Ray Mansfield’s O gauge layout video

The mid-1990s were a great time in toy trains full of changes in both the trains themselves as well as in command control. For Ray Mansfield, it was the time to launch work on the layout he had been waiting all his life to build. Watch the streaming video below demonstrating some of the exciting […]

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Review: Atlas O O gauge GE U23B diesel

THE TARGET OF OUR ATTENTION HERE is another addition to the locomotive lineup for the Atlas O Trainman series of value-priced, scale-dimension, three-rail products. Our Atlas model is a General Electric U23B, a four-axle freight-hauler. Don’t let the model number fool you. The General Electric U23B came after the venerable U25B. Of course, the original […]

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Review: MTH O gauge Alco RS-11 RailKing line diesel

ON THE CUSP OF ALCO’S DECLINING YEARS, the Schenectady, N.Y. locomotive builder fielded the 1,800 horsepower RS-11 as a replacement in the catalog for its popular RS-3 (and its cousins). The new Alco locomotive could be purchased in low- or high-hood versions and was suitable for both freight and passenger operations. Its natural target was […]

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O gauge Congressional GG1 by Williams by Bachmann

UNDER THE OWNERSHIP OF BACHMANN INDUSTRIES, the Williams line of O gauge trains remains filled with solidly built, quality products that are affordably priced. This was the key to success under Jerry Williams, and it continues as the hallmark under Bachmann’s management. Strictly speaking, what we’re examining today isn’t a set in the sense that […]

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O gauge Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 by Weaver Models

IF YOU SAY THE NAME “HUDSON” TO ME, I think first of the legions of New York Central J-class engines. I would guess that this image would pop into the minds of most people in the toy train world. Ironically, the Milwaukee Road came up with the first design for a 4-6-4 (which it dubbed […]

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Lionel O gauge Congressional GG1 video

Staff comments on this train set included Roger Carp’s opinion that this is your chance to pick up a handsome classic with modern features – bringing back wonderful memories of Lionel’s second version of the Pennsy’s Congressional train.   […]

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Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 by Weaver Models video

    Enjoy a streaming video of the Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 by Weaver Models! It retails for $1,095, and features 0-42 operation, brass construction, can-style motor, Lionel RailSounds and Train Master systems, Train America Studios’ fan-driven smoke unit and Engineer-On-Board speed control, and coil coupler.    […]

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Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 by Weaver Models video

    Enjoy a streaming video of the Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 by Weaver Models! It retails for $1,095, and features 0-42 operation, brass construction, can-style motor, Lionel RailSounds and Train Master systems, Train America Studios’ fan-driven smoke unit and Engineer-On-Board speed control, and coil coupler.   […]

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Atlas O Phase II GP7

WHEN I WAS A LAD, GEEP 7s AND 9s WERE EVERYWHERE. There were so many that they blended in with the boxcars and hoppers, and often I didn’t bother to photograph a Geep passing by, but waited for either a cab unit or newer power. The truth is that while the Electro-Motive Division’s (EMD) cab-body […]

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MTH O gauge French Railways 4-6-2

BEING A PROUD AMERICAN MODEL RAILROADER, I love our great heritage of O gauge 4-8-4 Northerns, and 4-8-2 Mountains, and the endless line of 4-6-4 Hudsons rolling along North American main lines. So let me note that it is really, really conflicting for me to say that the most intricately detailed die-cast metal locomotive that […]

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Postwar style GG1 locomotive by Lionel

THE POSTWAR-STYLE GG1 IS A FAVORITE IN SOME THREE-RAIL CIRCLES. Back in the day, it was an impressive model of the nation’s premier electric-profile locomotive. The fact that it had a die-cast metal shell and possessed 10 wheelsets to noisily clank and chunk through switches certainly appealed to everyone’s inner kid. This model gets my […]

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