New model trains for the week of April 18, 2019

ScaleTrains.com HO scale General Electric Tier 4 GEVo diesel locomotives

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP39-2 diesel locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (“Kodachrome” and blue-and-yellow warbonnet); Burlington Northern (Cascade Green with nose stripes, four road numbers); CSX (D&H Guilford scheme patchout); Delaware & Hudson (Guilford scheme, four numbers); Missouri-Kansas-Texas (green and yellow, four numbers); and Soo Line (Candy Apple Red). Two numbers per scheme […]

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Broadway Limited Imports N scale PRR T1 4-4-4-4

Broadway Limited Imports N scale PRR T1 4-4-4-4

Broadway Limited Imports N scale PRR T1 4-4-4-4 The T1 is equipped with magnetic knuckle couplers. Details like wire grab irons and train-phone system antenna add to the realism. I recently reviewed two N scale diesel locomotives from Broadway Limited Imports (BLI) featuring Paragon3 Digital Command Control (DCC) decoders with Rolling Thunder (March and May […]

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ScaleTrains.com HO scale GE C44-9W diesel

ScaleTrains.com HO scale GE C44-9W diesel

ScaleTrains.com HO scale GE C44-9W diesel With its myriad roadname- and roadnumber-specific detail variations, this HO scale General Electric C44-9W diesel-electric locomotive from ScaleTrains.com ensures that there’s plenty for all the “rivet counters” out there to scrutinize. And they won’t be disappointed. For this review I tested a Rivet Counter-series model that came factory- equipped […]

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Arrowhead Models HO scale ‘Committee Design’ hopper

MRRPR0619_03

Arrowhead Models HO scale ‘Committee Design’ hopper The slope sheets with their steeper ends are clearly visible on Arrowhead Models’ Committee Design 70-ton hopper. Design by committee isn’t usually a ringing endorsement, but these new HO scale 70-ton coal hoppers from Arrowhead Models could certainly turn the tide. The committee in question included Pennsylvania RR, […]

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Walthers Cornerstone HO scale American Bungalow kit

MRRPR0619_21

Walthers Cornerstone HO scale American Bungalow kit Price: $29.98 Manufacturer Wm. K. Walthers Inc. 5601 W. Florist Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53218 www.walthers.com Era: 1910s to present Comments: The American Bungalow is the latest addition to the Walthers Cornerstone series. The HO scale plastic kit measures 35⁄8″ x 611⁄32″. Introduced more than a century ago, the […]

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Bachmann HO scale test weight car

MRRPR0619_05

Bachmann HO scale test weight car Price: $39 Manufacturer Bachmann Trains 1400 East Erie Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19124 www.bachmanntrains.com Era: 1930s to present Road names: Burlington Northern, Baltimore & Ohio, Canadian National, and Union Pacific. Also available painted black but unlettered. Comments: Used for calibrating track scales, test weight cars (also called scale test cars) […]

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How to build a stow-away model railroad test track

modelrailroadtesttrack

Tom Knapp’s workshop now sports this N scale standard and narrow gauge model railroad test track that folds up. With the safety bolt retracted, Tom can lift the table out of its hangers and tip it up against the door. The test track folds flat against the door, where it’s held by a magnetic latch […]

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Olympia 2, The Log Blog: Part 24

The Olympia layout

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page You’ve been asking for a updated operating plan for the new and improved Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. In this installment, David not only delivers a scheme, but he also runs a few trains to demonstrate how it all comes together. As a […]

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A map of the Union Pacific today — that includes the original route of the Transcontinental Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad Map Transcontinental Railroad successor

Union Pacific Railroad as of 2019 The original Transcontinental Railroad route was the combined efforts of two railroads: the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. By 2019, 150 years after joining their rails at Promontory Summit, Utah, only the Union Pacific remains.  Union Pacific operates along much of the original Transcontinental Railroad route between Sacramento, […]

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What’s in the Transcontinental Railroad’s most famous photograph?

Andrew J. Russell champagne photograph A.J. Russell

1.) Samuel S. Montague, Central Pacific chief engineer 2.) Grenville M. Dodge, Union Pacific chief engineer 3.) James H. Strobridge, CP construction superintendent 4.) Unknown UP officials 5.) CP Jupiter engineer George Booth 6.) Beverages, possibly champagne 7.) UP No. 119 engineer Sam Bradford 8.) Funnel or “Yankee” stack for a wood burning locomotive 9.) Coal oil or […]

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