I saw this posted on another forum, and thought I'd post it here. This train miraculously stops just before hitting a car on the tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNrMKxr5050

Info from the Trains Magazine news wire.

Norfolk Southern recently announced they will be making 18 heritage units, all painted in the predecessor railroads that make up NS today, to mark their 30th anniversary (1982). They will try to keep the paint schemes as accurate as possible to the predecessors' schemes. The locomotives will be 10 EMD SD70ACe's and 8 GE ES44AC's. Here is a list of all of the railroads the heritage units will be:

•   Central of Georgia
•   Conrail
•   Erie
•   Erie Lackawanna
•   Lehigh Valley (red)
•   New Haven (not definite yet)
•   New York Central
•   Nickel Plate Road
•   Norfolk & Western (blue)
•   Penn Central
•   Pennsylvania (Tuscan Red)
•   Pittsburgh & West Virginia
•   Reading
•   Savannah & Atlanta
•   Southern
•   Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia
•   Virginian
•   Wabash

I received a Bachmann Phase V (actually should be IVB) for Christmas, and had a few questions about them.
1. The shade of blue almost seems too purple. Is Bachmann using the correct shade of blue for these Amfleets? And has anyone else noticed this?
2. The diaphragms are silver. Shouldnt they be black?
3. There are dents in each door of the car. Is this a manufacturing defect of my car, or is it a known problem?
Thanks in advance.

Becoming a train engineer, or at least work for a railroad company (specifically NS, CSX, CN, or Amtrak) is a job I am highly considering for a full-time career. I've chosen the 4 railroads listed, as they are all local. I've googled requirements, and have found you must be 21 years of age to OPERATE a train. Can anyone tell me if this is true, or if it differs between companies? And also, are there any railroad job opportunities that someone can do at age 18? And also, if anyone here does or has worked for any railroad companies, which railroad would you think treats their employees the best? I've hears Amtrak and CSX don't treat them well. I don't know how, so that's why im asking 

Any input is appreciated.

Does anyone know of any Horizon class cars available for purchase now in phase 5? I know Walthers used to make some but they are now retired. Ive done countless Google searches for available ones but have had no luck. Any answers are appreciated 

I just finished reading my Walthers Flyer I got in the mail today, and I was surprised to see that Walthers is producing more Amtrak Phase V P42's in 2 numbers (1 & 67). They are a limited run, so make sure you reserve your's. It says they're expected to be delivered in October 2011. List price is $109.98 each.

#1: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/140-99448
#67: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/140-99449
The flyer is available for free and is full of great products from all manufacturers. You can sign up here: http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/mailing
But, it's also available online:  http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/flyer (the P42's are on pg. 9 of the may 2011 catalog).
Just thought I'd let everyone know if they wanted one of these 

So I've been thinking about buying a Walthers Gold Line 73' Centerbeam flat car (http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-4137), but I wanted a load for it. I wanted this: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/295-LL1 The only problem though I see is that there is only enough for a 50' car. Now I have 3 questions.
1. If I want a fully loaded car, I need to buy two of the loads, but will it be able to fill evenly? It should, but I'm just curious.
2. If I wanted 2 fully loaded cars, how many would I have to buy? Could I buy 3 and use the extras from one and a full bag to fill another?
If I only bought 1 car, would one pack fill evenly? (but obviously wouldn't fill it all the way). I just want to know because I've wanted a Centerbeam for a while, and I saw a load like this on one of Al Mayo of YouTube videos (a.k.a Monsterrailroad on YouTube), and I thought it would be cool to have a loaded one with these.

So, I just got back from the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso MI. First, the tour guide took us into a sleeper car from 1954. Those rooms were really small. Next, we admired the string of passenger cars that were Via and Candian National. The CN cars (2) had three axles and were from 1937. The Via one we didn't learn about. Next we seen their minature railway which they weren't operating at the time. After that we went and seen their prized posession: Pere Marquette 1225, which could also be known as the "Polar Express". It was going under restoration in a giant shed. The front of the boiler was open, and boy was it dark in there. We weren't allowed to climb up the engine to see in the boiler, but our guide was nice. We then went into the cab of 1225, which was too going under restoration. There was also a small switcher, which I can't name the type. After that we went onto the turntable, and seen all the cars and a taken apart steamer. Lastly, we went and seen the model layouts for the 2nd time. They had a small S scale layout, which was a circle that went up in grade and went over itself. There was also an O scale layout with Lionel's Polar Express running. Lastly, there was a huge 21' by 28' HO scale layout. It started in someone's basement in the 80's and kept growing until his passing in 2001. The layout was like a giant upside down, digital style U. It had tons of scenery, buildings, a yard, roundhouse and alot more. We got one of the guys to start up one of the trains which was, yep you guessed it. A Polar Express train. I took many pictures and some videos, so you can expect a YouTube video sometime. Then, coming home we drove through a crazy thunderstorm. I reccommend you go there if you're ever in the area.

