346-5555, woodlandscenics.com
Large scale locomotives
Track cleaning locomotive. Union Pacific. Model of track laying machine with two cleaning wheels. Wheelsets and cleaning wheels are each driven by ball bearing Bühler motor. Includes mfx/Digital Command Control decoder with light and sound functions. Cleaning function and running sounds will also work in analog operation. $709.99. Second quarter 2021. LGB (Märklin Inc.), 800-321-8811, lgb.com
Deutsche Bahn III E94 Crocodile electric locomotive. Two five-pole can-type motors; hook-and-loop couplers; spring-loaded metal pantographs (not equipped for overhead pickup); molded and separate, factory-applied detail parts; operating red and white directional lighting; and engineer figure. Direct-current model can be upgraded with PIKO locomotive decoder no. 36122 and sound kit no. 36197, both sold separately. $959.99. April 2021. PIKO America, 619-280-2800, piko-america.com
Deutsche Bahn IV BR 103 electric locomotive with single-arm pantograph. Two five-pole can-type ball-bearing motors; hard-chrome plated ball-bearing wheels; hook-and-loop couplers; spring-loaded metal pantographs (not equipped for overhead pickup); molded and separate, factory-applied detail parts; operating red and white directional lighting; and engineer figure. Direct-current model can be upgraded with PIKO locomotive decoder no. 36122 and sound kit no. 36229, both sold separately. $864.99. April 2021. PIKO America, 619-280-2800, piko-america.com
Z scale locomotives
Alco RS-3 diesel locomotive. Canadian Pacific. Three road numbers. Phase III body, three-chime airhorn, 800-gallon fuel tank, winterization hatch, body-mounted number boards, 7.5mm coreless motor with dual flywheels, traction tires, built-in pilot, directional light-emitting-diode headlights, and body-mounted couplers. American Z Line, 614-764-1703, americanzline.com
Z scale freight cars
Gunderson Maxi-I five-unit articulated well car. TTX (yellow with current logo and DTTX reporting marks). Three road numbers. Cars include five Hapag-Lloyd 40-foot intermodal containers and feature metal chassis with etched-metal details, add-on parts, AutoLatch couplers, and roller-bearing trucks. American Z Line, 614-764-1703, americanzline.com
Books
Heisler Locomotives Vol. 1: Geared & Fireless Locomotives. Reproductions of Catalog 123 (information on selecting an industrial locomotive and the features found on Heisler locomotives); Heisler Fireless Locomotives (a description of what a fireless locomotive is, the advantages of a fireless locomotive, and a look at some of the locomotives they build), and Pictures Tell the Story (a look at Heisler locomotives in use in various industries including quarries, gravel pits, strip mining, construction work, switching, and logging). Book also includes four Descriptive Folders for Heisler geared locomotives (2240 [two truck, eight driver with I-beam frame], 4763 and 5065 [two truck, eight driver with diamond frame], and 7090 [three truck, 12 driver with diamond frame]). Softcover, 124 pages. $35. Manufacturers’ Catalog Archive. SilverLake Images LLC and Ron’s Books, 914-967-7541, ronsbooks.com
Roberts and Schaefer Co. Representative Work Locomotive Coaling Plants. Reproduction of a 1919 publication showing the types of locomotive coaling plants the company designed and built. Includes photos showing plants built for the Illinois Central, Lehigh Valley, Louisville & Nashville, Nickel Plate Road, Pennsylvania RR, Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, and others. Also features a look at equipment inside the plants, cinder handling, storage plants, and sand plants. Softcover, 74 pages. $35. Manufacturers’ Catalog Archive. SilverLake Images LLC and Ron’s Books, 914-967-7541, ronsbooks.com
Trolley Coaches Vol. 1: Westinghouse. Three reproduction Westinghouse publications: Westinghouse-Equipped Trolley Coaches (A look at the benefits and features of trolley coaches. Includes specifications for trolley coaches purchased by transit systems across the country), Trolley Coaches: Why People Like Them (Looks at the benefits of the trolley coach over other transit methods), and Trolley Coaches 1, 2, 3 (Examines where the trolley coach should be applied and its advantages, how it will perform, and why its use is economically sound). Softcover, 90 pages. $35. Manufacturers’ Catalog Archive. SilverLake Images LLC and Ron’s Books, 914-967-7541, ronsbooks.com
Gregg Railroad Cars. Reproduction of an undated freight car equipment catalog presumed to be from the 1950s. Includes boxcars, cane cars, dump cars, flatcars, gable-bottom cars, gondolas, Granby cars, hoppers, mine cars, passenger cars, sisal cars, stockcars, and tank cars. Also shows various freight and passenger car trucks used by the company and the different types of couplers available for the cars. Softcover. $35. Manufacturers’ Catalog Archive. SilverLake Images LLC and Ron’s Books, 914-967-7541, ronsbooks.com
