IT WAS THE DAWN of time. Electrification hadn’t strayed far from Thomas Edison’s lab. In the 1880s mechanical coal stoker was a wild fantasy of overworked firemen. Balloon stacks ruled the rails, and the Pennsylvania was still struggling to make its claim as the Standard Railroad of the World. It was in this dark era […]
BACK WHEN I was a lad, one of the first books I bought about railroading was Ron Ziel’s Twilight of the Steam Locomotive. Inside the covers were photos of derelict locomotives as well as steamers still earning their keep. A chapter covering excursion locomotives had a full-page action shot of Reading locomotive no. 2124 with […]
RARELY DO YOU find a locomotive that is as accurate on a layout modeling 1915 as on a layout modeling 2005. The Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple-cab surely must win the all-time award for everyday longevity. In the early days of the 20th century, small electric railways dotted the countryside. While most used trolley-type passenger equipment, quite a […]
NOT THAT MANY years ago, I wouldn’t even think of using my precious Kodak film to take photos of GP9s. I mean, Geeps were everywhere. Old power, like F-units, and newer jobs like the GP40 or SD40-2 were the subject of my attention, not those old, rusty “things.” Alas, I learned the error of my […]
IN ITS search for new electric locomotives in the mid-1950s, the New Haven Railroad settled on the EP-5 built by General Electric. The locomotives were designed to operate from overhead or outside third-rail (for Grand Central Terminal tunnel operation) power, offered 4,000 horsepower, and reached speeds as high as 105 mph. They were just right […]
THE PAST YEAR has been a busy one for fans of small and inexpensive O gauge locomotives. We’ve seen several manufacturers turn their attention toward the $100 price point. But while a low price might catch a hobbyist’s attention, it is the appeal of the locomotive that sells it. K-Line’s latest entry into this niche […]
K-LINE HAS FOUND a winner in its re-working of the time-honored operating milk-car concept. We first tested the no. K-703-1751 operating milk car with unloading platform. Shortly after, the K-42407 operating milk loading depot arrived in the mail. Putting the two together in a review is a natural fit. First, the unloader. K-Line’s re-working of […]
NO DOUBT, EVER since grade school, we’ve all looked at slot-car tracks and our three-rail trains and wondered how to put the two together. We at CTT have been enraptured with the prospect of O gauge street running ever since we saw the two-rail cobblestone street system by Czech manufacturer ETS/SemafÖr (CTT, January, 2005). As […]
THE LATEST SWITCHER to be added to the MTH Premier line lineup is the Alco S-2, which was ubiquitous on American railroads and industrial operations 20 to 60 years ago. More than 1,400 of the 1,000-horsepower locomotives were built for U.S. railroads between 1940 and 1950. According to one diesel preservation website, there are at […]
IN THE GOLDEN YEARS of railroading, the Great Northern route from the Midwest to Seattle was undoubtedly the premier way to get to the Pacific Northwest. With such named trains as Empire Builder, Oriental Limited, and Fast Mail, the line’s reputation hung on swift, reliable passenger transportation as much as it did freight. In 1929 […]
YES INDEED! Atlas O’s Alco C-424 is another squat, homely diesel that will make a segment of the O gauge community happy, if not downright giddy. I’ve often wondered why some segments of our clan of railroad hobbyists (myself included) are so, well, hard-core about Alco diesels. Oh, I know that Alco’s PA was larger […]
FOR THOSE OF US who attempt to repair trains without the benefit of all the special tools and hardware used by authorized service stations, the brakeman’s riveting set from Carl’s Toy Trains is a long-standing dream come true. Where were you 25 years ago? No more fooling around with makeshift backing rigs and hit-or-miss riveting […]
