At age 4, I looked forward to 2 p.m. That was the hour my grandfather would return to our house on Wicome Avenue in Newport News, Va., for his afternoon break, followed by our daily trip to trackside. Shortly after Granddaddy’s cup of coffee, we would drive in his white fin-tailed Cadillac over to the […]
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Green Bay to Chicago Death March
Many of us didn’t want to believe that the steam era was drawing to a close — that diesels, those cousins of the automobile with their garish tin shrouds, were winning the battle over the noble iron horse — until a dreary Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1953. After that, we could no longer […]
Ridgway Pusher
I’m awakened by the sound of the phone ringing and his muffled voice saying, “It’s two-thirty. They probably want W-2 pushed east.” The old stairs squeak under his weight as he quickly descends them to answer the phone. “Hello?” “Yes, it is.” There is a long pause then he repeats bits of the message, “Ridgway, […]
The Fix Was In
In the small town of Goshen, Ind., where I grew up, one was always aware of the New York Central. Goshen was astride the New York-Chicago main line, so the railroad was not only a key to the city’s economy but also part of its very consciousness. For my own generation of high school boys […]
The Pyramid
All the high excitement, thrills and tensions of railway experience are not the exclusive province of the operating department employees. Many a trackman, carman, and other railway workers have anxieties and thrills in the course of performing their daily tasks. As superintendent of motive power, I had my share of pressing situations that extended a […]
Branchline Trains HO scale AAR standard 50-foot boxcar kit
Branchline Trains HO AAR standard 50-foot boxcar Branchline Trains, the maker of this HO scale 50-foot boxcar, isn’t a new name in the model railroad industry. For several years Branchline has applied custom paint schemes to other manufacturers’ freight cars, earning a well-deserved reputation for sharp lettering and accurate colors. This boxcar is Branchline’s first […]
Red Caboose releases HO scale kits of GS drop-bottom composite- and steel-side gondolas
Red Caboose HO GS drop-bottom composite- and steel-side gondolas For its latest HO scale freight car release Red Caboose has chosen the general service (GS) gondola, a car which might not be familiar to Eastern modelers but one that’s needed in large numbers by those interested in Western railroads. Red Caboose has produced two versions […]
S-Helper Service adds an S scale EMD SW1 diesel switcher to its Showcase Line
S-Helper Service S scale EMD SW1 diesel switcher S-Helper Service has added to its Showcase Line of ready-to-run S scale equipment this good-running and nice-looking SW1 switch engine. The engine comes ready to run on AC power with hi-rail wheels, but the parts are included to convert it for scale track and DC operation. General […]
The HO scale Ambassador hotel is the latest in Bachmann’s Cityscenes line
Downtown Deco’s “The Old Brownstones” is an HO scale kit in Hydrocal castings, with a footprint of 11 by 4½ inches. The sharp-looking Ambassador Hotel is part of Bachmann’s new Cityscenes line of HO structures. The seven buildings in the line are the first structures to be released as part of the firm’s Spectrum line […]
Atlas HO scale AEM7 and ALP44 passenger electric locomotives
Atlas HO AEM7 and ALP44 passenger electric locomotives Atlas has released an AEM7 passenger electric locomotive and its nearly identical twin, the ALP44, in HO scale. The models are finely detailed including cab detail and painted crew members. Operation is smooth and conveys the muscular qualities of the prototype. The AEM7 is available painted for […]
Intermountain Railway HO scale USRA composite gondola kit
Intermountain Railway HO USRA composite gondola kit The latest HO scale car from InterMountain Railway Co. is this nicely detailed model of a United States Railway Administration composite gondola. The model combines sharply molded parts with ease of assembly and has an innovative choice of materials. Upon opening the box you’ll find an injection-molded plastic […]
InterMountain HO scale ACF 2,980-cubic-foot Center Flow covered hopper kit
InterMountain HO ACF Center Flow covered hopper InterMountain has done well with this sharply detailed model of an ACF 2,980-cubic-foot Center Flow covered hopper. This is a new design on the market, and the car has much better detail than the 2,980 model offered by McKean many years ago. (Detail Associates offers a two-bay Center […]
