Hunterline Company N scale 81ft Pile Trestle Dennis Murphy I am always on the lookout for new N scale products that come on the market. Sometimes they turn out to be fairly good, but other times they turn out great. But as always, new items are fun! I love all kinds of bridges, and when […]
Freshly made coke still smokes in company hoppers as an Aliquippa & Southern switcher hustles empty slag pots back to the blast furnaces on May 10, 1981. The pots have been sprayed with a release agent at the slag dump to prevent the molten slag from sticking in them. Otherwise, it’s jackhammer time! Kevin Tomasic […]
Athearn, manufacturer of N scale and HO scale model train products as well as 1:50-proportion die-cast models, has announced that it will discontinue its line of Blue Box kits. This action is effective immediately. In a press release the firm cites that increased manufacturing and labor costs have caused it to no longer be able […]
Walthers HO scale Hulett unloader This strange looking machine is a model of a Hulett unloader that transferred iron ore from ore boats to railroad cars. Invented in 1899, these machines were a common sight in ports throughout the southern Great Lakes. Huletts were normally built in pairs that worked together to unload a single […]
Bachmann Dynamis Digital Command Control Pro Box The Bachmann Dynamis Digital Command Control (DCC) system features intuitive programming, operating menus displayed on the handset’s liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, and wireless infrared communication between the handset and an infrared receiver. The basic system, reviewed in the July 2008 Model Railroader, works fine for a small […]
Athearn Trains HO scale UP gas turbine The distinctive grid of air intakes on the sides of the body make Athearn’s new locomotive model immediately recognizable. The Union Pacific bought 10 gas-turbine-electric locomotives from General Electric between 1952 and 1953, putting them in charge of long-haul freights in the western Rocky Mountains. Athearn’s model is […]
Broadway Limited Imports N scale E8 diesel locomotive The rumble of 12-cylinder 567B engines and many other realistic sound effects highlight this Digital Command Control (DCC) sound-equipped E8 diesel in N scale from Broadway Limited Imports. The locomotive includes BLI’s new Paragon2 sound decoder and operates on DC and DCC layouts. Prototype. General Motors Electro-Motive […]
Micro-Trains N scale bay window caboose Price: $32.85 ManufacturerMicro-Trains Line Co.P.O. Box 1200Talent, OR 97540www.micro-trains.com Era: 1980s Comments: The prototype for this N scale plastic model was one of the last cabooses purchased by the Southern Pacific Ry. in 1980. The model matches drawings in Freight Cars of the Southern Pacific, Volume 2: Cabooses by […]
Southern Car & Foundry HO scale two-compartment tank car Price: $49, plus $7.50 shipping and handling for up to three kits ManufacturerSouthern Car & Foundry970 Sunshine Lane, Ste. DAltamonte Springs, FL 32714southerncarandfoundry.com Era: 1916 to 1960sComments: This well-detailed model of a Standard Tank Car Co. tank car fills two needs. There have been few replicas […]
Cripplebrush Valley Models HO scale cast-rubber urban scenery Price: $20 (oil drums), $50 (urban outcrop) ManufacturerCripplebush Valley Models264 Saddlemire Hill Rd.Sloansville, NY 12160www.cripplebush.net Comments: Cast-rubber scenery details have been around for several years now, but most model rock formations that are found in nature. Cripplebush has introduced two castings that model urban industrial settings. The […]
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF POWER COMPANY COAL TRAINS, there are only two firms that pop to my mind as having business-specific unit trains – fast freighters operated for United Parcel Service and Tropicana. And while a UPS train contains trailers with thousands of individual packages, the Tropicana Juice Train carries just one commodity: orange juice. […]
SWITCHERS HAVE AN ESSENTIAL PLACE IN PROTOTYPE RAILROADING and a venerable spot in model railroading. Switchers are used to move cars, build freight trains, and even make short freight hops and deliveries. The Electro-Motive Division’s MP15 series of 1,500-horsepower switchers (built 1974-87) is a mainstay of modern yard power. More than 400 units were built […]
