Athearn Genesis HO 60-foot hi-cube boxcars Athearn has released a series of ready-to-run HO models of 60-foot hi-cube boxcars, which are part of the firm’s Genesis Line of limited-run models. Our samples represent prototype double- door cars with a variety of different sides, roofs, and ends built by Berwick, Gunderson, and FMC from the late […]
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Accurail HO scale 40-foot stockcar kit
Accurail HO scale 40-foot stockcar kit The latest HO scale car from Accurail is this good-looking model of a Great Northern Ry. 40-foot stockcar. The plastic kit combines ease of assembly with good detailing and builds into an accurate replica of the prototype. The Great Northern built 198 stockcars numbered 56050 to 56248 in 1957 […]
Micro-Trains N scale general service tank car
Micro-Trains N scale general service tank car Micro-Trains has released a well-detailed ready-to-run model of an American Car & Foundry 56-foot, 30,000-gallon general-service tank car that nicely captures the proportions of its prototype. The model represents one of a lot of 1,370 tank cars that ACF built in mid-1974 at its Milton, Pa., shops and […]
Stranded streamliner
A helicopter view of the westbound City of San Francisco buried in snow on Donner Pass. Doug Wornom collection Sixty years ago, on January 13, 1952, the streamlined transcontinental passenger train City of San Francisco encountered a raging blizzard with 90-mph wind gusts and snow drifts 8 to 12 feet deep that marooned the train […]
N scale C&NW 400 coach from Des Plaines Hobbies
Des Plaines Hobbies N scale C&NW 400 coach Adding to its extensive line of N scale passenger car kits, Des Plaines Hobbies has released accurately scaled Chicago & North Western streamlined 400 passenger cars. Two styles of coaches, a baggage-tap-lounge, diner, and a baggage car are offered in these kits. I built the coach for […]
Model Tech’s O scale Baltimore & Ohio station wood craftsman kit
Model Tech’s O scale Baltimore & Ohio station This new station from Model-Tech is a wood craftsman kit that builds into an excellent model. With the addition of a train order signal and a few distinctive details, it would make a fine focal point in any small town. The kit is based on the station […]
Atlas HO scale ACF 100-ton Center Flow covered hopper
Atlas HO ACF 100-ton Center Flow covered hopper Atlas offers ready-to-run models of ACF Industries 100-ton 4,650-cubic-foot Center Flow covered hoppers in two versions. Both are excellent models with etched metal running boards and detail variations to represent prototype cars built before or after 1971. These popular cars were introduced in 1964 to haul grain, […]
Atlas O GE Dash 8-40B diesel is a powerful, well-detailed O scale performer
Atlas O GE Dash 8-40B diesel This new Atlas O scale Dash 8-40B is the company’s first high-horsepower modern diesel, and like its prototype this is an impressive and powerful unit. General Electric introduced the standard-cab Dash 8-40B in May 1988. According to The Contemporary Diesel Spotter’s Guide – 2000 edition (Withers Publishing), GE built […]
The history of Baltimore & Ohio’s Shepherd Branch
Returning to Benning Yard, CSX local B701 makes its way slowly north on the historic Shepherd Industrial Track, near Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C. Mike Schaller The Baltimore & Ohio was the first railroad to serve Washington, D.C., completing a branch from its main line at Relay, Md., in August 1835. To reach markets south […]
Webster Classic Models HO scale Baltimore & Ohio interlocking tower craftsman kit
Webster Classic Models HO scale Baltimore & Ohio interlocking tower Webster Classic Models HO scale Baltimore & Ohio interlocking tower This craftsman kit from Webster Classic Models builds into a classic structure indeed, an elegant Baltimore & Ohio signal tower. The prime ingredient is laser-cut wood parts, which fit together precisely and are also fun […]
Ready to serve the nation
Here’s a variation on a familiar World War II theme, the diverse geographical backgrounds of men serving together in the armed forces. It comes to us in the form of some faded sheet music dedicated to the Military Railway Service. The rousing anthem “Railroaders Always” is of interest in its own right, but the cover […]
Lake Michigan carferries
Ann Arbor RS1 No. 20 unloads freight cars off the Lake Michigan carferry Arthur K. Atkinson at Frankfort, Mich., in April 1982, the railroad’s last year of carferry operation. Forrest L. Becht For over 100 years, trains and ships were partners in serving the eastern and western shores of Lake Michigan. This unique form of […]