Best Excursion Railroad race in 2015 Gold Rail Awards competition comes down to the wire

January 5, 2016

The Arkansas & Missouri Railroad’s Fall Foliage Express was a close second to the Durango & Silverton’s Polar Express in the 2015 Cowcatcher Gold Rail Awards.

Cowcatcher readers had no hands-down favorite for best railroad excursion theme train in 2015.

In a race nearly too close to call, the Durango & Silverton’s “Polar Express” edged three others for Best Excursion Railroad Theme Train in the 7th Annual Cowcatcher Gold Rail Awards. Each year, readers choose the best of the best of model railroading and rail enthusiasm in the Cowcatcher’s coverage area.

The “Polar Express” narrowly edged runner-up Arkansas & Missouri Railroad’s “Fall Foliage” excursion and didn’t leave much room between the Texas State Railroad’s “Polar Express” and Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s “North Pole Express”.

The race for the gold was the tightest of 11 categories that declared an outright winner. A twelfth category, Best New Model Railroad Product, ended in a tie between Athearn’s HO-scale GP7U Topeka Cab locomotive and Walthers Proto Santa Fe F7 HO-scale locomotive.

“We had great reader participation and some really heated finishes,” Cowcatcher Publisher Tim Blackwell said.

Athearn’s Phase I and Phase II Topeka Cab models arrived in early 2015 and sold out quickly. The iconic locomotives were rebuilds of GP7s and GP9s at Santa Fe’s Cleburne, TX, shops in the early 1970s. The chopped-nose design was believed to have originated in Santa Fe’s Topeka, KS, shop.

Walthers’ F7, featured in its Santa Fe passenger series, is a popular choice among modelers. Broadway Limited’s AC6000 locomotive with smoke finished next.

Three Gold Rail mainstays held on to their titles for the seventh straight year. The Oklahoma City Train Show won Best Train Show, Discount Model Trains in Addison, TX, retained Best Model Train Store, and the Fort Worth & Western captured Best Short Line/Regional Railroad. Discount Model Trains held off a strong run by Caboose Hobbies of Denver.
The most decisive race was for Best Club Layout, Permanent. The Colorado Model Railroad Museum took the honors for the second straight year with 39 percent of the vote.

Railfans voted “24 Hours at Saginaw” Best Rail Special Event for 2015.

In another big win, “24 Hours at Saginaw” returned as Best Rail Special Event. The annual Memorial Day Weekend event in Saginaw, TX, earned the award for the fourth time with nearly 33 percent of the vote. “24 Hours at Saginaw,” hosted by the North Texas Chapter/National Railway Historical Society, won awards in 2010, 2011 and 2014.

The Saginaw Depot was voted Best Railfanning Spot.

For the third year in a row, the Trinity Railway Express got the nod over Dallas Area Rapid Transit for Best Passenger Rail/Commuter-Light Rail, while the Amtrak Texas Eagle took Best Passenger Rail/Passenger Regional.
The Illinois Railway Museum retained Best Railroad Museum.

The Cowcatcher Magazine also recognized the Elk Canyon & Western modular narrow-gauge layout with a Gold Rail Achievement Award. Although the award-winning layout finished behind Louisiana’s Ark-La-Tex layout for Best Club Layout, Modular, Cowcatcher staff recognized the Elk Canyon & Western for its “contribution to the introduction of model railroading through a compact design with museum-like presentation.”

The narrow-gauge Elk Canyon & Western modular layout earned the Cowcatcher’s Gold Rail Achievement Award for “it’s contribution to the introduction of model railroading through a compact design with museum-like presentation.”

2015 COWCATCHER GOLD RAIL AWARDS WINNERS & RUNNERS-UP

BEST TRAIN SHOW – 1. Oklahoma City Train Show, Oklahoma City; 2. Dallas Area Train Show, Plano, TX

BEST CLUB LAYOUT, PERMANENT – 1. Colorado Railroad Museum, Greely, Co; 2. San Antonio Model Railroad Association San Antonio Northern, San Antonio, TX

BEST CLUB LAYOUT, MODULAR – 1. Ark-La-Tex Model Railroad Club, Shreveport, LA; 2. Oklahoma N Rail, Oklahoma City, OK

BEST EXCURSION RAILROAD – 1. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Durango, CO; 2. Cumbres & Toltec, Chama, NM

BEST EXCURSION RAILROAD, THEME TRAIN – 1. Polar Express, Durango & Silverton, Durango, CO; 2. Fall Foliage, Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, Springdale, AR

BEST RAILROAD MUSEUM – 1. Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL; 2. Museum of Transportation, St. Louis, MO

BEST RAIL SPECIAL EVENT – 1. “24 Hours at Saginaw,” North Texas Chapter/NRHS; 2. Railfest, North Platte, NE/span>

BEST REGIONAL FREIGHT RAILROAD – 1. Fort Worth & Western Railroad, Fort Worth; 2. Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, Springdale, AR

BEST RAILFANNING SPOT – 1. Saginaw Depot, Saginaw, TX; 2. Union Station, Kansas City, MO

BEST NEW MODEL RAILROAD PRODUCT – (Tie) Athearn HO GP7U Santa Fe Topeka Cab locomotive; Walthers F7 Santa Fe HO locomotive.

BEST PASSENGER RAIL (Passenger Regional) – 1. Amtrak Texas Eagle; 2. Amtrak Southwest Chief; (Commuter/Light Rail) – 1. Trinity Railway Express; 2. Dallas Area Rapid Transit

BEST MODEL TRAIN STORE – 1. Discount Model Trains, Addison, TX; 2. Caboose Hobbies, Denver, CO

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.

Best Excursion Railroad race in 2015 Gold Rail Awards competition comes down to the wire

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