With the layout scenery shaking from the low-bass thumps of each exhaust stroke, and perfectly timed puffs of white smoke rising above the stack, I half-expected to smell cinders as Broadway Limited Imports’ latest HO scale model of the Pennsylvania RR M1a 4-8-2 rolled by. The model uses the same tooling as the BLI M1a […]
Section: News & Reviews
BLMA Models HO scale 62-foot insulated boxcar
The BLMA HO scale model features many prototype-specific separately applied detail parts. A well-detailed injection-molded plastic model of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe’s class BX-166 62-foot insulated boxcar is the latest offering from BLMA Models. The ready-to-run car features double plug doors framed by canted exterior posts, an assortment of separately applied details, and Kadee […]
Quick Look: ExactRail N scale TrinityRail 6,275 cubic-foot boxcar
Price: $33.95 Manufacturer ExactRail 251 W. River Park Drive, Suite 300 Provo, Utah 84604 www.exactrail.com Era: 2004 to present Comments: It’s not all flatcars and intermodal for the TTX Corp. The freight company’s vast fleet includes thousands of 6,275 cubic foot, 50′-6″ boxcars, such as the prototype for this new ExactRail N scale model. Built […]
Cardinal adds business class NEWSWIRE
Cardinal heads west near Swoop, Va., east of Staunton, in April, 2013 Bob Johnston WASHINGTON—Starting this month, Amtrak will begin offering business class on the triweekly Chicago-Washington-New York Cardinal. The decision to do so was made recently, so it is not reflected in the new “Winter Spring 2016” timetable effective Monday, Jan. 11. The launch, […]
Amtrak confirms ‘Phase III’ scheme for ‘Empire Service’ locomotives NEWSWIRE
No. 704 trails on the westbound ‘Cardinal’ as it arrives in Chicago on Jan. 7. Mark Hinsdale NEW YORK – Passengers along the Empire Service route to Upstate New York can look forward to more of Amtrak’s “Phase III” paint scheme. GE P32AC-DM No. 704 rolled into the windy city last week displaying a Phase […]
Norfolk & Western No. 611 to steam again in 2016 NEWSWIRE
ROANOKE, Va. – World famous Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 will pull public excursions four weekends between April and June in its home state of Virginia and North Carolina, the Virginia Museum of Transportation and North Carolina Transportation Museum announced Monday. The announcement ends weeks of speculation as to the extent of NS’s […]
Sneak peek: Broadway Limited Imports N scale Baldwin Centipede diesel locomotive
Broadway Limited Imports Paragon2 N scale Baldwin Centipede in the Pennsylvania RR 5-stripe passenger scheme Recently I had a chance to examine and operate an early production sample of an N scale Baldwin DR-12-8-1500/2 “Centipede” diesel-electric locomotive. The detailed model is part of Broadway Limited Imports’ Paragon2 series. Best of all, the model features a […]
Historian and author Bill Griffin Jr. dies at 71 NEWSWIRE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – William E. Griffin Jr., 71, retired personnel director of the Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac and later CSX, died Tuesday. A railroad employee for more than 30 years, Griffin was also a rail historian who wrote several books about railroads in his native Virginia and predecessors of CSX. Among the titles by Griffin […]
Atlas Model Railroad Co agrees to purchase BLMA Models
The following press release was issued by Atlas Model Railroad Co. on January 6, 2016: HILLSIDE, New Jersey: Effective immediately, Atlas Model Railroad Co., has agreed to purchase BLMA Models Inc., of Fullerton, California. Founded in 2000, BLMA manufactures quality HO, N, and Z scale rolling stock and accessories. Upon completion of the acquisition, Atlas […]
Pullman Rail Journeys trips over Amtrak in doubt in 2016 NEWSWIRE
Three Pullman Rail Journeys cars pass through the drawbridge at Pass Manchac, La., on Nov. 2, 2014, on the rear of Amtrak’s City of New Orleans. Amtrak and Pullman Rail Journeys have yet to come to an agreement for 2016 trips. Bob Johnston A meal typical of Pullman Rail Journeys: luncheon shrimp salad with potato […]
Trains Top 10 stories: No. 3, The Return of 611 NEWSWIRE
Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 No. 611 pulls a photographers’ special at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in May 2015. Jim Wrinn If a locomotive can mend broken hearts, Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 does so with caressing steam. Fans of the locomotive have long said this railroad-built Class J is […]
Norfolk Southern debuts new 4000-series AC converted locomotives NEWSWIRE
Norfolk Southern No. 4000 is a AC44C6M locomotive converted from No. 8799 a D9-40C unit built by GE in 1995. To recognize its conversion, the unit sports a new blue and light gray paint scheme. Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern Nos. 4000 and 4001 pose outside the paint shop in Chattanooga, Tenn., for their first portrait together. […]