CTT PUBLISHED A pair of crossing track wiring diagrams in the March and July 1999 issues. Since then our office has received a minor deluge of calls about wiring diagrams to prevent trains from colliding at crossings. If you’ve always wanted a protected crossing on your layout but are intimidated by wiring and electrical relays, […]
INDUSTRIAL RAIL, a relative newcomer to the ranks of O gauge manufacturers, has added some spice to its commendable line of O-27 rolling stock – its first motorized unit. The Industrial Rail handcar is a spunky little gizmo crewed by two small guys who spend their whole day cruising layouts looking for track to repair […]
LIONEL HAS BEEN slowly re-creating some of its more memorable postwar O gauge accessories. The company commenced two years ago with reproductions of the nos. 138 Water Tower and 164 Log Loader. Now add the no. 465-99 Sound Dispatch Station to the list. Some of these re-issues have been truer to the originals than others, […]
STEAM VERSUS diesel, Godzilla versus Mothra, great taste – less filling. These are some of the significant battles of our time. Almost on cue, MTH Electric Trains and Lionel have released two O gauge locomotives that will challenge all but the gentlest of curves and the sturdiest of bridges. MTH offers the first three-rail model […]
WHEN I REVIEWED MTH’s reproduction of the 400E steamer two years ago, I praised it as a fun and economical way to get into Standard gauge. That didn’t set well with some folks, who, presumably had originals for sale. Well, I’ll run the risk of stirring up things again by suggesting that the MTH 260E […]
THE QS-3000 SOUND and control board is the newest update for locomotives with MTH ProtoSound, Weaver-installed QSI systems, and earlier QSI units. The QS-3000 board also is designed to work with Lionel’s TrainMaster system in conventional mode (some older ProtoSound systems don’t work properly with TrainMaster) and with TrainAmerica Studio’s Universal Command Upgrade Board (UCUB). […]
S-HELPER SERVICE injects new diesel power into the S gauge market with the SW1. By any criterion, the Electro-Motive SW1 diesel switcher was a milestone locomotive. The humble engine was a real pioneer of the diesel era. More than 560 were sold between 1939 and 1953. These engines were the first taste of internal combustion […]
THE WEAVER division of Quality Craft Models has fielded another terrific O gauge diesel road switcher: The Alco RS-11/RSD-12. Introduced in 1956, the Alco DL701 (RS-11) and DL702 (RSD-12) were designed to replace the RS-3 in the firm’s product line. The venerable RS-3 road switcher sold more than 1,300 in all its variations, and the […]
AND NOW FOR something completely different. While I wouldn’t call Ace Trains’ E/1 4-4-4 tank locomotive the Monty Python of the toy train world, for us in the colonies it is very British, very different – and charming. Combine one cup American prewar tinplate, a tablespoon of modern reproduction, two cups of British Hornby trains, […]
IN 1887, a New England railroad added a trailing truck to a common American-type 4-4-0 locomotive to better distribute its weight when crossing bridges. Thus was born the Atlantic-type steamer. The Atlantic’s 4-4-2 wheel arrangement allowed for a larger firebox and improved performance. The 4-4-2s also pulled heavier trains faster than the old 4-4-0s. The […]
I FIRST SAW a photo of a Lionel nuclear reactor years ago in Tuohy and McComas’ book Lionel: A Collector’s Guide and History, Vol. V: The Archives. The reactor prototype looked slick, but there were no clues to what it did or how it was supposed to do it. Fast forward to December 2000. Opening […]
SET YOUR WHIMSEY meter on full! The Park Avenue trolley is a nifty tin-lithographed motorized unit that will look right at home running on just about any prewar-style layout or around the Christmas tree. The trolley is simple enough. It has a nicely designed and produced lithographed shell with a trolley pole. The lithography is […]
