Arrow stick board kit Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $30 Manufacturer: East Coast Circuits LLC, P.O. Box 25412 Providence, RI 02905; 401-400-0668; eastcoastcircuits.com Features: Seven selectable patterns Circuit remembers pattern if power is lost On/off pattern switch included Works on 9-12V AC or DC power Vehicle not included Release date: October 2022 News & Products is a regular feature of […]
American Z Line diesel locomotive announcements for August 2022 Scale: Z (1:220) Price: Contact manufacturer Era: St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) Electro-Motive Division SW1500 diesel locomotive, October 1968 to 1980s. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Alco PA-1 diesel locomotive, 1947-48 to 1960s Manufacturer: American Z Line, 6142 Northcliff Blvd., Dublin, OH 43016; 614-764-1703; americanzline.com EMD SW1500 features: AutoLatch couplers Prototype-specific details […]
American Car & Foundry PD3500 Flexi Flo hopper Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car, $44.95; two-pack, $89.90; three-pack, $134.85; and six-pack, $269.70 Era: 1964 to 2010s (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Features Early and late body styles 125-ton Barber S-2 […]
Romance aboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited: A bit of background is in order to set the stage for this romance aboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited. For 27 years, my wife, Julie, worked as a children’s librarian. I met her in the library. Yes, you could say I went there to check her out. That was early in […]
BOSTON — The Boston area’s first weekday commute since the shutdown of the rapid transit Orange Line went relatively smoothly Monday, according to news reports, with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority gearing up repair work along the 11-mile line that will be closed for 30 days. Boston.com reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, in […]
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — For the third year in a row, the CSX Santa Train, a legacy of predecessor Clinchfield Railroad, will be sidelined — this time because of staffing and supply-chain issues. The Kingsport Times News reports the 110-mile trip from Kentucky to Kingsport will miss what would have been its 80th anniversary edition. As […]
CHICAGO — Railroads have an advantage over trucks when customers’ shipments have to travel a great distance. Long-haul business is preferred by railroads, aligning with the industry’s focus of moving carloads across the network as efficiently as possible on fewer, longer trains. Shorter moves require the same amount of switching, but don’t necessarily produce the […]
MILWAUKEE — The state of Wisconsin has filed a brief document with the Federal Transit Administration in support of a private corporation’s plan to provide commuter rail service between Milwaukee and Kenosha, Wis. — a long-discussed but moribund project dating to 1998. The two-page “Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail Project Development Profile” was filed by the Wisconsin […]
READING, Pa. — The recently created agency to revive passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia has selected a consultant for the project. Patch.com reports the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority voted to employ Washington, D.C., based Transportation for America as consultant, subject to review of the contract by the authority’s solicitor. Transportation Economics & […]
Electro-Motive Diesel SD70ACe diesel locomotive Scale: N (1:160) Price: Direct-current model with Next18 connector, $119.99; with dual-mode ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder, $219.99 Era: 2007-present (depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, 7598 Highway 411, Benton, TN 37307; 844-987-2467; scaletrains.com Features: Road number-specific details Factory-installed details including wire grab irons, m.u. clusters, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, and […]
Amtrak Hiawatha service highlights Amtrak runs daily trains called the Hiawatha Service between Milwaukee and Chicago. This service provides easy access for those living in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois to the downtown centers of both cities. There are six daily trains in both directions, an additional train at peak morning commute times during weekdays, […]
National passenger carrier Amtrak recently turned 50 years old. To mark the occasion, Lionel has released a LionChief 2.0 version of its P42 Genesis locomotive. These engines will run on O-31 curves and they’re loaded with detail. They feature operating couplers front and rear, a nice pilot with MU detail, ditch lights, headlights, a spectacular […]
