O scale EMD GP35 diesel by Atlas O is a top performer

Atlas O scale EMD GP35 diesel O scale GP35 is a top performer This versatile EMD GP35 diesel road switcher is a good-looking and powerful second-generation general purpose locomotive that will be right at home hauling a hotshot freight or switching a yard. It’s made by Atlas O in two versions for two-rail layouts that […]

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Bachmann HO USRA heavy 4-8-2 Mountain steam locomotive

Bachmann HO USRA heavy 4-8-2 Mountain steam locomotive Will fans of HO scale remember 2003 as the year of the steam locomotive? Perhaps – we’ve already seen several outstanding new releases from a variety of manufacturers. Now Bachmann has stepped forward with its second new steamer of the year, a USRA (United States Railway Administration) […]

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Atlas HO scale EMD SD35 diesels feature railroad-specific details

Atlas HO scale EMD SD35 A trio of excellent HO scale SD35 road switchers has been released as Atlas Master Series Locomotives which feature superb performance, dual flywheel drives, dual-mode DCC decoders, and specific railroad detailing. They represent the Electro-Motive Division’s standard low-nose SD35 road freight locomotive; a high-hood version built for the Norfolk & […]

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Carolina circle

Seaboard’s coach-only mail train, No. 5, at Hamlet, N.C., behind E7 3041 and SDP35 1113. J. David Ingles It’s 300 miles from Knoxville, Tenn., to Raleigh, N.C., as the crow flies. But Classic Trains senior editor J. David Ingles parlayed a round trip between the two cities to 1039 miles on a spring weekend in […]

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Athearn HO scale 50-foot SIECO boxcar

Athearn HO scale 50-foot SIECO boxcar Athearn is now marketing HO models of a common 70-ton single-sheathed boxcar built in the 1970s for general service. These handsome Genesis-series models come ready-to-run and feature numerous separately applied details, magnetic knuckle couplers, and roller- bearing trucks with rotating caps. The prototype cars were built by the Southern […]

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Trainworx N scale 100-ton quad hopper

Trainworx N scale 100-ton quad hopper Trainworx is offering well-detailed, 100-ton quadruple hoppers in N scale that are just the ticket for modeling Western unit coal trains of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Bethlehem Steel introduced its first 100-ton quad hopper in 1963. Although based on the Norfolk & Western’s H-11 triple hopper design, Bethlehem’s […]

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The ways to and from Denver

In the Fall 2001 issue of Classic Trains magazine, Senior Editor Dave Ingles recounts his train trip to and from Denver in May 1967. His detailed notes of train consists and time-keeping of arrivals and departures are presented here. May 11, 1967 IC #21, Green Diamond, Springfield, Ill.-St. LouisIC 4023 E8AIC 4109 E9B CofG 812 […]

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Amtrak’s beginnings

Today you can ride across the United States aboard long-distance Amtrak trains such as the Lake Shore Limited, Silver Star, California Zephyr, or Texas Eagle. The dining cars serve tasty, regional cuisine and the double-deck Sightseer Lounge cars offer a superb platform for viewing America. However, 30 years ago passenger trains in the United States […]

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Railroad electrification proposals

At the end of the 1930s, the United States stood as the world leader in railroad electrification. With 2400 route-miles and more than 6300 track-miles under electric power – far more than any other country – U.S. electrification represented more than 20 percent of the world total. Electricity was harnessed for a variety of railroad […]

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A Little Nervous Calculating

On the Norfolk & Western, when you qualified for passenger service as a fireman or engineer, the Road Forman of Engines’ office put a “p” by your name on the seniority roster. This told the world that you had the right to warm the appropriate seatbox on a locomotive on any passenger train on your […]

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