I was planning on buying Spectrum's Nor'Easter set, but had a few questions.

1. Is the engine included a good runner?
2. Do these cars have the lighted interior?
3. I did the math, and noticed buying an HHP-8 and 3 Amfleets all sperate not in a set was more money than the set. Shouldn't the set cost more because if track and power pack. I wanted to buy it from modeltrainstuff.com (this is where I'm getting the prices). The set is on sale for 179.99, but all of them separate is about 190. Still, then the track + power pack is only 10 dollars. Should I get the set for track, and a lower price (I won't use the power pack), or does buying all of them separate mean they'll run better?

Thanks,
Jake

My friend is wondering, does anyone make an F40 in HO scale? He wants to make Amtrak's Sunset Limited train (the one that crashed into a swamp in Alabama), and it has an F40 on it. Just wondering.

Ok, I'm planning on having a Superliner train, but need some advice first. The train I'm planning on have is Amtrak's Empire Builder. So, here go the questions.
       First, some real-life questions about the Empire Builder
1. Does the Empire Builder include baggage cars and Auto cars?
2. Is there a mix of different phases of cars in the train?
3. Which phase is most common with this train? Phase V for the engines, and Phase IVB for the cars right?
4. The train is usually pulled by 3 P42's right?
     
       Now for some model questions

5. Does any manufacturer make dummy P42's?
6. Does any manufacturer make baggage cars?
7. Does any manufacturer make any powered P42's, now that Athearn cancelled their phase V ones?

Any help is appreciated.

Ok, this is kind of a product review, but its kind of not. I just recieved this for my birthday party today, and at first, I thought it was good. You have to put the weights in yourself, which I was fine with. So, I took off the coil part, knowing that that's where they go. The parts don't stay on as well now, ever since I have took it off. Also, the top handrails, or whatever they are, already broke. They randomly broke by my finger lightly running over it on accident. So, this is not the best car, but it is alright. Details are good, but it does'nt hold together well.

I've posted a thread before about this engine, and still have not got it to work. My friend and I uploaded a couple videos to Youtube, so I'm going to post the links and you can see for yourself whats wrong with the engine. It came DCC equipped, and the decoder is fried for some reason (BTW, I'm running this on DC). I took off the decoder and found that the connector clip was not in place right i.e. not on where it should've been. After I put the decoder back on, the lights didnt light up (they did before I took off the decoder), and it did not smoke. I think its because I put the connector clip on the wrong way. I'm just about ready to smash this engine through frustration, and put the pieces in my friends' scrapyard. I just got the Proto 1000 Subway train for christmas, and runs fine (other than the pantographs coming off way too easily because they're not glued in). Any help would be appreciated.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Cz63XBOfc

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JGklVb2IU0&feature=related

Seems like its pretty far away from the tracks. Look at the telephone pole inbetween the second and third axle on the front truck.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/1/1/1/7111.1179403200.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php%3Fid%3D187551&usg=__flK3xHAqnpEy2aod-cD6tnaBmLM=&h=787&w=1024&sz=445&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=pFNYJBisLebIPM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dge%2Bes44ac%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_enUS309US295%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Also, just a little bit too far.
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=294746&nseq=26

Missed it by that much.
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=289394&nseq=43

