2009 Round Up

All Issues Priced at $2.95 unless otherwise noted.

In 2009, Cowcatcher Round Up expanded its coverage from Texas to include Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

PROTOTYPICAL IS IN – Jan/Feb 2009: We celebrate our fifth anniversary with an inside look at the Texas Western Model Railroad Club’s Texas & Pacific layout. PLUS, the model railroad industry braces for a tight economy on the heels of a devastating recession; six of New Orleans’ 24 Canal Street streetcars return to the rails after much of the fleet was damaged by Hurricane Katrina; Fort Worth modeler Olaf Melhouse finds a way to make uncoupling tools out of worn Microbrushes; and volunteers step up to revitalize the museum in Denison’s fomer Katy depot.

FLAVORFUL HILL COUNTRY RAILROADIN’ – March/April 2010: San Antonio Model Railroad Association’s San Antonio & Northern is a Hill Country railroad with a lot of flavor. PLUS, a few snips make older X2F-type couplers compatible with knuckle couplers; a Santa Fe locomotive was a public relations dream; sales on small-ticket items flourish during economic downtown and Austin’s MetroRail begins testing of its fleet as the launch of light-rail service nears.

GULF WESTERN MODULAR SOCIETY SIZES IT UP – May/June 2009: A Corpus Christi, TX, model railroad club is big on presentation. PLUS, Claremore & Southern co-founder George Maulsby leaves behind an Oklahoma legacy; the Central Arkansass Model Railroad Club refurbishes a 1950s park train; a new HO track cleaning car vacuums, scrubs and polishes; and the Trinity Railway Express opens the first of two bridges.

EXTRA SPECIAL ON AMTRAK – July/August 2009 – Publisher’s Choice Special $2.75: Editor and Publisher Tim Blackwell takes a ride on Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer and gets one-on-one with crew members. PLUS, the dispatcher for the South Texas & Gulf has his eye on the railroad at all times with the help of nine computer monitors; a Longview, TX, conductor carves his way into a side business that gets national attention; and the Galveston Railroad Museum awaits funding after getting hit hard by Hurricane Ike.

‘O’H TO BE IN PENNSY – September/October 2009: It’s 1957 and coal trains are hustling on Brady McGuire’s O-scale Pennsylvania line to Pittsburgh. PLUS, restoration on the ex-Southern Pacific steam locomotive owned by the Austin Steam Train Association is moving forward; the Katy Flyer linked St. Louis and Galveston and gained fame after the Dalton Gang robbed the train in Adair, OK; and the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad beefs up its bridges and fleet with capital investments.

BACK IN BUSINESS – November/December 2009 – Publisher’s Choice Special $2.75: The Texas State Railroad is back in business and the future looks bright under American Heritage Railways. PLUS, the Cowcatcher asks readers to vote for the best of the best in the four-state area in the first Cowcatcher Gold Rail Awards competition; the Oklahoma Railway Museum splurges on its 10-year anniversary with the purchase of adjacent land to be used for expansion; and the region’s model railroad dealers like what they are seeing in the diesel market.

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Spring is when large-scale model railroaders with their green thumbs plant and prune colorful foliage grown nearly to scale. In some areas, maintaining outdoor layouts is quite challenging because of changing weather. Nancy Norris, an author who builds garden railroads professionally, says some plant varieties have become more difficult to grow in certain Hardiness Zones. In some cases it means garden railroaders having to put more emphasis on growing native plants rather than relying on varieties more susceptible to extreme conditions. She recommends new gardeners consult with their local nurseries for the best choices for an outdoor layout. Norris also has a few recommendations of her own.

Sweeping tariffs imposed on goods imported into the United States are stirring model railroad manufacturers. As a result, model railroading and other hobbies will cost more. In February the U.S. applied a 10 percent tariff on goods imported from China, and the tax has since escalated. Suppliers – including Athearn, InterMountain Railway Co., Broadway Limited, Rapido Trains and ScaleTrains – have been putting dealers and customers on notice that prices will increase tariffs are implemented.

The first rule of railroading is “expect movement on any track at any time in any direction.” This may seem like an overabundance of caution, but railroading is a dangerous sport. Always expect a train when you’re around the tracks. The second rule of railroading is that there is an exception to every rule. The North American freight car fleet in 2023 consisted of 2.03 million rail cars, according to Railinc’s Umler Equipment Index. Rail car fleet management — how empty cars get dispatched to move to their next loading point — is an ever-moving process and often requires fleet car managers to be nimble.

2009 Round Up

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Tuned In

Tariffs Cause Concern

Managing Freight Cars

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