Bill Botkin has been capturing trains in black and white for more than 40 years. His adventures have brought him to various corners of the Earth. You read about his journey as a photographer and traveler in July 2009 Trains. Below are a few more of Botkin’s favorites. Bill Botkin Rio Grande Mikado at Tanglefoot […]
Before: Erie’s 1890 tower showed serious signs of deterioration by the early 200s when restoration work had begun. Curtis Springstead Ten years of dreams and five years of hard work will come to fruition at the end of 2009 when the former Erie Railroad WC Tower in Waldwick, N.J., reopens as a museum. The tower […]
Hornby America, Inc. HO scale Big Boy steam locomotive With a coat of factory-applied grime and rust, this HO scale Big Boy looks like it’s seen years of hard use. Since the late 1960s Rivarossi has manufactured Big Boy 4-8-8-4 locomotives in HO scale. This is the first Rivarossi Big Boy to be weathered and […]
Con-Cor International N scale Aerotrain Following the success of the HO scale Aerotrain, reviewed in the May 2008 issue of Model Railroader, Con-Cor now offers this articulated passenger train in N. The ready-to-run model is designed for direct-current layouts, but provisions are included for adding Digital Command Control and sound. Prototype history. The two nine-car […]
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Broadway Limited HO scale Paragon2 Hudson J1e steam locomotive Out of the box, this is a good looking locomotive. It appears to match very closely with pictures that I have of similar locomotives. One negative that immediately grabbed my attention was the lack of heft of the locomotive in my hand. This will be problematic […]
“The Chopper” by NorthWest Short Line Photo by Dennis Murphy I have a lot fun with my model railroading hobby. I find the different aspects to be the most enjoyable part. And lately, I’ve been working a lot with wood kits (buildings and bridges mostly).You can never have too many models on your layout, especially […]
ANYONE WHO HAS READ MY REVIEWS OVER TIME knows I have one simple mantra about reproductions of vintage trains. Simply put: “New is better.” So starts Bob Keller’s review of Lionel’s no. 2219W Lackawanna “Thunderbird” set, one of the new “Lionel Postwar Authentics – Conventional Classics.” Older trains (postwar or even prewar) are simple, rugged, […]
AMONG THE FIRST SIX-AXLE LOCOMOTIVES that caught my eye were the big General Electric U-boats, notably the U30C and its kin. The U30C was, of course, a six-axle 3,000-horsepower titan fielded by GE, and it has been credited with helping to push GE into the number two slot in “dieseldom.” More than 590 were built, […]
VIA Rail Canada No. 692 “Hudson Bay” blasts through the snow at 50 mph at Dauphin, Manitoba, on March 26, 2009. […]
50 years ago in railroad history … A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter Chesapeake & Ohio on May 7 launches mail and express service between Grand Rapids and Petoskey, Mich., using Railvans – a predecessor of today’s RoadRailer railcar/semitrailer hybrids. . . . Chicago & North Western, seeking to modernize […]
Q In March Trains, an article on the demise of semaphore signals on the former Monon [Page 14] mentioned that CSX was doing away with lineside pole lines and their maintenance. It said the new system will use Electro Code, a system where signal communications run through the rails. How is this done?– Richard K. […]
