Life-Like N scale USRA Y3 2-8-8-2 Life-Like has released a great looking model of the Norfolk & Western class Y3 2-8-8-2 that’s a bit of a mixed blessing. It’s a smooth runner, but its gearing delivers an excessive scale speed. This 2-8-8-2’s prototype is the largest locomotive built for the United States Railroad Administration during […]
LGB G scale USRA Mikado 2-8-2 If you’re a committed G scale operator, a fan of well-designed model steam power, or just a modeler who’d like a very, very impressive locomotive to display on the fireplace mantel, LGB’s new Mikado deserves a look. It’s a great example of several trends in model railroading: more steam […]
Life-Like’s Proto 2000 HO USRA 0-6-0 steam switcher Life-Like’s new Proto 2000-series United States Railroad Administration 0-6-0 steam switcher is a sweet little yard engine. It’s accurate, well-proportioned, and an extremely smooth and quiet runner. It’s just the size to be at home in even the most modest model railroad yards and industrial districts. The […]
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Trix HO scale Big Boy 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive What better way to make a big splash in the model railroad market than to introduce a top-notch model of the world’s biggest steam locomotive. Märklin introduced its Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 last year in a three-rail AC version, but most U. S. HO enthusiasts have had to […]
Bachmann HO scale Russian 2-10-0 Decapod steam locomotive Bachmann has released an interesting HO lightweight 2-10-0 Decapod based on the prototypes built for Russia during World War I. Even with ten drivers, this Decapod is about the same size as the Bachmann 2-8-0 reviewed in the June 1998 Model Railroader. According to George Drury’s Guide […]
Bachmann N scale 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive Bachmann’s eagerly awaited N scale 2-8-0 has pulled up on the ready track and is just what we’d hoped it would be: a good-running engine with a wealth of detail rivaling high-ticket brass imports. Made in China, the locomotive is marketed in Bachmann’s Spectrum line of higher-end model […]
Bachmann HO scale Norfolk & Western class J streamlined 4-8-4 steam locomotive Bachmann’s Spectrum-line HO Norfolk & Western class J 4-8-4 is an exciting, all-new locomotive. It shouldn’t be confused with the model of the same prototype that Bachmann introduced in 1985, which missed the mark on many dimensions. The new locomotive is highly accurate […]
San Juan Car Co. On3 class C-16 Consolidation 2-8-0 San Juan Car Co. has released a plastic kit for a narrow gauge 2-8-0 with detail exceeding brass imports. The kit replicates Denver & Rio Grande Western class C-16 locomotive no. 278 as it appeared in 1940. It features a Faulhaber micro-motor running an enclosed spur […]
Rivarossi Allegheny 2-6-6-6 steam locomotive “How we loved to call an engine big!” That was a fond declaration of David P. Morgan, the longtime editor of Trains Magazine who stood second to none in admiration of steam locomotives. Even in HO, the new 2-6-6-6 Allegheny-type simple articulated from Rivarossi and Walthers is an engine that […]
During my career as an engineman on the Southern Pacific, I ran and fired locomotives carrying from 185 to 300 psi of superheated steam. The engine in this story was a 3700-class 2-10-2 which carried 200 psi of steam at 510 degrees F. Every road locomotive had two water glasses, one on the engineer’s side […]
For many years, the Lehigh Valley maintained some offices in downtown Philadelphia, even though this was an off-line point. In the mid-1940’s, the Valley relocated the offices to its building just west of the Bethlehem (Pa.) Union Station. The LV cushioned the hardship of the move by having a special chartered train run each working […]
