GUEST BLOGGER John Ryan - New Products From Sunset Models - 3rd Rail Division

Sunset Models - 3rd Rail Division has announced two new products that are both new interpretations of "old standards" in O Gauge.

Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 4800 "Old Rivets"
Brass / $799.00

Of the dozens of different GG-1 models offered in brass, plastic, and dice-cast, this is the first model of the original GG-1 prototype. The model is offered in four paint schemes, including the original Pennsylvania Railroad 5-Stripe scheme, Conrail blue, Bicentennial Celebration, and the "today" paint scheme that reproduces the look of the locomotive as it is preserved in the State Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Production is limited to 25 copies per paint scheme.

New York Central 1938 20th Century Limited
Streamlined Dreyfuss Hudson / $1199.95
12 Scale 85' Passenger Cars / $1799.85

Click on the link below to read on

Watch A Short Video Demo Of Lionel's New Legacy System

Classic Toy Trains Magazine has posted a video on their website that demonstrates how to create unique horn blasts with a Legacy equipped Lionel locomotive and the Legacy CAB-2 controller.  Check out the video here.

Watch The Atlas VideoCast About The Springfield MA "Big E" Train Show

Atlas has posted a video they recorded at the Springfield MA "Big E" show.  It is great to see one of the major manufacturers embracing new means to spread the word about model railroading!  Great work Atlas.

Lionel Issues 2008 Catalog Updates & A Product Alert

Lionel has posted on Lionel.com a number of catalog updates for the 2008 Lionel Signature and RTR Catalogs.  Check out the list here. 

Also, Lionel issued a product alert with information about paint issues on the new Milwaukee Road EP-2 Bipolar locomotive.  Lionel received reports that paint was chipping between the 3 sections of the locomotive during shipping.  As a result, Lionel has established a return policy for those who own a Bipolar with paint issues.  Read the product alert here.

More New Signs From Miller Engineering

Miller Engineering has posted a few more new electroluminescent signs on their website.  The new offerings include a Clark Bar billboard, a recreation of the GE sign that sits atop a General Electric building in Schenectady, NY and the Domino Sugar billboard located in Baltimore, MD.  The GE and Domino Sugar signs will be limited production items.  Visit the Miller Engineering website for more details.

Weaver Models Open House

Weaver Models, located in Northumberland, PA, will be holding an open house the same week as the TCA Eastern Division's York, PA train meet.  From April 14 -18 you can take a tour of the Weaver Models factory.  Visit the Weaver Models website for more information and directions.

The Old K-Line Website Lives...

When Lionel bought K-Line I never understood why they didn't resurrect the old K-Line site that was chock full of product information.  Well, starting today the product information found on the old K-Line site will  be available at www.legacykline.com.  All the product information from the old K-Line site just before the company went under has been transformed into a neatly organized, easy to navigate website.  The site was created by On The Mark Technologies, a side business of Mark Johnson, a.k.a. MojoMark to those that frequent the O Gauge Railroading and Model Train Journal forums.  Mark did a fine job parsing and presenting the information from the old site.  Check out the new site here. 

MTH Continues To Expand HO Line

MTH announced the addition of another locomotive to their new HO scale line of products.  The third steam locomotive offering in the line will be the Southern Pacific GS4.  Read the details in the official press release here.

Owner Of One Of The Largest Toy Train Collections Passes

Members of the TCA are probably familiar with the name of Al Cox.  His collection of tinplate trains is infamous.  Sadly, Mr. Cox passed away this week in Shorline, WA at the age of 87.  Read more about his passing here.  Here are some other sources of information about Mr. Cox and his collection:

Tinplate Times Profile of Mr. Cox
TCA Train Collectors Quarterly qagazine article

Model Trains The Focus Of A Fund Raiser For Local NJ Food Pantry

If you live in the area of Freehold, NJ, be sure to check out the train show being held on 2/17 at the Knob Hill golf course clubhouse on Rt. 33 in Manalpan, NJ.  Admission to the show is free but the organizers are asking that attendees bring a food donation or make a monetary donation to the Open Door Food Pantry of Freehold.  The show runs from 10 am to 3 pm and a silent auction will be held from 10 am to 2 pm featuring a 1940 Lionel train set and a 4' x 4' layout.  Get more information about the show here.

