Treasure Island Special

This will be a spectacular but awfully expensive model.  Were Walther’s only to do it in plastic…..

Over at Coach Yard: Treasure Island Special

IHB and BRC Gensets

I didn't even know the IHB or BRC had any Gensets but sure enough here are pictures on the IHB and more of the BRC's trio.

Atlas is announcing these in HO due spring of 2013.

And here's some video to enjoy until then.

The correct RPO for those Walther’s Pere Marquette Cars

The RPO car coming out with the new Walther’s Pere Marquette cars is all wrong.  Now, if I can only get the guys over at NKP Car Sides to give us the sides for the correct car shown below from the Pere Marquette Historical Society.  Link below.

H/T Pere Marquette Historical Society Photo Gallery

Broadway Limited’s IC E6A

This looks like a very nice model in a much needed scheme.

2339 EMD E6A, IC #4002, Chocolate & Orange Scheme, Paragon2 Sound/DC/DCC, HO

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Your Price: Order from your dealer today!

Item Number: BLI-2339

Product Line: Diesel, HO

Expected Delivery: Feb-13

A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THIS MODEL

EMD built the E-Units between 1937 through 1963. Originally the name E unit referred to the fact that these units boasted of eighteen hundred horsepower. This designation remained throughout the E unit production even though later models incorporated higher horsepower ratings. Due to the technology of the time, E units like many locomotives used multiple units to achieve the required power. EMD offered cabled units called B or booster units. Some railroads ordered AB, ABB or ABA units depending on power needs.E6s were manufactured by EMD in La Grange, Illinois, between the years 1939 and 1941. To achieve 2,000 horsepower, EMD combined two 1,000 horsepower, 12 cylinder, model 567 engines inside of the engine compartment.

2339 EMD E6A, IC #4002, Chocolate & Orange Scheme, Paragon2 Sound/DC/DCC, HO

HO Single Window and Paired Window Heavyweight Coaches

Nice to see Atlas bringing these Branchline Coaches back.  I hope they do the UP Overland scheme.

HO Single Window and Paired Window Heavyweight Coaches

Santa Fee Railroad Historical and Modeling Society Books

A pretty impressive sounding book from the Society.

Sleeping Cars of the Santa Fe is the final installment in our Passenger Car Reference Series. A comprehensive overview of Santa Fe sleeping cars from the wood car era through the heavyweights to the end of the lightweight era, this volume covers Wooden Sleeping Cars, Wooden Sleepers Acquired from the Pecos Valley and Northeastern, Wooden Emigrant Sleeping Cars, Wooden All-Section Tourist Sleepers, Wooden Sleeping Car Assignments, Heavyweight Sleeping Cars, Heavyweight Cars Purchased for Work Service Only, Heavyweight Cars purchased for Business or Special Purpose Use, Foreign-Line and Pullman-Owned Heavyweight Sleepers used on AT&SF Scheduled Trains, 1950-1959, Lightweight Sleeping Cars, Lightweight Sleeping Cars Not Built, Lightweight Sleeping Car Assignments, Foreign Road Sleepers on the Santa Fe, Santa Fe Sleepers on Foreign Roads and Dormitory Cars.

11" x 8 1/2" library found with dust jacket, 406 pages, 459 photos (41 in color), 101 drawings, 58 maps and ephemera, Appendix (including Glossary of Santa Fe Lightweight Sleeping Car Names and Reservation Cipher Code), Bibliography. ISBN: 978-1-933587-27-1.

SFRHMS Books

Wisconsin Southern, Madison, June 2012

Shot these Sunday in Madison by my kid's dorm. Hard to get a good shot from this angle but it was all that was available to me without stepping into a busy street.

Sparkling clean SD40-2's in Wisconsin Southern's classic scheme.

Athearn Good News / Bad News????

via Trainorders.com

Just got a call from my Horizon rep and found out that the retail prices on products will most likely hold where they are but the discount to dealers will be lowered by 8%. That is a big hit for the hobby stores. First Walthers with their 10% hit to dealers, now Horizon on Athearn products.

