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train sets!build all the little buildings and the roads, railroads and sings!!!! click here to see some cool golf clubs!!!
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click here to see some cool tennis stuff!!! Erik Bergstrom writes: Seems as though my night shot victory in Trackside with Erik and Mike, Volume 61 got Mike interested in exacting some revenge. Mike, do you plan on using your recent night shot in this installment? Mike Yuhas says: Yep! I'm always true to my word, at least when I remember my word, and I do remember baiting the hook, so to speak, in the Volume 61 recap. So it is with great pride that I first describe my photo for this week's episode. Mike Yuhas's photo for Vol. 62 voting competition. ISO 400, 30 sec. at F11, 44mm. Click image for larger view. My entry depicts a Canadian National L503 train on the way to West Bend, Wisconsin. The train stopped momentarily in downtown Jackson; luckily, I was in the right spot to grab a short time exposure -- 30 seconds, to be exact. Right after the photo was taken, the ditch lights came on, the headlight brightened, and the train continued north. This scene called for use of the Canon 20D's custom white balance feature, because the (limited) ambient lighting in town cast a deep orange-yellow tint on everything. It's a bit of a challenge to capture a black locomotive in the middle of the night! Erik, what sort of night shot is up your sleeve this week? Erik Bergstrom's photo for Vol. 62 voting competition. ISO 200, .8 sec. at F5, 18mm. Click image for larger view. Erik: My photo for this week's voting competition is to the right. It was taken the same night as my photo for Trackside with Erik and Mike, Volume 61. This shot illustrates the amount of activity in the BNSF yard in Galesburg, IL. It's close to midnight, yet the railroad is far from sleeping. As one train is being assembled and moving north with the help of an old Burlington Northern SD40-2 (to the left in the photo), another train is moving toward the south (the boxcars streaming from the center of the photo). Within this photo you can also see a couple of crew vans and a couple of locomotives used for switching parked by the yard office. To the far left, a pair of BNSF Dash-9s sit idly on the point of a southbound train. This train will come to life and leave the yard for the Quincy mainline a few minutes after this shot was taken. Beyond that train is a former Santa Fe SD39, now relegated to yard duty. As I've stated before, if you've never shot from the public highway bridge over the BNSF yard in Galesburg, I'd highly recommend it. There's plenty of activity throughout the day. Mike: And night! With that, let's head to the polls. Be sure to click these photo thumbnails for the large versions, vote, and share your comments in our forums. We'll be back next week with a recap. Until then, thanks for participating! Mike Yuhas's photo for Vol. 62 voting competition. ISO 400, 30 sec. at F11, 44mm. Click image for larger view. Erik Bergstrom's photo for Vol. 62 voting competition. ISO 200, .8 sec. at F5, 18mm. Click image for larger view. Time to vote! Voting on our new site is a little different. The voting actually takes place in the Trackside with Erik and Mike section of TrainsMag.com A Conrail crewman with a hand-held radio rides the rear platform of a bay window caboose near Toledo, Ohio, in 1985. The 1980s were the last decade of mainline caboose operations, although they continue to be used in specialized switching jobs. (George Kleiber) For more than a century the caboose was a fixture at the end of every freight train in America. Like the red schoolhouse and the red barn, the red caboose became an American icon. Along with its vanished cousin the steam locomotive, the caboose evokes memories of the golden age of railroading. There are conflicting versions of how the caboose got its name and where the word was first used. One popular story points to a Dutch derivation of the word "kabuis," meaning a little room or hut. The English word "caboose" was first used as a nautical term for a ship's galley. More certain is the origin of the first railroad caboose, which can be traced to the 1840s. A conductor named Nat Williams on the Auburn & Syracuse, a short line in upstate New York, decided to use the empty wooden boxcar at the end of his train as his "rolling office." Williams sat on a wood box and used a barrel as his desk. He stored flags, lanterns, chains, and other work tools in this first caboose. The genesis of the unique cupola located atop the caboose is credited to T. B. Watson, a Chicago & North Western conductor. In 1863, when Watson's regular caboose was reassigned, he used a wooden boxcar at the end of the train for a caboose. The boxcar had a hole in the roof, which prompted Watson to sit on a stack of boxes with his head and shoulders protruding through the hole, giving him an excellent view of his train as it journeyed