F3s on Tennessee Pass

20161206

Rio Grande F3 diesels grind upgrade at Mitchell, Colo., a mile east of the summit of Tennessee Pass, in October 1947. Two steam helpers provide assistance on the 3-percent grade. L. O. Merrill photo […]

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Kato HO scale GE C44-9W

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Kato HO scale GE C44-9W For more than 20 years, the General Electric C44-9W, the most popular locomotive of GE’s Dash 9 series, has maintained a dominating presence on North American main lines. The prototypes were only a couple years old when Kato released its first HO scale Dash 9, reviewed in the September 1996 […]

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Rapido N scale EMD FL9

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Rapido’s N scale EMD FL9 A split die-cast metal frame surrounds the motor and flywheels. Driveshafts transfer power to the trucks, driving four of the five axles, just like the prototype. N scale modelers who want to model commuter operations on the New York, New Haven & Hartford don’t have to pine for the HO […]

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E5 with new bi-levels

20161213

An E5 heads up one of the first Burlington Route commuter train to sport the new bi-level “gallery” cars delivered by Budd in 1950. The train is eastbound at famous Naperville curve on the triple-track west of Chicago. Bob Borcherding photo […]

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Erie PA at Hoboken

20161230

Erie Railroad Alco passenger diesel No. 860 stands with a train at Hoboken, N.J., in April 1959. Erie’s 14 PAs all went to the Erie-Lackawanna upon the Erie’s merger with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western in 1960. Erie began using Lackawanna’s Hoboken terminal a few years before the two roads merged. Louis A. Marre collection […]

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1990s B units

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Santa Fe management ordered 23 GP60B units in 1991 for road service. Today, these four-axle veterans still ply BNSF Railway rails, but mostly on local jobs. Bob Miller Q I was watching railroad videos of the 1990s and saw locomotives without cabs in various consists. I rarely see these units on the main lines of […]

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New model trains for the week of December 1, 2016

Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotive

Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotive. Illinois Terminal; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (four road numbers); Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern (two numbers); Norfolk & Western; and Southern Pacific (four numbers). Three road numbers per scheme unless noted; also available undecorated. Railroad-specific details, factory-installed and painted […]

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