A mail-and-express train running as the second section of Santa Fe train 20 descends Edelstein Hill west of Chillicothe, Ill., around 1950. Six express reefers trail the locomotive, followed by several baggage express cars. The locomotive, Pacific No. 3434, has its smokestack extension raised. T. H. Cole Jr. photo […]
Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 2248, built in 1896, remained active into the 1950s providing motive power and pumping capacity for a fire train in the Sierra Nevada. Since the early 1990s, No. 2248 has been in tourist service around Fort Worth. SP photo […]
It’s time to go riding the rails with the Lionel Hobo Sound Boxcar. Initially offered in the Lionel 2021 Volume II catalog, it was confined to half of page 47. Perhaps uncertain of how the product would be received, the manufacturer only offered it in two road names: Erie (pictured, No. 226010); and Rock Island […]
Chris from Chris’s Trains and Things on YouTube takes us inside the Lionel Hobo Sounds Boxcar. This is the Erie version, originally released with a companion Rock Island model in the 2021 Volume 2 catalog. They were delivered in fall 2022. Why review this car? The best part of it is the sounds that come […]
Facts & features Name: Adamsville Branchline Scale: N (1:160) Size: 3′-3″ x 3′-6″ Prototypes: Freelanced Locale: New England Era: Steam-to-diesel transition era Style: Island Mainline run: 13 feet Minimum radius: 9.5″ Minimum turnout: No. 4 Maximum grade: 2% Benchwork: 1 x 2 open grid Height: 8″ Roadbed: Cork Track: Atlas code 80 flextrack Scenery: Cardboard […]
Facts & features Name: Gulf & Pacific RR Scale: HO (1:87) and HOn3 (HO scale, 3-foot narrow gauge) Size: 20 x 24 feet Prototypes: Freelanced Locale: Generic Era: Early 1960s Style: Shelf Mainline run: 180 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 24″ (branch and spurs) Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 4 (branch and spurs) Maximum […]
If you’re driving on Main Street through Hardeeville, S.C., it’s easy to miss the little steam locomotive tucked away in a small open shelter alongside the city’s library. As engines go, it doesn’t get much smaller than Argent Lumber Co. narrow-gauge 2-8-0 No. 7. I found the engine, though, during a brief stop last […]
Louisville & Nashville M-1 2-8-4 1954 (a “Big Emma”) pushes behind the caboose of a northbound coal train on the big Red River bridge south of Winchester, Ky., in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]
The best-selling Fairbanks-Morse diesel locomotives came from the builder’s “H” series of hood units. Even though Fairbanks-Morse built relatively few diesels compared to EMD or Alco, FM locomotives have a solid following among railfans. They were known for being rugged, excellent-pulling locomotives, in spite of their temperamental opposed-piston engines. Fairbanks-Morse chose to develop […]
Q: I have a 5’-6” x 6’-0” HO scale layout modeling south-central Oregon in the years 1950 to 1979. I want to model the industries that I grew up around in that area – potatoes, wheat farming, cattle ranching, and logging. The members of the train club I’m in say that the railroads quit hauling […]
The 4-6-6-4 Challenger was the most successful articulated steam locomotive design. Rating steam locomotives is a risky business. You might easily compare engines by weight or length or lists of accessories, but actual performance — judged by the engineering standards of 2023 — is somewhat subjective. It would be an exaggeration to say […]
Months ago, when the MR staff started talking about more toxic chemicals used on model railroads of the past, I had no idea there would be such a list of them! While hobbyists needed to be creative to get the job done, sadly, some of their choices were unsafe. In some cases, the chemicals were […]
