Passenger power

20200403

Passenger cab units, like this twin-engine New York Central EMD E8, rode on six-wheel trucks with the center axle unpowered, denoted as A1A-A1A. EMD built 421 E8A units and 39 E8B units making it the second most popular model in the line behind the E7. Pictured is a late production E8, with stamped-metal grill along […]

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Local lesson

20200410

Milwaukee Road’s Viroqua Patrol, with an Alco RSD5 in charge, crosses the Burlington Northern’s ex-Chicago, Burlington & Quincy main line at Grande Crossing in La Crosse, Wis., on Oct. 9, 1971. “Patrol” was the Milwaukee’s name for a local freight and Viroqua was a town on a branch located southeast of La Crosse. J. W. […]

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Double trouble

20200402

After doubling its train together at Clare Yard in Cincinnati, train 78 prepares to depart east for Portsmouth, Ohio, over the Peavine in December 1959. Doubling the train blocked the Pennsylvania’s main line diamond at Clare. Tom Smart, J. David Ingles collection […]

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New model railroad products for the week of April 23, 2020

Wm. K. Walthers HO scale Electro-Motive Division F40PH diesel locomotive

Wm. K. Walthers HO scale Electro-Motive Division F40PH diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F40PH diesel locomotive. Amtrak (phase 2, 3, and 4 schemes) and VIA Rail Canada (Renaissance scheme in two road numbers and Canada scheme). Four numbers per scheme (two each in direct current and with dual-mode sound decoder) unless noted. Factory-installed […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale MLW RS-18 diesel

MRRPR0620_01

The model features separate handrails and other detail parts. For the first time in plastic an accurate, roadname- and roadnumber-specific version of a Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) RS-18 is available as a ready-to-run, HO scale plastic model. The Canadian road switcher is available with a factory-installed LokSound 5 dual-mode decoder, featuring sound files recorded from […]

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Progress Rail inks locomotive order with Indonesia NEWSWIRE

Progress Rail Logo

BANDUNG, Indonesia — Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, has signed a contract with PT Kereta Indonesia (PT KAI) for 36 new EMD GT38AC freight locomotives, expanding the public railway operator’s existing GT Series fleet. The new EMD locomotives will go into service for PT KAI’s South Sumatra coal haulage operations and join more than 50 […]

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Durango & Silverton buys White Pass & Yukon diesels

WhitePass_Diesels_Johnston

DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton is expanding its locomotive roster, adding four diesels with the potential to be tourist attractions in their own right. The D&S has announced it is acquiring four of the White Pass & Yukon Railway’s distinctive Montreal Locomotive Works DL535C diesels, 1,200-hp C-C locomotives built in 1969 and 1971. […]

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New model trains for the week of April 16, 2020

Wm. K. Walthers HO scale Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesel locomotives

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division FP7 and F3B diesel locomotives. Western Pacific (orange, silver, and black paint scheme). FP7 (California Zephyr service with no wings on nose and freight service renumbers [white or black number boards], one road number each). F3B (California Zephyr service with square herald, one number). FP7 and F3B set (California Zephyr […]

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S-Helper Service S gauge diesel freight starter set

S-Helper Service S gauge diesel freight starter set

Anyone who thinks that S gauge starts and ends with American Flyer should take a look at the S-Helper Service line. For years the crew at S-Helper Service has been in the vanguard of manufacturers rising above postwar levels of detail, regardless of train gauge. Out are the cast-in handrails and roofwalks; in are add-on […]

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