Hornby America, Inc. HO scale Big Boy steam locomotive With a coat of factory-applied grime and rust, this HO scale Big Boy looks like it’s seen years of hard use. Since the late 1960s Rivarossi has manufactured Big Boy 4-8-8-4 locomotives in HO scale. This is the first Rivarossi Big Boy to be weathered and […]
Con-Cor International N scale Aerotrain Following the success of the HO scale Aerotrain, reviewed in the May 2008 issue of Model Railroader, Con-Cor now offers this articulated passenger train in N. The ready-to-run model is designed for direct-current layouts, but provisions are included for adding Digital Command Control and sound. Prototype history. The two nine-car […]
Q In March Trains, an article on the demise of semaphore signals on the former Monon [Page 14] mentioned that CSX was doing away with lineside pole lines and their maintenance. It said the new system will use Electro Code, a system where signal communications run through the rails. How is this done?– Richard K. […]
Broadway Limited Improts HO scale AC6000CW diesel locomotive Including a Digital Command Control sound decoder and dual speakers, this HO scale AC6000CW captures the rumble of its 6,000-hp prototype. The Broadway Limited Imports Paragon 2 AC6000CW uses the same tooling as the model we reviewed in the May 2006 Model Railroader, but includes a new […]
Our June 2009 “Fantrip” offered an itinerary for a 10-day Colorado railfan vacation. But you have 11 days to explore! Just in case you find yourself with time to spare, here are more ideas for railfan fun in Rocky Mountain territory. The Forney Transportation Museum The museum features more than 500 transportation exhibits. For the […]
HO scale E7A diesel locomotive by Proto 2000 from Walthers Available in a version with a dual-mode Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder, the upgraded Proto 2000 from Walthers HO scale E7 sounds as good as it looks. The model is a worthy depiction of its streamlined prototype, which led signature passenger trains, including the […]
Atlas N scale GP15-1 diesel A light-duty Electro-Motive Division road switcher built to work yards or haul short local freights is now available as an accurate N scale model. The Atlas GP15-1 features exceptional performance, especially at slow speeds, and can be easily converted to Digital Command Control. Prototype. By the 1970s railroads began using […]
Broadway Limited Imports HO scale brass hybrid 2-10-2 Before the introduction of the Challenger and Big Boy types, the class TTT 2-10-2 was the premier heavy freighter on the Union Pacific RR. The HO scale UP class TTT-6 from Broadway Limited Imports features brass, metal, and plastic construction and a dual-mode Digital Command Control sound […]
Walthers N scale 2-8-8-2 Y3a Mallet A highly detailed N scale model of a Y3a 2-8-8-2 steam locomotive is now available with a factory- installed sound system. This N scale Y3a from Walthers features a dual-mode Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. The tooling for the model is the same as the DC version from […]
SIXTY YEARS AGO, if you’d lined up Alco, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, Electro-Motive, Fairbanks-Morse, and General Electric diesels and tried to pick which would rule 21st-Century railroading, few would have guessed it would be GE. After all, General Electric was a late-comer to the locomotive business and was chiefly known for supplying electrical components to other locomotive builders. […]
I’M VERY PLEASED TO NOTE that if I was mildly disappointed in Lionel’s scale-detailed GP7 (see November 2008 reviews), the firm’s O gauge rendering of a pinnacle of modern locomotion, the EMD SD70ACe, has more than made up for it in the Department of Wow. The prototype has plenty of detail points to model, and […]
Q I saw a big tank car (DUPX 29744) at Wilson, N.C. It was quite long, with four trucks. What products do these cars carry? How many are there, how heavy are they, and why so big? – D. Wescott, Wilson, N.C. A It is a 43,800-gallon, 526,000-pound (gross weight) car owned by DuPont, in […]
