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ScaleTrains.com expands product line, acquires HO, S tooling from M.T.H. Electric Trains

Feb 2nd, 2021

ScaleTrains.com, Inc., announced at the Virtual Railroad Hobby Show on Sunday that it acquired M.T.H. Electric Trains’ HO-scale and S-gauge tooling assets at the end of last year.

The acquisition includes steam and diesel locomotives, freight cars and track in both scales. HO tooling includes turbine and electric locomotives, subway sets, passenger cars and other models. Engineering schematics for several all-new steam-era HO projects also were received as part of the agreement.

“M.T.H. is recognized as a leading manufacturer of HO-scale steam locomotives,” ScaleTrains.com President Shane Wilson said in a statement. “M.T.H.’s HO products also allow us to broaden our product line into passenger cars, track and more. We believe there is an opportunity to grow the S market as well.”

Both scales are being melded into ScaleTrains.com’s umbrella of brands, including Rivet Counter. Several molds have been transferred to the ScaleTrains.com factory, and testing is underway.

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Train Show Update: Safety emphasized for in-person Dallas show; Amherst opts for virtual format

Jan 13th, 2021

Two regional U.S. train shows in January are on schedule, although they’re taking different paths to reach rail enthusiasts.

The 36th annual Dallas Area Train Show is going on as planned Jan. 16-17, raising the curtain at the Plano Event Center. Nearly two thousand miles away in Palmer, MA, the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show, one of the country’s largest, will host a virtual show a couple of weekends later after shelving its annual in-person event.  

Safety protocols will be highly emphasized at the Dallas Area Train Show, which is set for Jan. 16-17 in Plano, TX. Above, social distancing was in effect at the Temple Train Show last fall in Temple, TX. – Cowcatcher Magazine

In Plano, amid strict covid-19 protocols, vendors will be selling and clubs will be running trains. The show, sponsored by the North Texas Council of Railroad Clubs, has scaled down to accommodate the safety of guests, vendors and others.

Officials have worked closely with the event center to establish social distancing, masking, temperature screening and restricted entrances and exits, as well as contactless payment. Occupancy, monitored by an app, will be limited to 2,000 people at a time.

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Eighth-grade class steps up with big donation to save struggling Red River Railroad Museum

Dec 31st, 2020

By TIM BLACKWELL/Cowcatcher Magazine

Christmas came early for the Red River Railroad Museum in Denison, TX.

Located in an office in the former Katy Depot downtown, it is a treasure trove of history, including accounts of how the railroad made its way through Indian Territory from Kansas to the bawdy little town of Red River City. Outside reside fairly well preserved relics of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad – an F unit and a couple of cabooses.

The Katy’s arrival in 1872 put Denison on the map. The railroad’s car shops, headquarters, hospital and Ray Yard sprawled across the town, providing a vital connection from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.

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Amtrak asks for boost in funding to offset low ridership, revenue resulting from pandemic

Nov 27th, 2020

Additional infrastructure investments identified

While making its annual pitch for federal funding, Amtrak formalized a request this fall for up to $4.857 billion this fiscal year to bolster the national passenger railroad network, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. Another $5 billion is needed to build necessary infrastructure and help stimulate an economic rebound.

In a letter to Congress, Amtrak President and CEO Bill Flynn justified updating the railroad’s forecast for FY 2020 because of a slow return of riders after a huge drop at the start of covid-19. At the beginning, Amtrak shut down routes as ridership plummeted because of lockdowns. Revenues dropped 83 percent from March to July compared to 2019.

To offset, Amtrak cut expenses, including reducing the size of consists on long-distance trains. Now ridership has slowly returned and some routes have reopened, but Amtrak still anticipates FY 2021 ridership and revenue improving to only 40 percent of levels before the pandemic. More cuts are planned.

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Latest book released by MoPac society highlights the Missouri-Illinois Railroad in the ‘Lead Belt’

Oct 20th, 2020

The Missouri Pacific Historical Society pays tribute to a unique short line with the September release of Missouri-Illinois Railroad: Missouri Pacific’s Route through the Lead Belt and Little Egypt, a 376-page hardback that traces the railroad’s colorful past.