Corgi 2008 1st Half Catalog Available On-Line

Corgi's new 2008 1st half catalog is now available on-line.  On page 6, there's a cool limited edition "Heavy Hauler" 1:50 scale Kenworth truck pulling a 5 axle lowboy trailer with an abandoned PCC street car as the load.  It's been over a year since Corgi released a new catalog.  Download the new catalog here.

Atlas O February '08 Announcements

The Atlas O "mini-catalog" for February contains new paint schemes and road numbers for the following products.

Atlas O DASH 8-40B Locomotive
Atlas O Coalveyor
Atlas O 55 Ton Coal Hopper

New paints schemes for  Atlas O Industrial Rail™ Motorized Trolley and  Atlas O Industrial Rail™ Tank Car.

See the Atlas O website for more details.

NJ Man In The Midst Of Recreating Lionel's Showroom Layout

The Asbury Park Press ran a story on their website about a Freehold, NJ resident that is in the process of recreating the 16' x 32' layout that was on display in Lionel's New York City showroom from 1949 to 1957.  Read the article here.  View a short video here.

Trainz.com Purchases SP Smoke Pellets

Trainz.com (a sponsor of OGaugeWatch) has purchased the SP Smoke Pellet business from Toy Trains Unlimited of Dallas, TX.  Here is the press release:

Buford, GA - Trainz.com has purchased the SP Smoke Pellet business from Toy Trains Unlimited of Dallas, TX. Made using the exact same chemical mixture and pill size that was used in the postwar years, the new SP pills are just like the original’s and have that same distinctive scent. It has been over 34 years since Lionel made Smoke Pellets and there are literally hundreds of thousands of old Postwar Lionel Engines out there that are starving to smoke again. Available from your local hobby shop, or Trainz.com. The retail price is $14.95 per Bottle of 50 pellets.

MTH Expanding European Offerings

MTH announced that the Flying Scotsman locomotive will be offered as part of their 2008 Volume 2 catalog.  The Flying Scotsman joins the Orient Express, which debuted in MTH's 2008 Volume 1 catalog, in MTH's European lineup.   Read the press release here.

MTH 2008 Ready To Run Catalog Available On-line

MTH's new 2008 Ready To Run catalog is now available on-line.  I'm glad to see the Blue Comet set is being offered again.  The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and UP SD70ACe sets are sweet too.  Check out the catalog here.

Neil Young And Lionel To Buy Out Partner Of Creative Trains

Neil Young (actually his family trust) and a partner, Louis Kovach, own a company called Creative Trains.  Creative Trains and Lionel are partners in a venture called Liontech.  Liontech is the brains behind the development of TMCC.  Mr. Kovach has agreed to sell his 50% share of Creative Trains to Neil Young and Lionel for $650,000.  The Bankruptcy court has to grant permission to Lionel to make the purchase and is scheduled to hear the request on 2/21/08.  Read the entire story here.

How To Build A Classy Shelf Mounted Layout

Check out this great web site detailing how to build a very classy enclosed shelf mounted ceiling layout.  The builder goes into great detail on how he pulled it off.  The resulting layout is fantastic. 

Feb '08 Edition Of Toy Collector Magazine

The February '08 edition of Toy Collector Magazine is available on-line and contains a great article about Pro Golfer Ed Dougherty's impressive Lionel collection.  Check out the article here.

New Lionel Catalogs Available On-Line

Lionel released 3 catalogs on-line early this morning.  The 2008 "Signature Addition" Catalog Volume 1 is filled with 200 pages of O Gauge and American Flyer goodness.  K-Line by Lionel 2008 Catalog Volume 1 features the Milwaukee Road's Olympian Hiawatha on the cover.  Lionel, taking a page from the MTH play book, introduced a new "Ready To Run" catalog featuring all their traditional lower end train sets, rolling stock and accessories.  Lots of great new products in all the catalogs.  Check them out for yourself by clicking on the links below. 

Lionel 2008 Signature Addition Catalog Volume 1
Lionel 2008 Ready To Run Catalog
K-Line by Lionel 2008 Catalog Volume 1