Bottom line good news for the model railroader bad news for the local hobby shop.

Athearn Good News / Bad News????

It’s bad news for everyone concerned with the hobby.  The prices are killing Model Railroading.  What’s bad news for the retailer is bad news for all of us, because it’s the retailers who grow the hobby.

Important Update: ExactRail Dealer Network

An email from ExactRail.  I’m expecting others to follow suit and I’m not happy about what this means for the hobby.  The Hobby Shop plays a critical role promoting our hobby. I can’t imagine a business model that works without them.

Important Update

As of May 1, 2012, ExactRail will no longer offer a dealer discount and will discontinue our dealer network. Cost of production has increased considerably for ExactRail over the last two years. We have absorbed most of these increases through our margins, however this is not a supportable model for our business. Our conclusion is that we can keep prices reasonable by serving you directly. We believe we can both benefit from having direct interaction.

The future of ExactRail is bright with many exciting and innovative new products coming soon. Over the past year we have been busier than ever in new product development, the quality and authenticity of our products will exceed anything that ExactRail has released to date. You have a lot to look forward to from ExactRail.

Keep an eye on ExactRail.com and our Facebook page for some exciting upcoming announcements!

Happy Railroading,

The ExactRail Team

Important Update: ExactRail Dealer Network

Welcome to French and European Model Trains

Check it out….  saw their ad in Rail Road Model Craftsman

Welcome to French and European Model Trains

The SNCF steam is really impressive.

Update: and some nice video of French trains....

MTH SD70ACe ExactRail BLMA Trinity '64 Reefer Union Pacific Produce Train

A lot of BLMA Trinity reefers! All spanking clean.... I've seen this often on the UP West Line but never ever once without plenty of graffiti on 'em. All that white surface just too tempting.

Johnsonville Tower by Railway Heritage Models

They had an ad in the latest Railroad Model Craftsman for this kit.

It'll be in HO and N versions and their site is: http://www.thenarch.com

Indiana Harbor Belt GP40-2 by Atlas at Lombard Hobbies

Test running one of the Atlas GP40-2's in the IHB scheme with sound (it's loud).

It's http://www.lombardhobby.com by the way. They're fussy about that. Not lombardhobbies...



Also, a couple of shots of a Santa Fe step-up coach I bought. Walther's has outdone themselves here. The pictures don't do the piece justice.

Lombard Hobbies Feb 14, 2012 Checking out new Athearan RTR

Checking out some of the new Atheran RTR SW1500's at Lombard Hobbies.  Here's Illinois Terminal 1510,

And in Indiana Harbor Belt,

Here's some of the specials: Athearn Genesis SD70ACe's in UP Heritage schemes,

And some video....

Ashmore Hotel - Kit (Plastic) -- Walthers Model Railroading

Walthers just announced this: Ashmore Hotel - Kit (Plastic) -- 8-5/8 x 4-7/16 x x 13-7/8" 21.9 x 11.2 x 35.3cm (933-3764) -- Walthers Model Railroading

Reminds me of the Hotel Gayon at Pulaski and Washington Blvd in Chicago, Nice feature is the kit comes with three different facades for different eras. That means you'll have to buy three kits and then swap them out depending on what era's trains your operating.  Maybe a fourth kit to modify for the boarded up era.

...and a fifth for the coming renewal?

Test running an Intermountain CN ES44DC units at Lombard Hobbies

Testing out my Adroid Phone Camera over at Lombard Hobbies. John was testing running one of the new Intermountain units for a customer. Results below...

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO California Zephyrs are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

That’s a lot of Zephyr cars.  Nice stuff, great product, but how about a C&NW 400 instead?

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO California Zephyrs are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO Paragon2 PRR M1a/b's are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

Glad to see this back.  It was a wonderful model.

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO Paragon2 PRR M1a/b's are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

Finding Minnesota: Model Railroad Museum

Lombard Hobbies Jan 9, 2012

Trying out my new iPhone camera at Lombard Hobbies.

That P&LE unit is pretty sharp.