The Missouri-Illinois operated 146 miles of track, connected by the Mississippi River, in Missouri and Illinois. It ran through the “Lead Belt” in Southeast Missouri, which contained the largest concentration of lead deposits in the world. The land between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in Illinois was thought to resemble Egypt’s Nile Delta and became known as Little Egypt in the early 1800s. A city in the region was named Cairo.

The M-I was unique because one of its predecessor roads was built as a three-foot narrow-gauge line, which was unusual in the Midwest. Also, the M-I operated a car ferry across the Missouri River for five decades, and it had the only switchback between the Allegheny and Rocky mountains.
Like many short lines, the M-I depended on second-hand locomotives and rolling stock.

The railroad’s roots trace to the narrow-gauge St. Joseph and Deslodge Railway, which operated on 13 miles of main line from Bonne Terre to Summit, MO. Over the years, several other railroads, including the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway, would lay tracks that eventually became part of the M-I network.

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Amtrak awarded $5.6 million for Southwest Chief route upgrades through Colorado, New Mexico

Sep 24th, 2020

Amtrak Train No. 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, departs Fullerton, CA, on March 15, 2019. – Craig Walker

Funds will be used to convert portion of line to welded rail

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak announced it will receive a $5.6 million Federal Railroad Administration Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant to stabilize and rehabilitate the Southwest Chief route in Colorado and New Mexico.

Combined with $4.9 million in Amtrak federal funds set aside for this service and $1 million from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT), a total of $11.5 million will be invested from Trinidad, CO, south of Lamy, NM.

This federal grant is the fifth for the route segment in Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas. The grant addresses only a portion of the line that Amtrak is planning to restore.

Between 2016 and 2020, Amtrak has committed $15.8 million in direct funding for the Southwest Chief route, and an additional $12.8 million in matching funds to previously awarded federal grants. Amtrak has also invested between $4-$8 million annually in this segment, outside of any grant programs, including selective installation of ties, replacing bolted rail in curves, and bridge or culvert repair.

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  • March/April 2021

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  • Pressing Ahead

    The Cowtown Model Railroad Club has evolved from the former Lockheed Martin Recreation Association Railroad Activity, once Dallas/Fort Worth’s premier model railroad club. A handful of members have carried on the HO Gulf & Denver Railroad Authority, which is back in operation and sporting a new mission.

     

  • Time now for passenger rail

    Tracks are aligning for a bright future in public transportation and travel by rail with the onset of a new administration on Capitol Hill.  Funding opportunities await for returning Amtrak daily long-distance service and improving transit rail infrastructure. The key will be keeping several bills on course.

     

     

     

  • PLUS…

    The Cowcatcher’s N-scale Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad found a way to visually block the main line from Dallas to Kansas City when it comes a little too close for comfort.

     

     – Cowcatcher Magazine                                        
     

    BNSF Railway Co. (BNSF) and Wabtec’s exploration of the future of battery-electric locomotives crossed another milestone in early January with testing in revenue service between Barstow and Stockton, CA…

    …

     

    Pat Hiatte resumes his virtual travel along the nation’s rail network when passenger rail was king. He rides the Colorado Eagle from Denver to St. Louis…

     

    LGB is producing an F7A-B locomotive set in Amtrak’s original paint to celebrate the passenger line’s 50th anniversary in 2021.

     

     

    THESE STORIES AND MORE, PLUS A FULL CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS!

     

  • Product News & Review

    Rapido HO Flexi-Flo Hoppers

     

     

    Last fall, Rapido Trains released its first HO-scale replica of the ACF PD3500 Flexi-Flo covered hopper in each variation produced by American Car & Foundry. Models feature a wealth of detail.

     

    More product reviews!

     

    See product news!

     

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  • Railroad in Focus

    Cowcatcher Magazine routinely features short lines and regional railroads that roam the Midwest and Southwest. Features include color photographs and maps, but an overview of operations and latest business trends.

     



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