I’M VERY PLEASED TO NOTE that if I was mildly disappointed in Lionel’s scale-detailed GP7 (see November 2008 reviews), the firm’s O gauge rendering of a pinnacle of modern locomotion, the EMD SD70ACe, has more than made up for it in the Department of Wow. The prototype has plenty of detail points to model, and […]
Name: Colorado & Southern Ohio Creek Extension Scale: On3 and On21/2 (1:48) Size: 28′-3″ x 29′-8″ plus 28′-0″ branch (Ruby-Irwin) Prototype: On3 Colorado & Southern with freelanced On2½ Elk Mountain Timber Co. Ry. Locale: Gunnison County, Colo. Period: late summer of 1942 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 100 feet Minimum radius: 37″ with easements Minimum turnout: […]
Name: Somerset County Traction System, Easton & Amboy RR, and Harter Felsen Quarry Co. Scale: O (1:48) and On21/2 Size: 32 x 40 feet with 10 x 20 foot extension in crawl space Prototype: freelance Locale: north central New Jersey Period: September 1957 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 350 feet (SCTS), 225 feet (E&A), and 35 […]
Atlas O Electro-Motive Division MP 15DC diesel switcher in O scale While this superb MP15DC model may look like a yard switcher, it rides on GP-type trucks that also suit it to road service. Atlas O Electro-Motive Division MP 15DC diesel switcher in O scale While this superb MP15DC model may look like a yard […]
LET’S CUT RIGHT TO THE CHASE. This is the finest steam locomotive that Lionel has ever made. Period. End of discussion. Insert photo of me puckering up to give this steamer a big old smooch. Whew. OK, I’ve taken a deep breath. I’ve cooled down. Now, on with the rest of the review. This Lionel […]
ATLAS O’S PEDIGREE includes the Atlas product lines in N and HO scales. The same attention to detail and overall quality that goes into the Atlas product line is the foundation of Atlas O’s three product groupings: The Master line of rugged, high-end, superbly detailed O scale locomotives and rolling stock; the Trainman line of […]
FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES, the center of electric-powered railroading in North America was the Pennsy. Oh sure, you might have had a little out west or on the New Haven, but the Pennsylvania RR’s electrified operations were the pinnacle of high-speed and high-tonnage operations in the United States. The Pennsylvania had an eclectic mix of […]
OKAY, SO THE BRASS IN LIONELVILLE was trying to come up with a new engine for starter sets. Or, better said, they were trying to develop a new value-priced locomotive that could be sold separately or in starter sets. Of the gazillions of prototypes out there, Lionel settled on the USRA 0-8-0 steam locomotive. That […]
OKAY, THE SUPERSTREETS STUFF IS, well, kinda starter-set material – but not quite in the sense of there being a train involved. Both of these sets have a powered unit and track with metal rails, and even a power supply. And oh, yes, trains can run on the track, too. But strictly speaking, they aren’t […]
LIKE THE UNITED STATES, much of Canada is flat and empty with a humongous mountain range over on the left side. Factor in absurdly bad winters, and railroading in Canada requires industrial-strength solutions. It takes quite a bit of effort to haul people and things today, and it was not any easier in the steam […]
THERE WAS A SHORT TIME when the influence of General Motors’ automotive engineering was felt in the real world of locomotion. The two most significant of those designs were the Aerotrain streamliner and the BL2 diesel road switcher. The concept behind the BL2 was, more or less, to take the mechanicals of an F unit […]
Okay, so Czar Nicholas II lost the Bolshevik revolution and allowed Russia to slide into four generations of murderous totalitarian rule. But let’s not dwell on the negative – look at the bright side: American railroads got all those 2-10-0s Decapods that were built in the United States to help the Russians fight the Kaiser […]
