WalthersProto HO scale EMD GP30 diesel locomotive

WalthersProto HO scale GP30 diesel locomotive Featuring a high level of protoypical detail and available with a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control decoder, the WalthersProto HO scale GP30 captures the sights and sounds of its second-generation prototype. The decoder delivers realistic sound on direct-current and DCC layouts. In the early 1960s, General Electric had severed […]

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New products for the week of November 20, 2014

Athearn Trains HO scale Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe CF7 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe CF7 diesel locomotive. New road names: BNSF Ry. (Heritage I) and Watco (three Santa Fe patchouts, one number each). New road numbers: Amtrak and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (round cab in pinstripe scheme, angled […]

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Vermont Rail System locomotive roster

NOTES: 1. Owned by Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority 2. Lettered Washington County Railroad 3. Painted in 50th anniversary scheme 4. Built as ACL GP7 No. 103 in 1950, rebuilt by SCL to GP16 ABBREVIATIONS: CLP – Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad GMRC – Green Mountain Railroad NY&OC – New York & Ogdensburg Railway VTR – […]

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New products for the week of July 31, 2014

HO scale locomotives AEM-7 electric locomotive. New fictional paint schemes: Great Northern, Lackawanna, Milwaukee Road, Pennsylvania RR, and Reading Co. Two road numbers each. New road numbers: Amtrak (as delivered or Acela) and NJ Transit. Three numbers each. Operating pantographs, separately applied wire grab irons, and Accumate couplers. Direct-current model, $179.95; with dual-mode ESU sound […]

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Rice Harbor freight car roster

1930s-era freight cars and locomotive on Model Railroader‘s Rice Harbor project layout. Accurail No. 2500 series Norfolk & Western USRA twin hoppers (2) No. 4111 Virginian 40-foot outside braced-boxcar with wood doors and wood ends No. 4311 New York Central 40-foot outside-braced boxcar with wood doors and metal ends No. 43041 Pennsylvania 40-foot outside-braced boxcar […]

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The cat’s out of the bag

Anything in the path of fast-moving N&W class J was sure to sustain significant damage. W. A. Akin Jr. Back in the glory days, the speed limit for passenger trains on Norfolk & Western’s Bristol Line was 65 mph. Several of the trains, including 45 and 46, the streamlined Tennessean, did considerable station work en […]

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MTH HO scale GP35 diesel locomotive

MTH HO scale GP35 diesel locomotive A horn blast and the rumble of a 567 diesel signal the arrival of this HO scale GP35 locomotive from MTH. The model’s proprietary Digital Command System (DCS) features realistic sound on direct-current (DC), Digital Command Control (DCC), and DCS layouts. The prototype. Between October 1963 and January 1966, […]

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Highest points and steepest grades on America’s classic railroads

Railroad names: Georgia Railroad, Great Northern, Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, Illinois Central, Kansas City Southern, Lehigh Valley, Louisville & Nashville, Maine Central, Milwaukee Road, Missouri Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, Monon, Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, New Haven, New York Central, New York, Ontario & Western, Nickel Plate, Norfolk & Western, Northern Pacific, Pennsylvania, Reading, Rock Island, Rutland, […]

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Dad, trains, and me

In a photo by his dad, 11-year-old Michael Landry stands in Pontiac, Mich., with the Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 they rode from Detroit on March 24, 1960. Hank Landry There I am, 11 years old, dwarfed by the Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 on the next track during its stop at Pontiac, Mich., on March 24, […]

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Historic diesel and steam

Norfolk & Western Bicentennial SD45 No. 1776 ties onto Southern Railway 2-8-2 No. 4501 at Mullens, W.Va., on July 5, 1974, during the multi-day Independence Limited II excursion from Cincinnati to Alexandria, Va. The SD45 helped the 1911 Mikado on steep grades over former Virginian trackage between Gilbert and Narrows. Photo by J. David Ingles […]

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New products for May 24, 2012

HO scale locomotives  General Electric U25B diesel locomotive. New road name: Southern Pacific (road no. 3100). Upgraded handrails, separately applied details, and RP-25 contour metal wheelsets. Bowser will donate $15 from each sale to Orange Empire Ry. Museum. Direct current, $199.95. With SoundTraxx Digital Command Control sound decoder, $299.95. Late 2012. Ready-to-run. Executive Line. Bowser, […]

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Western mainline tonnage growth: 1979 to 2001

This Map of the Month was featured in the June 2003 issue of  Trains magazine. We know railroads experienced a lot of traffic growth since they were deregulated in 1980, but where? And more importantly, which lines did better or worse than average? This map of western main lines compares the growth rate in tonnage […]

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