Well, I just got back from Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. I took a ride on the train twice, and went in the roundhouse. I also got to turn the turntable by hand with 3 other kids. Once we got it going, it was easy. It pretty much just coasted. I cant imagine how they moved it with a 200 ton locomotive on it. Now stopping it was the tricky part. We had to pull on the bar as hard as we could to stop it. In the roundhouse they had a very, very old Detroit & Mackinac caboose. They also had a very small plymouth switcher, and an operating 45 tonner that was switching some cars on the line next to the roundhouse. Looks just like Bachmanns model.   They also had a 4-4-2 that you could go under. They also had a very old 0-6-0, and you could tell it was old because one side of the cab was gone, and behind it, was a crane, like the ones used to get cars and locos back on the track. They also had an extremely old 2-6-0. You can tell its old because on the operating train ride, theres speakers, and the conductor told us that it is the oldest operating steam engine in the United States. But, a cool thing was that on the ride, we stopped to do a little maintanence. In order to get any particles of anything out of the boiler, they did four blasts of steam out of the left side of the loco. It only took about two minutes. Now I want to find a 4-4-0, just like the one there, and paint the name Edison on the tender (because thats what its called), and four black excursion cars. Anyone know where I can find any? And I'm hoping to have pictures up soon, but I have to have my Aunt and Uncle  email them to me, because I forgot my camera. I also got to ride in a real Model T.   If you ever have the chance to go there, take it. Because you can also got to the museum, which has a real Allegheny, 4-4-0, 2-8-0, and a Rotary Snowplow.  Ok, nevermind on the question about the passenger cars. Bachmanns Jackson Sharp open sided excursion cars are perfect. I'll buy the unlettered painted green, and paint it black, and then I'll just need the locomotive. I'll have to look at pictures of different models and different pics of the actual locomotive and see which loco matches with the real thing the best. Well, I've been lookin around, and no luck with the loco. I mean, look how unique this engine looks. And in the background is the old caboose. The Conductor on the train said it first worked at a concrete place as a switcher, then went to work at the Ford Rouge plant, again as a switcher, but theres 100s of miles of track behind the walls. He also said the loco was reconstructed multiple times, so thats going to be tricky to find in model.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/5/8/8/3588.1221541250.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php%3Fid%3D251098%26nseq%3D3605&usg=__747YLozqXkQfCoKBo2i52_AT4xY=&h=703&w=1024&sz=341&hl=en&start=6&sig2=hrSJMLgmn-4Be29ValnK0A&um=1&tbnid=02WZJ2eKlIW4XM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGreenfield%2Bvillage%2Btrain%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_enUS309US295%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=8IOEStKjGo6QNuyTxM8E Sorry about the really long link.

1. So, I read somewhere on this forum that it is best to buy trains seperatly, and not in sets, is this true? The only way I could see a difference is if seperate engines run better, and for frieght cars, probably they would have more detail and maybe metal wheels. So, is it better to buy locomotives, rolling stock, track, etc. seperate, or are train sets a better value?
2. Are metal wheels better than plastic wheels? I could think they are maybe because they run smoother and don't pop out of the trucks as much as plastic ones do. I mean, they just seem to turn more freely the the plastic wheels in plastic trucks. So, are metal wheels better than plastic wheels?
3.Do Life-Like's scenemaster knuckle couplers work well with replacing the horn hook couplers on almost all thier rolling stock and locomotives? My friend says they don't work real well with his cars. So, do thier scenemaster couplers replace thier horn hooks good?

Today, I went to the Redford Model Railroad club show at the Costick Center in Livonia Michigan. I bought a Union Pacific GE U30-C for $33. When running this train, it is about 3X as loud as a normal engine. It also barely runs. When I cradle the engine in my hands, I can move 2 of the wheels with my hands, and I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen. Besides, all the other wheels I can't move with my hand. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I recently watched a video and it obviously had both Hornby and Bachmann frieght cars. I seen that OO gauge is 1:76 or something like that and HO is 1:87. In the video, I noticed that there was practically no difference in size. I was just wondering, because if I find a Hornby retailer in the USA I might buy some stuff from there.

Under the E-Z Command/DCC category on the products page, there are
E-Z Command DCC Turnouts. Under the product information, at the very bottom, it says not designed for DC powered layouts. Does anyone know why these can't be used on DC powered layouts, and will they atleast connect to normal E-Z Track?

I've been thinking about starting to but N scale trains. I know this is the HO scale topic, but I put this under here because 1). More people read forums on this scale. 2). I am still going to collect HO, but I might start to collect N. So if anyone can gve me detail for N that would be great. Also, if I start to collect N, I'll be collecting 3 scales now, and all in order with size. N, HO, O.