May was a busy month for ExactRail with several items announced for immediate delivery. New in both HO and N scale are models of the unique Vert-A-Pak automobile carrier. Road names for both scales included SCL, IC, FEC and Milwaukee Road. In addition, the HO version also comes decorated for D&RGW and BN. Additional HO scale releases included a second go-around for a Thrall 3564 gondola for BNSF, SP, TTX and NOKL. This Platinum series car was misidentified by ExactRail as a Thrall 3267 when originally released. Also new is a second release of the Southern Pacific Gunderson 2420 gondola along with another release of its Evolution series PC&F 6033 Hy Cube boxcar in the as-delivered SP scheme. Previous releases of the 6033 have been sold out for some time. Factory supplies of ExactRail products have a habit of selling out quickly, however, modelers may be able to find inventory at authorized dealers listed on the ExactRail web site at (www.exactrail.com).

Fox Valley Models (www.foxvalleymodels.com) is committed delivery this summer for both HO and N scale versions of the 1935 Milwaukee Road Hiawatha train. The train set will include three coaches, a café-car, a parlor car and Milwaukee’s unique beaver-tail observation car -- all headed by a DCC-ready class A streamlined 4-4-2 steam locomotive.

InterMountain Railway Company (www.imrcmodels.com) is taking reservations for December delivery of a group of HO scale PFE wood refrigerator cars using components produced from tooling developed by Terry Weigman. The mix includes class R-30-21 cars with a Preco ventilator fan and a metal running board. The -21s will be available in six different road numbers decorated with either a single UP herald or the double SP/UP heralds. Also in the production run are single and double herald versions of the R-30-18 with wood running boards and an R-30-19 with a metal running board and displaying a single UP herald.

Jerry Glow (http://home.comcast.net/~jerryglow/decals.html) has added ACL and P&LE/PMcK&Y rebuilt boxcars and a single-door version of the Soo Line AAR 1937 boxcar with dollar-sign logo to his growing list of HO scale decals.

Frenchman River Model Works (www.frenchmanriver.com) has a kit for a 92-foot HO scale diesel railroad tug. The main structural components of the kit, including the hull, superstructure and wheelhouse, are individually cast in resin. Many details are cast in place, however a variety of additional details are laser-cut, cast in resin or cast in pewter.

Highball Graphics (www.mgdecals.com) has HO and N scale decals for Omya ACFX and SHPX 5000 CuFt ACF center-flow covered hoppers. The sets include blue and black lettering to be applied to a white car.

Here’s a preview look at the newest craftsman structure kit from Fos Scale Limited that combines three enterprises - Maury’s Wigs, a Magic Shop and Madame Ruby's (a fortune teller) - into a single detail-laden building. Laser-cut components include the building fronts, rear stairway, sidewalks, fire escape, roof-top shed, roof-top billboard and awnings. Tichy windows, NorthEastern Scale Lumber, metal details and lots of signage are also included in this limited edition HO scale kit that is scheduled for availability on June 1. Visit www.foslimited.com for pricing and ordering information.

Kadee Quality Products Company will deliver three new HO scale cars in July including a Norfolk & Western 40-foot boxcar with 8-foot door painted in the 1952 as-built BC red scheme, a D&RGW 50-foot box car with 15-foot door decorated in the 1957 as-built BC red scheme, and a CIL Monon open hopper car in the 1954 as-built boxcar red. All of the cars are ready-to-run and come with Kadee’s new 2-piece trucks.

Kato USA (www.katousa.com) has cancelled plans to produce the HO scale C&NW “Dynamic Duo” locomotives. The initial intent was to use the molds from the company’s C44-9W which had the correct walkway with low ditch lights and would have required only minor retooling to accurately represent the CN&W locomotives. Unfortunately the tooling was irreparably damaged and creating new tooling for the specialty locomotive with limited appeal was judged not feasible.

Dan Kohlberg has new HO and N scale decal sets for Airslide cars including Nebraska Consolidated Mills GATC, National Biscuit Company GATC and Quaker Oats GATC Airslides. Visit http://home.mindspring.com/~paducah for prototype photos, pricing and ordering information.

The Philadelphia Division of the Mideast Region, NMRA, has a special run of Red Caboose 10,000 gallon tank cars decorated in the pre-1954 Sunoco scheme in eight road numbers. The HO scale ready-to-operate models portray the late 1940s Type 103W welded cars owned by GATC and leased to Sun Oil Company. The cars are $32 each or $110 for a four-pack, plus shipping. To order visit www.phillynmra.org/sales.html.

Kanamodel Products of Canada has released an HO scale kit for the Santa Fe Café located in Wickenburg, Arizona. Known today as the Golden Nugget, the kit for the late 1800s building was developed from scale drawings created by James Bansner who worked from archival photographs and Sanford maps as part of a local project to recreate the town of Wickenburg in the year 1915. The craftsman-type kit features laser-cut components, corrugated metal roofing, cast metal details and step-by-step instructions. The finished model has a footprint of 7-7/8 x 8-1/8-inches wide. Kanamodel products are available in the US from Bollinger Edgerly Scale Models (www.besttrains.com).