New model trains for the week of February 22, 2018

Rapido Trains HO scale General Motors Diesel Division F7B and F9B diesel locomotives HO scale locomotives General Motors Diesel Division F7B and F9B diesel locomotives. Canadian National (F9B in as-delivered scheme and sergeant stripes, four road numbers each), Canadian Pacific (F7B and F9B in maroon with block lettering, maroon with script lettering, Action Red with […]

Read More…

Helper locomotive crews

On Aug. 6, 2012, a single Illinois Central manned helper locomotive brings up the rear of a southbound Canadian National intermodal train working up Byron Hill on the Waukesha Subdivision near Byron, Wis. Tom Danneman Q How do locomotive engineers know they are doing equal work on trains equipped with manned helpers? – Robert A. […]

Read More…

New model trains for the week of February 15, 2018

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Alco RS-11 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Alco RS-11 diesel locomotive. New paint schemes: Apache, California Western, Conrail (Penn Central patchout), Delaware & Hudson (large numbers), Nickel Plate Road (broad stripes), and Norfolk & Western (blue “half moon” scheme). New road numbers: Missouri Pacific (blue and gray) and Southern […]

Read More…

Athearn Ready To Roll HO scale SD40-2

Athearn Ready To Roll HO scale SD40-2 Although it’s part of Athearn’s value-priced Ready-To-Roll series, this SD40-2 bristles with enough roadname-specific detail to satisfy most prototype-savvy modelers. The SD40-2 also marks a big upgrade for Athearn RTR locomotives. Instead of the SoundTraxx RTR decoder with limited functionality found in previous Athearn RTR releases, this new […]

Read More…

Bachmann HO flashing rear-end device

Truck shown with coupler removed Flashing rear-end devices, or FREDs, started taking the place of cabooses on trains starting in the 1970s. The small rectangular boxes are now a ubiquitous part of modern-era railroading. Bachmann Trains is offering a light-emitting-diode (LED) illuminated HO scale FRED that works on direct-current (DC) or Digital Command Control (DCC) […]

Read More…

2018 Railroad Hobby Show report

Athearn Trains HO scale Altoona, Pa.,-rebuilt SD60E diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Altoona, Pa.,-rebuilt SD60E diesel locomotive. Norfolk Southern with Crescent cab. Four road numbers, including “Honoring First Responders.” Detailed cab interior, standard cab roof or Positive Train Control antenna array as appropriate, and railroad-specific long-hood detail. Direct-current model, $219.98; with SoundTraxx Digital Command Control […]

Read More…

Sanborn lands at UP NEWSWIRE

Cindy Sanborn OMAHA, Neb. – Former CSX Transportation Chief Operating Officer Cindy Sanborn, who left the railroad as part of an October management purge, has landed on her feet at Union Pacific. Sanborn on Friday was named regional vice president of transportation for UP’s Western Region. She will move into the new role on Feb. […]

Read More…

Quick Look: Atlas O 55-ton coal hopper

Atlas O 55-ton coal hopper Price: $74.95 Manufacturer Atlas O 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 www.atlasrr.com Era: 1960s (as decorated) Road names: Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf; Boston & Maine; Canadian National; Virginian; and Westmoreland Coal Co. Four road numbers each. Data only and undecorated versions also available. Comments: One of the enduring freight-car designs […]

Read More…

Kato N scale Olympian Hiawatha train

Kato N scale Olympian Hiawatha train set Hiawatha is the name the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific, also known as the Milwaukee Road, used for its first streamlined passenger trains in 1935. By the late 1940s, there were Hiawathas providing fleet passage between many cities of the upper Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The […]

Read More…

‘There is no turning back’ NEWSWIRE

CSX CEO James M. Foote CSX Corp. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jim Foote-era at CSX Transportation began with a rumble that emphatically signaled his commitment to following through on what the late CEO E. Hunter Harrison began. In a symbolic move, Foote’s first decision after being named chief executive in December was ordering the hump […]

Read More…