Atlas O O gauge Alco C-424

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 […]

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USA Trains 1:29 scale intermodal train set

Marc Horovitz 1:29 scale, gauge 1, intermodal train set and container set USA Trains PO Box 100 Malden MA 02148 Web site: www.usatrains.comPrices: See text Description: Ready-to-run, plastic and metal, five unit, articulated TTX intermodal train set for carrying containers; metal walkways; Timken roller-bearing trucks (axle ends do not rotate); hook-and-loop couplers installed, knuckles provided; […]

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Ask Trains from April 2006

Q Why do automobile rack cars have TTX Co. reporting marks but also bear a logo from a railroad? – Gary Gergye, Marietta, Ga. A This started in the early 1960s when autoracks first came into use. Flatcars, with TTX reporting marks, were pulled from the Trailer Train pool, but the racks were purchased by […]

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Post-World War II East Broad Top timeline

East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 12 pulls into Orbisonia station for another load of riders on Oct. 14, 1960, during the narrow-gauge’s reopening weekend. Don Wood photo June 24, 1951 Last of seven chartered railfan trips, dating to 1936, operates on EBT. Jan. 1, 1952 C. Roy Wilburn, who eventually would lead the railroad’s day-to-day […]

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Atlas, HO Scale, H-24-66 Train Master

Atlas HO H-24-66 Train Master This Train Master heavy-duty diesel locomotive is the first Atlas HO scale model to include a sound system, which adds even more realism to the smooth-running mechanism and superb detail we’ve come to expect from Atlas. These models include railroad-specific details and come ready-to-run in DC and DCC (Digital Command […]

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Kato introduces HO EMD SD80MAC and SD9043MAC diesel locomotives

Kato HO EMD SD80MAC and SD9043MAC Two of North America’s largest road freight locomotives, the SD80MAC and the SD9043MAC, are the newest additions to Kato’s line of HO models. Both models feature excellent molded plastic bodies, smooth-running mechanisms, and numerous add-on parts that modelers once considered superdetails. With an overall length of 80′-2″, these Electro-Motive […]

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Kato N scale Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs)

Kato N scale Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) After admiring the crisp detail on Kato’s new N scale Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs), my next immediate thought was, “So where in heck’s the motor?” That’s because I could look right through the side windows of these well-engineered, DCC-ready models. Taking a design cue from the prototype, […]

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Railroad electrification proposals

At the end of the 1930s, the United States stood as the world leader in railroad electrification. With 2400 route-miles and more than 6300 track-miles under electric power – far more than any other country – U.S. electrification represented more than 20 percent of the world total. Electricity was harnessed for a variety of railroad […]

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Athearn upgrades its HO scale SD40-2 diesel locomotive

Athearn HO SD40-2 diesel Athearn recently introduced a “new” SD40-2 to replace the firm’s earlier model, which has been available since 1983. Most notably, the new locomotive offers near-scale size plastic handrails, molded in appropriate colors. Also, there are three variations of dynamic brake housings as well as exhaust stack and radiator intake screens that […]

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