Scale Model Railroading

Aristo-Craft Trains has annouced the release of a new O/O-27 scale caboose.  The caboose will have a MSRP of $49.95 and will be available at the end of August.  The caboose offers diecast trucks with airhose detail, operating couplers with the new hidden uncoupler tab, metal ladder, lighted rear marker lights and come with a separate standing BEEPeople conductor figure. Each caboose is loaded with ‘extra’ lettering details such as prototypical road number, inspection date, assigned service point etc. (as applicable) and a detailed railroad logo that is normally found only on a higher priced product.

Kadee has announced two new HO scale freight car models for April 2010.  Both cars are available for pre-order now.

Kadee has announced 2 new rolling stock releases for March 2010.  Both cars are available for pre-order now.

New products from Kadee for February 2010.

Rail Fans, Rare Fun
Taiwan Review
Taiwan’s train enthusiasts are not only keen train hobbyists, but also pioneers in preserving Taiwan’s dwindling railway heritage.

Athearn has announced the release of their “Ultimate” HO scale SD70ACe locomotive.  Retail pricing is $289.98

Full press release:

“At Athearn we put thousands of hours of painstaking work and research into our Genesis locomotives because we want to deliver only the highest quality models, and nothing less. With our all-new SD70ACe we present one of the most precise engines on the market.

The Athearn Genesis® SD70ACe recreates the rugged lines and details of the prototype with unprecedented accuracy in HO scale. Some of the railroad and phasespecific features include a highly-detailed cab interior with grade crossing camera (as applicable to prototype and era), operating scale ditch lights (including operating rear ditch lights as applicable to prototype and era), early or late handbrake housings and brakewheels, different inverter cabinets and intakes, GPS and antenna domes, seethrough dynamic brake intakes (with traction motor blower detail inside), and accurate radiator and dynamic brake grille details. We even created all-new HTCR-4 radial and HTSC-2 sideframes, featuring separate shock absorbers, sander lines, and brake cylinders with wireform brake pipe detail. And the Genesis line features Soundtraxx’s acclaimed Tsunami® digital sound decoders, offering superb sound and control in DCC and analog.”

If you need some heavy lifting done on your layout, Model Tech Studios has announced a new HO Scale rail crane as both a kit and a RTR model.  If you opt for the kit, the pre-cast and pre-cut sections go together easily with the instructions in the illustrated assembly manual. The kit is $34.99 and the ready to run model is $79.99.

Bar Mills Scale Models, the Maine based structure kit developer, has introduced a new HO Scale kit, The Barn On Rt.20.  The completed structure will be 9″ w by 3.5″ deep.  It is available at $89.95 each

“Here again… if you want the “same stuff” we don’t have it.  While we can’t always re-invnet the wheel we try to add a little “twist” of something different in each kit.  This time around ?… full interior laser-cut framing…  board-on-board construction… BUT NOT JUST ANY board-on-board… we had these specially milled with one side of the boards unsanded so we’d be able to get a “rough-cut” look when assembling the building.  Never been done before ?… we don’t think so either !
The windows & doors are laser-cut this time around… and the laser-cut shingle strips (and there are a lot of them) will keep you busy for hours !  Here again, this kit will be available on directly from Bar Mills.  We know this is a “special” one and won’t fit everybodys layouts… but we though it was cool.
The model pictured was built by Martin Collard of Borodino Scale Lines in upstate NY.
Aside from being a great modeler Martins’ store is the most unique craftsman-oriented store we’ve ever been to.
If it’s unique, hard-to-get, or just super cool or just the kind of “detail” you just can’t find anywhere else you’ll probably find it at his shop.
Here is the weblink… Martin runs the best “go-to” shop when it comes to detailed structure building that we know of… borodinoscaleline.com

This board-on-board construction technique will let you leave-off as many boards as you want (or don’t want) to.  Make this building really decrepit… or keep it more in the period you’re modeling.  Don’t want to add a window or door ?… just cover-up its’ opening.  Pretty straight-ahead…. and very creative !
Don’t let this visual simplicity of this kit fool you… it takes as much laser-time to make one of these kits as it would take to produce 2-3 average kits in the same price range !”