K-Line holiday starter set

FOR MANY YEARS, manufacturers have been tempting the once-a-year train-running crowd as well as tinplate regulars with gaily decorated sets. These outfits usually reflect the holiday spirit more than they reflect real railroading, even by the liberal standards of the three-rail crowd. K-Line’s latest addition to the holiday railroad is the no. K-1409 Santa’s Christmas […]

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K-Line O gauge Caltrain F40

AS THEY SAY, nothing succeeds like success, and the EMD F40 is nothing if not a winner. In the early days of Amtrak in the 1970s, it became clear that the railroad’s aging fleet of mismatched locomotives inherited from various passenger railways needed both standardization and modernization. First out of the gate to power Amtrak’s […]

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Lionel Simpsons animated gondola

The Simpsons are the titular stars of the longest-running animated series on television. Their TV-time fun has now come to O gauge! So why toy trains? Why now? Simple. To make money, of course. If Mickey Mouse was the cat’s meow back in the prewar era, Homer and his dysfunctional family are the cartoon of […]

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Scott’s Odds-n-Ends LED lamps

SCOTT’S ODDS-N-ENDS has come up with a bright idea – mate modern LED technology with old-fashioned screw- and bayonet-base bulbs. The result is as successful as mixing chocolate with peanut butter. LEDs are “light-emitting diodes.” As electricity flows through these specialized semiconductors, photons are released and focused through a lens, creating light. LEDs don’t have […]

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Broadway Limited’s HO scale AC6000CW diesel is a big-time hauler

Broadway Limited's HO AC6000CW diesel

Broadway Limited’s HO AC6000CW diesel Here’s a powerful model of General Electric’s massive six-axle AC6000CW heavy-duty road diesel. The ready-to-run locomotive from Broadway Limited Imports is offered for the first time in plastic. It features an injection-molded plastic body shell with many freestanding details. The model also has a lot of heft (27 ounces) thanks […]

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HO RS-27 runs well and sounds like an Alco at work

Alco HO RS-27

Alco HO RS-27 This first-rate Alco RS-27 road switcher delivers realistic sound effects and smooth operation. It’s a second generation Alco from Life-Like’s Proto 2000 line that comes ready-to-run in a DC-only version or with a factory-installed dual-mode decoder and QSI Quantum Sound system that operates on digital command control (DCC) or DC layouts. A […]

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Athearn HO 65-foot mill gondola hauls long loads

Athearn HO 65-foot mill gondola

Athearn HO 65-foot mill gondola An excellent model of a 65-foot mill gondola with movable drop ends is now available from Athearn. It comes ready-to-run with metal wheels and insulated magnetic knuckle couplers. Mill gondolas are designed to haul finished steel products such as angles, I-beams, or other structural shapes. All of the bracing is […]

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Walthers HO Pennsylvania RR B60b baggage car will be useful to many

HO PRR B60b baggage car

Price: $34.98 Manufacturer Walthers P.O. Box 3039 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone 414-527-0770 www.walthers.com Description Ready-to-run HO scale plastic and metal baggageexpress car Road names Pennsylvania RR (five versions), Long Island RR,Norfolk & Western (N&W class Bej), Penn Central, and undecorated Walthers’ HO scale Pennsylvania RR baggage car is an accurate model of a prototype that […]

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Video: Reading T1-class 4-8-4 in HO

Precision HO scale Reading T1-class 4-8-4

Precision HO scale Reading T1-class 4-8-4 Executive editor Andy Sperandeo reviewed the HO scale “T Hog” in the April issue’s Product Review Extravaganza. Click the icons below to see a video clip of this well-detailed, well-proportioned model steam engine. All videos may take several minutes or more to download depending on your connection speed. […]

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Roundhouse Trains EMD Model 40 is an HO scale workhorse

Roundhouse Trains HO EMD Model 40

Roundhouse Trains HO EMD Model 40 The first time I saw this tiny four-wheel EMD Model 40 switcher, I wondered if a prototype really existed. I soon learned that it’s an industrial switcher. Then the model surprised me by pulling a prototype-size load of 15 free-rolling freight cars, and I was really intrigued. On first […]

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