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All about the community of model railroading and rail enthusiasm

COWCATCHER MAGAZINE

2007 Round Up

All Issues Priced at $2.95 unless otherwise noted

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.

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!




 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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Throttling Up

Ever wonder why railroads chose certain locomotives to pull freight trains? Railroads have practiced multiple-unit train control since the 1890s when Frank J. Sprague developed a system to combine motive power in electric train operation. When assigning power and consisting locomotives today, railroads generally match the horsepower per ton and tractive effort ratings to specific locomotives designed to meet specific network needs. But other factors are involved, and it's not uncommon for railroads to mix makes and models of locomotives when consisting for trains.

State of Model Railroading

Response to the Cowcatcher’s 2025 State of Model Railroading survey was positive and many say the hobby is rolling along fine, maybe a bit complicated for some. The 31-question survey sent to readers across the U.S. in November earned a 42 percent response rate. Questions ranged from personal preferences and skill levels and layouts to how modelers buy and spend.

Joint Agency

Whether shuttling power, moving cars through interline carrier agreements or running on joint lines, North America’s largest rail providers interact. One of the more obscure examples is the Milwaukee Road’s Joint Agency Yard in Kansas City, MO, where the Milwaukee Road and Kansas City Southern coexisted for 40 years. On the N-scale Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad, joint yard agreements in Kansas City and Dallas make sense, allowing KCS traffic to move in and out of both ends of the layout to service grain customers without the need for another yard.

Plus

BNSF posts record agricultural volumes on the heels of a good harvest. A Milwaukee Road stock car with a storied past is now on display at the Galveston Railroad Museum. And a United Kingdom retailer and manufacturer introduces its camera car, the Eye-Choo, to the U.S. And more!