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 May 6, 2021.
HO scale locomotives
Electro-Motive Division SD60M and SD60I diesel locomotives. SD60M: Buffalo & Pittsburgh (Genesee & Wyoming scheme), Conrail (“Quality” scheme), CSX (dark blue and yellow), and Union Pacific (post-2018 repaint and as-delivered scheme, two road numbers each). SD60I: Terminal Railroad Association (red and white, two numbers). Three numbers per scheme unless noted. Prototype-specific details, light-emitting-diode lighting, and McHenry scale couplers. Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $229.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami 2 sound decoder, $319.99. May 2022. Genesis series. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com
HO scale freight cars
Assorted freight car kits. Great Northern American Car & Foundry 2,970-cubic-foot capacity Center Flow covered hopper, $20.98. Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo 36-foot Fowler boxcar, $19.98. Borg Warner, Corn Products, and Georgia Pacific American Car & Foundry 4,600-cubic-foot capacity three-bay Center Flow covered hopper (single car, $20.98; three-pack, $61.98). Michigan Central (New York Central Lines) wood-side two-bay hopper, $18.98. Milwaukee Road 40-foot ribbed-side double-door automobile boxcar, $19.98. Injection-molded plastic kit with plastic wheelsets, trucks, and Accumate couplers. Accurail, accurail.com
24- and 36-foot double-sheathed boxcars. Kits include stripwood decking, Tichy Train Group detail parts, and fictional Conowingo RR decals with “Route of the Pentaquad” slogan. Trucks and couplers not included. 24-foot boxcar, $25; 36-foot boxcar, $27. Add $5 per kit for trucks and couplers. Conowingo Models, conowingomodels.com
HO scale maintenance of way
250-ton steam crane and boom tender. New road names: Canadian National (red-and-yellow crane with stripes and Oxide Red boom tender) and Delaware & Hudson (blue, gray, and yellow). One number per scheme. Crane rotates 360 degrees and features removable knob for manual adjustment of boom position. Blackened-metal RP-25 contour wheels with non-magnetic blackened brass axles and needle-point bearings, Celcon trucks, and E-Z Mate couplers. $77. Silver Series. Bachmann Trains, 215-533-1600, bachmanntrains.com
HO scale details and accessories
Modern roadside and city mailboxes. Includes parts to build four each large standard and drive-up boxes. Includes 12 rural mailboxes. $14.98. SceneMaster line. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Parking meters. One-piece injection-molded plastic castings. Appropriate for 1950s to the present. Twenty-pack, $7.98. SceneMaster line. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Picnic tables. Injection-molded plastic kit includes parts to build five complete tables. $7.98. SceneMaster line. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Tables and chairs. Injection-molded plastic kit includes one each square and round table and 12 chairs. $7.98. SceneMaster line. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Telegraph poles and crossarms. All-new kit. Includes 10 poles with two molded crossarms and 20 add-on crossarms. Molded in gray-brown “wood color.” Each pole is 4-11/32” tall. $9.98. SceneMaster line. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
Track bumpers. Yellow and Rust Brown. Factory-assembled details appropriate for the 1940s to the present. For use with WalthersTrack (codes 83 and 100) and most other brands of HO scale track. Four-pack, $7.98. WalthersTrack. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com
N scale locomotives
Electro-Motive Division SW7 diesel locomotive. Atlantic Coast Line (purple and silver), Chessie System (yellow, orange, and blue with Chesapeake & Ohio reporting marks), Detroit & Toledo Shore Line (black and yellow), Great Northern (as-delivered Empire Builder scheme), Maine Central (maroon, yellow, and black), Pennsylvania RR (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel), Southern Ry. (tuxedo scheme), and Union Pacific (Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray with “Road of the Streamliners” slogan). Dual-mode Paragon4 sound decoder with Rolling Thunder; die-cast metal body and chassis; and separate, factory-applied handrails, grab irons, smokestacks, horn, and bell. Two road numbers per scheme; also available undecorated. $229.99. June 2021. Broadway Limited Imports, 386-673-8900, broadway-limited.com
N scale freight cars
Pacific Car & Foundry 57-foot mechanical refrigerator car. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (orange and black); Cold Train (blue); Erie Lackawanna (orange and black); Northern Pacific (silver); Pacific Fruit Express (orange with Union Pacific and Southern Pacific heralds); and Tropicana (white). Three road numbers per scheme. McHenry scale couplers and 33” metal wheels. $34.99. May 2022. Athearn N. Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com
Department of Defense flatcars with Humvee loads. Oxide Red flatcars with injection-molded plastic Humvee vehicle kits. Three-pack, $134.95. Micro-Trains Line Co., 541-535-1755, micro-trains.com
MRR-NP0821_60
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[ALT: Micro-Trains Line Co. N scale Ferromex factory-weathered tank car no. 410025.]
Factory-weathered freight cars. Ferromex (ex-National Railways of Mexico) tank car, $36.90. Norfolk Southern (ex-Southern Ry.) General American 4,180-cubic-foot-capacity Airslide covered hopper three-pack, $109.95. Micro-Trains Line Co., 541-535-1755, micro-trains.com
Great Northern 40-foot boxcars. Orange and green with “See America First, Glacier National Park” herald. Injection-molded plastic models with positionable doors; separate, factory-applied running boards; solid-bearing trucks with plastic wheelsets; and Magne-Matic couplers. Eight-pack, $219.95. Micro-Trains Line Co., 541-535-1755, micro-trains.com
2-1/2” scale locomotives
Whitcomb 45-ton center cab side-rod diesel locomotive. 7.25” or 7.5” gauge. Base model comes with powered trucks, 2.5” Sharon couplers, electrical controls, and gray primer finish. $9,250. Following upgrades available: Paint, $500; sound system, $600; and battery installation, $500. Produced by Accucraft, available from Live Steam Station, livesteamstation.com
Tools
Mushroom-handle pin vise. Steel and plastic construction with reversible collet. Accepts drill sizes no. 50 through no. 80. Measures 3-1/2” without bit. $8.99. Produced by Excel, available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store, KalmbachHobbyStore.com
Single-edge razor blades. Carbon steel construction. Standard .009” thick single-edge blade. Ten-pack, $3.99. Produced by Excel, available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store, KalmbachHobbyStore.com
Hobby knife set. Contains three hobby knives (K1, K2, and K5) and the following blades: 2, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, and 24. Includes plastic-lined wood case with magnetic strip for holding spare blades. $27.99. Produced by Excel, available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store, KalmbachHobbyStore.com
