Ask Trains from October 2007

Q On many Union Pacific refrigerated boxcars, the reporting mark “ARMN” appears below the UP shield. What railroad is that?– Kevin Margan, Madison, Wis. A Normally any reporting mark not ending is “X” indeed stands for a railroad company (“X” signifying privately owned cars), and UP, like several Class Is, still uses initials of railroads […]

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Ask Trains from May 2007

Q On page 57 of January TRAINS is a magnificent photo of a BNSF train about to hit the diamonds at Savanna, Ill. What intrigues me is thepattern on the railheads within the diamond. They appear to be deliberate and not just from wear. Is there a reason for them, or are my eyes deceiving […]

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Ask Trains from May 2008

Q As a boy, I used to watch the magnificent Southern Pacific cab-forward steam locomotives on their way to Donner Summit in Northern California. Someone referred to them as Mallets. What’s the true definition of a Mallet? — C.W. Haffey, Bakersfield, Calif. A By definition, a Mallet (mal-LAY) is an articulated, meaning the two engine […]

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A look back in time: October 1958

As of October 1, 1958, Class I railroads own or lease 27,622 diesel locomotives, 1,532 steam locomotives, and 559 electrics. . . . Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line are mulling a merger. . . . New York Central unveils a system for transporting ballistic missiles in conventional 70-foot baggage cars. . . . […]

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Broadway Limited Imports HO scale EMD F7 A-B set

Broadway Limited Imports HO scale EMD F7 A-B set An HO scale model of an Electro-Motive Division F7 A and B set puts sophisticated, configurable sound in a direct-current locomotive. Though the BlueLine locomotives from Broadway Limited Imports don’t have Digital Command Control (DCC) installed, they do have a sound system. The engine features synchronized […]

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UP plans tour for steamer 3985 NEWSWIRE

OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific “Challenger” steam locomotive No. 3985 will tour the Midwest this fall, covering 1,750 miles in 23 days and visiting towns in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. To help people track the trip, UP has installed a global positioning satellite transmitted in one of the train’s cars and will use it to […]

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News & Products for September 4, 2008

HO scale locomotives Northern Pacific Electro-Motive Division F7 diesel locomotives. “Main Street of the Northwest” slogan. Five-pole skew-wound motor with flywheels, prototype-specific details, and magnetic knuckle couplers. Sound-equipped units have individual sound boards installed in both A and B units. A unit only: without sound, $139.98; with sound, $209.98. A-B set: without sound, $279.98; with […]

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Aristo-Craft C-16 locomotive

Kevin Strong 1:24 scale, gauge 1, ready-to-run 2-8-0 (with wood-style caboose)Aristo-Craft Trains698 S. 21st St.Irvington NJ 07111Price: $420Web site: www.aristocraft.com Plastic, electrically powered model of the C-16 class (formerly class 60) locomotive of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad; comes with a matching plastic model of the D&RG wood long caboose; minimum radius, 2′. Dimensions […]

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Athearn HO scale SD60M

Athearn Trains HO scale EMD SD60M A well-proportioned HO scale SD60M diesel locomotive with a dual-mode Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder with sound, detailed cab interior, and separately applied details is now part of the Athearn Genesis line. This newly tooled model (this isn’t an upgraded Rail Power Products shell) is based on the General […]

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MTH to get some Broadway Limited tooling

(Updated Aug. 15) – MTH Electric Trains and Model Korea Trading Co. (formerly Korea Brass) announced that the companies have resolved their longstanding legal battle in a settlement that includes a cash payment and the transfer of some tooling for Broadway Limited HO locomotives to MTH. Also resolved were two other cases involving a patent […]

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O gauge 4-12-2 by MTH

All right, already. The Union Pacific was the Big Cheese of big steam. Sure, the Pennsy might have had a zillion K4s and their 4-4-4-4s did turn heads, but it was the UP that had the most amazing giant freight haulers. The O gauge world recognizes this with models of the FEF-class 4-8-4, the large […]

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