Athearn HO scale General Electric Dash 9-44CW

Screen capture of product review video

Arriving in hobby shops now is the Athearn HO scale General Electric Dash 9-44CW diesel locomotive. The newly tooled model features a variety of railroad-specific details. Road names offered on the first run of the six-axle road locomotive are Canadian National (red, white, and black with “wet noodle” herald); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (warbonnet); […]

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ScaleTrains HO General Electric ES44AC

Screen shot of video with HO locomotive on bridge.

ScaleTrains has released a second run of its HO General Electric ES44AC diesel locomotive. The modern six-axle road unit is decorated for Canadian Pacific (with and without Lord Strathcona’s Horse stencil), Citirail (silver, blue, and yellow), CSX (armed forces, first responders, and law enforcement schemes in one road number each), Ferromex (original red, white, and […]

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The Menards Beta 4 Santa Fe locomotives

Menards A-A Beta 4.0 Santa Fe locomotives

The Menards Beta 4 Santa Fe locomotives are the latest version of the company’s foray into motive power. A year or so ago Menards tested the waters with a diesel locomotive in Santa Fe paint. Let’s take a look at this set and see what’s changed with this latest release. In this Beta 4 version, […]

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Rapido Electro-Motive Division E8 Amtrak No. 4316

An image of a black model locomotive against a lbue sky background

Rapido Electro-Motive Division E8 Amtrak No. 4316 Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: With dual-mode ESU LokSound sound decoder, $399.95 Era: 1971 Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Electro-Motive Division E8 Amtrak No. 4316 features: Plastic and etched-metal details Unique nose with missing MU door Correct back ends, […]

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The Menards Beta 4 Santa Fe locomotives

Menards A-A Beta 4.0 Santa Fe locomotives

The Menards Beta 4 Santa Fe locomotives are the latest version of the company’s foray into motive power. A year or so ago Menards tested the waters with a diesel locomotive in Santa Fe paint. Let’s take a look at this set and see what’s changed with this latest release. In this Beta 4 version, […]

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Weathering N scale locomotives

A red model locomotive is shown in someone's hand as details are pplied to the nose of the locomotive.

Weathering N scale locomotives: Our Canadian Canyon N scale layout just wasn’t complete without locomotives and rolling stock to bring it to life. Running through rugged mountain terrain, the bright red Canadian Pacific road units quickly accumulate a layer of grime. Road dust on the trucks, fuel tank, side frames, and pilots; soot around the exhaust […]

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Conrail diesels in large scale

blue model diesel engines with figure on garden railway

Conrail diesels in large scale: Mark Bottrill’s Bishopstown Subdivision is designed to summon up memories of Conrail’s heyday in the Northeast, but it’s located in the Buckinghamshire county in the south of England! The railroad has a 600-foot double-track mainline, and features a number of rail-served industries, including a steel recycling facility and a large […]

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Electro-Motive Division tunnel motor diesels

red and black train on tracks

Electro-Motive Division tunnel motor diesels Electro-Motive Division tunnel motor diesels solved a tricky problem. Locomotives operate in all climates, from scorching desert heat to frigid Canadian winters. An ample supply of fresh air is always required for cooling and combustion purposes but when trains operate through long tunnels or snowsheds at slow speeds, the ability […]

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Alstom demonstrates autonomous operation of switcher in Europe

Two people in high visibility vests observing switch engine

BREDA, Netherlands — Alstom says it has demonstrated fully autonomous operation for a switching locomotive in the Netherlands — with starting, movement, stopping, and handling of unexpected obstacles without involvement of on-train staff. The company says this week’s announcement concludes a series of tests that are part of a partnership with Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail and […]

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Alco S5 locomotive — a Diesel That Didn’t

End cab Alco S5 locomotive in train yard in front of light tower

Similar to the EMD RS1325, the Alco S5 locomotive is one of those locomotive designs that seemed like a good idea at the time, was engineered well, ran well, but almost no one wanted to purchase.     The manufacturer needed to update its aging lineup of 660-hp S3 and 1,000-hp S4 end cab switchers […]

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