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All about the community of model railroading and rail enthusiasm

COWCATCHER MAGAZINE

2007 Round Up

In 2007, the Cowcatcher Round Up became an independent regional model railroad/rail enthusiast publication after serving the previous three years as the official publication of the Cowcatcher Division/NMRA.

All Issues Priced at $5.95 unless otherwise noted. Includes shipping in the U.S. Call for international shipping rates.

ARK-LA-TEX APPEALS TO MASSES – Jan/Feb 2007: The Ark-La-Texas model railroad club finds balance of craftsmanship and showmanship with a traveling layout that entertains crowds at local train shows. PLUS, Texas Country Reporter Bob Phillips drops in on the Texas Western Model Railroad Club layout; the Oklahoma City Train Show finished strong at the gate despite a winter storm that kept many at home; and the beleaguered Texas State Railroad gets a shot of funding to keep trains rolling.





 
 

AT HOME IN THE CASCADES – Mar/Apr 2007: Houston’s Don Bozman fills his house with a spectacular HO-scale tribute to the Great Northern Railroad, the scenic Cascade Division on the “Great” Great Northern. PLUS, Editor and Publisher Tim Blackwell pays tribute to Bobbye Hall, a hobby industry icon who raised the bar in model railroading; Dallas Area Rapid Transit stays busy with expansion and upgrades; and Tyler’s Cotton Belt Depot offers plenty to see for visitors and rail enthusiasts.





 
 
 Cowcatcher May-Jun 07 PG1

FARM TO MARKET – May/June 2007: It’s late summer in North Dakota on Olaf Melhouse’s N-scale Dakota Northern. PLUS, new Athearn president Michael Stephens keeps focus on the company’s core product; the NMRA is alive and well in Oklahoma and Arkansas; the Texas Special made the best of its conditions between the Midwest and the Lone Star State; and the position of the helix is key to operation on Steve Willis’ Rocky Mountain. Very limited supply! $6.95





 
 
 Cowcatcher July-August 07 P1

REAL RAILROADIN’ – July/Aug 2007: Northeast Oklahoma’s HO-scale Claremore & Southern covers a lot of territory with realistic operations. PLUS, a North Texas scratch builder explains how to make models of switch stands that were used on the Denver & Rio Grande Western; the future of the Texas State Railroad is in new hands with American Heritage Railways; and the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad goes “green” by putting two N-ViroMotive locomotives into service.





 
 

ALAMO SPECIAL – Sept/Oct 2007: We take a ride on the Longhorn & Western and tour the Alamo City’s Texas Transportation Museum. PLUS, Athearn delivers an HO-scale model of an ACF hopper car in the unusual Texas Pacific/Missouri Pacific scheme; floods across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas played havoc with freight, passenger and tourist railroads; the McKinney Avenue Trolley expands to handle increased traffic on the Dallas Uptown streetcar line; and the Overton, TX, I&GN club is taking shape.





 
 

 

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN  – Nov/Dec 2007: The M-K-T and Cotton Belt are no longer, but evidence of Waco’s railroading past is quite visible. PLUS, Intermountain Railway Co. plans another release of its line of Santa Fe Caswell gondolas; Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific combined equipment to make a special run through East Texas; the All Points North model railroad club in Houston is charting a new direction; and a model of A.C. Gilbert’s Radio Car scratch built in S-scale takes top honors.





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FW&D Aura

Keith Brewer’s HO Wichita Falls Division, Fort Worth & Denver Rwy. is not just the culmination of years of research of his hometown railroad but the backstory after he took up model railroading. It wasn’t until several years after leaving Bowie, TX, that he understood the importance of the FW&D beyond its everyday whistles. Today Brewer's point-to-point 14x20 layout, a scaled down version of a much larger pike in another home, pays homage to the freight business. Short main line trains haul cattle, grain, gravel and agricultural products along the route from Fort Worth, Decatur, Bowie, Henrietta and Wichita Falls, TX. The action is heavy but eases when the crew breaks midway through an operating session. A tasty cobbler, cake or banana pudding is just the right recipe for fun.

Modular N Growing

With a variety of options, N-scale modular model railroading is enjoying growth.This summer in Chattanooga, TN, NRail, which embraces all forms of N scale, will head the hobby’s quest to build the world’s largest modular layout at the NMRA National Convention. It’s all but assured that the previous record will fall to a connected layout that will occupy 10,000 square feet of the city’s convention center.

Packing the Aisles

A fierce winter storm brought out model railroad and rail enthusiasts by the thousands for the opening day of January's annual Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, MA. A single-day record of 18,432 filled the aisles at the Eastern States Exposition before some 18 inches of snow blanketed New England. U-series General Electric locomotives topped new product announcements.

Plus

Coordinated run-throughs that connect two or more Class I railroads is a proven solution for moving freight from coast to coast; one of Micro-Trains last N-scale releases, the Greenville Railgon is worth its weight in hauling heavy loads; the elegance and food of the dining car experience spoiled hungry riders during the heyday of passenger rail transportation; Union Pacific inks a record deal to upgrade its locomotives. And more!