August 2010 News      Events                  Have product announcement? Click here ...

More than 150 model railroad manufacturers from around the globe gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month to exhibit their products and announce new models and accessories to customers and members of the trade during the 3 day National Train Show. The event was held in conjunction with the 75^th anniversary convention of the National Model Railroad Association. Here’s a look at some of the new items introduced.

New N scale items drawing attention at the Athearn (www.athearn.com) exhibit booth included samples of F45 and FP45 diesel locomotives scheduled to arrive just in time for Christmas 2010. The models will be available DCC-ready as well as fully equipped with DCC Tsunami by Soundtraxx. The FP45 will come decorated for Santa Fe warbonnet and Santa Fe blue and yellow freight schemes while the F45 will be available in the Santa Fe “Kodachrome” and the early green and black paint schemes of the Burlington Northern. Company representatives said similar HO scale versions are also on the way.

Here’s a look at some of the pre-production shells from all-new tooling for Athearn’s new Genesis series HO scale GP9 locomotive. Several variations will be offered including a Southern Pacific commuter/passenger unit with roof-mounted air tanks seen at the right.

Also spotted in Athearn’s booth were preliminary engineering samples of a General Electric four-truck U50 locomotive scheduled for future release in both Union Pacific and Southern Pacific versions that will feature several road-specific details.

Other HO scale Athearn items shown included a sensational looking quartet of SD70ACe Genesis series locomotives decorated for BNSF, MP Heritage, UP flag scheme and KCS as seen in this Jeff Carlson photo. Production quantities are scheduled to arrive at dealers in September.

Accurail (www.accurail.com) has announced that it is preparing tooling for two new HO scale post-war era 40-foot steel refrigerator cars including a hinged door version and a sliding plug-door model. In addition to the Burlington Route scheme seen here, initial roads for the plug-door car will include Santa Fe, Great Northern (WFEX), PFE (SP/UP), FGE, National Car Company, Burlington Northern, Milwaukee Road (URTX) and ART (Wabash/MoPac). Cars with the hinged door will be decorated for NP, NYC (MDT), Milwaukee Road (URTX), Burlington Route, PFE (SDP/UP), Illinois Central, Bangor & Aroostook, Rock Island and GN (WFE). An undecorated kit will also be available for both door types as well as yellow and orange versions with data only. An introduction date has not been established.

Atlas Model Railroad Company (www.atlasrr.com) will deliver an HO scale 11,000 gallon LPG tank car in new paint schemes in December. Priced at $30, the tankers will be decorated for Fidelity Oil Company (black/white), Anchorgas (black/yellow/white), Barrett Division (silver/red/black), Bottled Gas Corp. of Virginia (black/white), Hercules Powder Company (black/red/white), Solvay Process Division (green/silver), Union Pacific MOW (light green/black) and Columbia Southern (red/black/white) as shown here. Atlas said the Columbia Southern and Solvay schemes are prototypically correct for smaller tank cars of similar design. An N scale model with the same road names (except Union Pacific) will be available at $21.

Atlas representatives at NTS said their HO scale version of EMD-built MP15DC diesel locomotive will be ready in January in several new paint schemes and with three different styles of road-appropriate hoods including a standard hood, a hood with a square air filter box and a hood with an angled air filter box. Road names will include Amtrak (Phase V blue/silver), Birmingham Southern (green/yellow), Caltrain (silver/black/red), Cambria & Indiana (yellow/black), Cedar Rapids & Iowa City (yellow/gray/red), Lake Erie Franklin & Clarion (black/yellow) and Union Pacific (yellow/gray/red). The Silver Series Atlas locomotives will be priced at $160 and come with an NMRA 8-pin decoder plug. Priced at $270, the Gold Series models are equipped with electronic Dual-Mode® Decoder e-DMD (that allows both DCC or traditional DC operation) and QSI® Quantum System™. A limited edition HO scale Stockton Terminal & Eastern (blue/silver) will also be available in both Silver and Gold series for an additional $5. N scale versions of the MP15DC will be available at $120 or equipped with a DCC decoder at $155.

We got a preview look at the first tooling sample of Atlas’s new HO scale 42-foot coil-steel car. For additional insight into Atlas’ future plans visit MRH’s interview with Rob Pisani at http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/MRHT_2010_NTS_Atlas.

In addition to the Great Northern car shown here, Atlas-O (www.atlaso.com) also has this O scale USRA double-sheathed wood boxcar painted and lettered for Boston & Maine, Wabash, Northern Pacific, Savannah & Atlantic, St Louis Southwestern, and Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo, plus an undecorated version.

Atlas-O will have its new General Electric dash 8-40CW locomotive ready this November. The newly-tooled model features a wide-nose North American safety-cab and will be available for either 2-rail or 3-rail operation. Road names on this initial release will include BNSF (orange/black), CSX (gray/blue/yellow), Santa Fe (warbonnet) and Union Pacific (yellow/gray).

Also coming in November is the third release of Atlas-O’s venerable RS3 diesel locomotive in both 2-rail or 3-rail editions. Road names are British Columbia, Erie, Jersey Central, Lehigh & Hudson Rover, Lehigh Valley, New Haven and Peabody Coal.

Company representatives in Bachmann’s (www.bachmanntrains.com) NTS exhibit booth distributed an impressive list of new products that included both upgraded and entirely new models in several different scales. Among the HO scale locomotives were two new 1950s-era diesels including an EMD GP9 and an ALCO RS3. The DCC-ready models are scheduled for delivery early this fall.

Additional new HO scale “motive power” included a DCC-equipped single-truck Birney Safety streetcar, due in November, and an upgraded EMC Gas-Electric Doodlebug with a newly tooled 72-foot trailer coach that features rubber diaphragms and interior lighting. Although reminiscent of the familiar P70 coach, Bachmann executive Lee Riley confirmed that the trailer car is from new tooling. The Spectrum series model comes with basic DCC for speed, direction and lighting control. Road names available now include Baltimore & Ohio, Maryland & Pennsylvania, Seaboard, New York Central and a painted unit with no road name. All of the above have green bodies. A Boston & Maine set in maroon paint is also available.

This Bachmann engineering sample gives N scale modelers a preview of a new trolley coming in the form of a Spectrum series DCC-equipped Peter Witt streetcar. Production versions will be decorated for Toronto, Chicago Surface Lines, Baltimore Transit, Brooklyn & Queens Transit, Los Angeles Railway and St. Louis Railway.

Other N scale locomotives exhibited by Bachmann included a Baldwin 4-6-0 steam engine and an EMD GP7 diesel – both equipped with dual-mode Digital Command Control decoders. Delivery of these Bachmann items is set for November.

For On30 scale modelers, Bachmann will reissue its Porter 0-4-2T steam locomotive with several new features including a precision can-motor, LED headlight and a dual-model DCC decoder. The initial release of the upgraded Porter is due in November and will include locomotives decorated for Tioga Lumber #2 and the Greenbrier & Big Run Lumber Company plus two unlettered versions painted in maroon and black.