EDITOR’S NOTE: When we asked the Class I railroads for input on the May 2010 locomotive column on the subject of A.C. traction diesels, Norfolk Southern Assistant Vice President-Mechanical Don Graab responded by email and provided us some great detail. What follows is his perspective on why some railroads order only A.C. diesels, some D.C., […]
Type of Train: Diesel Locomotives
Norfolk Southern thunders through Salisbury, N.C.
Norfolk Southern train 119 thunders through Salisbury, N.C., on Jan. 23, 2008, led by SD60 No. 6694. Photo by Clint Renegar […]
News & Products for March 25, 2010
HO scale locomotives United States Railroad Administration heavy and light Mikado steam locomotives. Heavy: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Chicago & North Western; Missouri Pacific RR; New Haven; Nickel Plate Road; Southern Ry.; and Western Pacific. Light: Canadian National, Florida East Coast, Lehigh & Hudson, Maine Central, National Ry. of Mexico, New York Central (Indiana […]
Fox Valley Models N scale ES44AC diesel locomotive
Fox Valley Models N scale ES44AC diesel locomotive A General Electric ES44AC is the debut locomotive from Fox Valley Models. The direct-current ready-to-run N scale model, based on GE’s Evolution Series locomotive, uses a split-frame mechanism and features numerous railroad-specific details. A package of modeler- installed etched-metal and wire details is also included. The GE […]
Athearn HO scale FP7 diesel locomotive
Athearn HO scale FP7 diesel locomotive Whether hauling a passenger train at speed or rumbling along with a local freight, this new HO scale FP7 sounds as good as it looks. Part of Athearn’s high-end Genesis line, the FP7 features many roadname-specific details. The model is available with a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) […]
Atlas HO scale RSD-12 diesel locomotive
Unpainted Atlas HO scale RSD-12 diesel locomotive Blane Pebesma The Atlas RSD-12 has some detail; molded-on grab irons, separately applied brake wheel, clear window glazing, places for M.U. hoses, and it sells for about $70.00. Although this model is a discontinued product, it has a Kato motor, twelve-wheel electrical pick-up, twelve-wheel drive, non-directional headlights, and […]
Locomotives and rolling stock
Types of locomotives Prototype steam engines were used for about 130 years, from the first railroads in the 1830s until the early 1960s. The first diesels appeared in the early 1930s and operated side-by-side with steamers on many railroads during the 1940s and early 1950s. A wide variety of plastic and metal locomotive models is […]
A simple transition-era locomotive terminal
Linn H. Westcott Want to add a basic locomotive servicing area but don’t have room for the turntable, roundhouse, and other shop and warehouse buildings typical of a large facility? As this 1953 photo of a Missouri Pacific RR fueling facility in Little Rock, Ark., shows, a no-frills fueling area can easily be modeled in […]
‘Winton’s train’; remembering a Holocaust hero
The year was 1939, and 29-year-old British stockbroker Nicholas Winton was set to leave for Switzerland on a ski holiday when he answered his phone. It was a friend conducting humanitarian aid in Prague, Czechoslovakia. This friend described the refugee camps in which he worked, and asked Winton to abandon his holiday, come to Prague, […]
Bachmann Spectrum 44-tonner in N scale diesel locomotive
Bachmann Spectrum 44-tonner in N scale This N scale model of a General Electric 44-ton switcher features a dual-mode Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder that runs well in both DC and DCC modes. The Bachmann 44-tonner is part of the firm’s Spectrum series and is a highly detailed N scale model of its hard-working prototype. […]
Micro-Trains’ Z scale EMD SD40-2 diesel locomotive
Micro-Trains’ Z scale EMD SD40-2 diesel locomotive This SD40-2 from Micro-Trains Line Co. has an impressive amount of accurate detail, especially considering that it’s a 1:220-proportion model. This diminutive diesel also has one of the quietest, smoothest running mechanisms of any locomotive that I’ve encountered in any scale. Prototype. General Motors Electro-Motive Division built the […]
Iowa Interstate’s Rock Island ‘Heritage Unit’ emerges NEWSWIRE
This Rock Island paint scheme served as the prototype for Iowa Interstate’s new ‘Heritage’ locomotive (pictured above). Electro-Motive Mid-America Car KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa Interstate ES44AC No. 513 has emerged from the paint shop at Mid-America Car wearing Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific colors. The unit will serve on Interstate’s ex-Rock Island route between […]