from Cedar Rapids to Clinton, Iowa. Back at the home terminal, Watson relayed his positive experience to a master mechanic at the railroad's Clinton shops. He suggested that a "crows nest" be added to the new waycars the North Western was building there. Thus, C&NW may have been the first railroad to have cabooses with cupolas. A train crew's home away from home In February 1957, brakeman Orville M. Baptist and conductor Edward J. Kearney share a meal inside a Wabash caboose while working a freight train from Bluffs, Ill., to Keokuk, Iowa. Baptist grilled a steak on the caboose's propane stove. (Wayne Leeman) The primary purpose of the cupola was to give the rear train crew - which consisted of a conductor, brakeman, and flagman - a place to observe their train in motion. They would look for overheated wheel journals (hotboxes), dragging equipment, and shifted freight loads. As the crew member in charge of the train, the conductor needed space to check car waybills, wheel reports, and switchlists, and manage the train's operation. Before George Westinghouse invented the automatic air brake in 1869, it was the rear brakeman's job to walk forward and turn a wheel that applied the handbrakes on each freight car, on cue from the engineer's whistle to stop the train. The head brakeman, who rode in the engine, walked toward the rear of the train performing the same task. After the widespread introduction of air brakes, brakemen still had the responsibility of throwing switches and coupling cars, as well as keeping an eye on the train's consist while it was in motion. Prior to the introduction of automatic block signals, invented by Westinghouse in 1881, it was the flagman's job to walk a safe distance behind the stopped caboose carrying a lantern, flags, and fusees, used to signal approaching trains that his train had stopped on the main line. Frisco brakeman Earl Gibson balances the springs that will become part of a bed similar to the one in front of him, used by his conductor. The crew was working Frisco train No. 437 from Tulsa, Okla., to Floyada, Texas, in April 1954. (Wayne Leeman) In addition to the conductor's work area, cabooses often had bunks for sleeping, stoves for cooking, and toilets (initially, the straight-dump kind, then later, chemical toilets). The caboose was also used as a storehouse for tools and supplies, including spare coupler knuckles and pins, chains, jacks and re-railing frogs, fusees, flags, lanterns, and first-aid kits. Beginning in the 1950s, axle-driven generators that supplied lighting and electricity were added, which led to the installation of electric heaters, refrigerators, and two-way radios. Despite its charm, the caboose's location at the end of a train made it a dangerous place to work. The inevitable slack, incurred whenever a train started, stopped, or changed speed, rippled back to the caboose. The ensuing jolt could be so severe that it would send crew members falling to the floor, pitching into a wall, stove, or desk corner, or even tumbling from the cupola, any of which could cause serious injury. A toppled lantern could start a fire. Derailments, picked switches, break-aparts, or emergency brake applications could also injure an unknowing crew member. A rear-end collision could be fatal to the occupants of a wooden caboose. Conductor Glenn Voyles grabs holds of a monkey bar while talking to the head-end crew on the radio telephone. This modern caboose sports vertical safety bars and an oil-burning stove. At the right is an air pressure gauge, and below it, a conductor's valve that can be used to stop the train. (Wayne Leeman) Crews instinctively learned to grasp the metal handrail running the length of the car near the ceiling at the slightest indication of trouble. Safety was a shared concern among railroad employees, particularly brakemen, so much so that the first rail labor union, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, was formed inside a caboose, Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. No. 10, on September 13, 1883. That caboose is on display in Oneonta, N.Y. Caboose construction, design, and paint Before cabooses, the rear train crew would often ride in a coach or empty boxcar at the back of the train. The earliest cabooses were, in fact, second-hand freight cars built of wood - flatcars outfitted with a crude shelter, or converted boxcars with windows, a stove, and a desk. Metal bracing reinforced the exterior of this wooden Rock Island caboose, seen in 1961. The cupola was made of steel. (Merk Hobson) Following World War I, the all-steel construction of cabooses began. The newly constructed cabooses had steel center-sills and underframes. This advanced caboose design better protected the rear end crew against the train's slack action. Some of the companies who manufactured cabooses for the railroads were the International Car Company, St. Louis Car Company, and American Car & Foundry. At various times, the railroads themselves would also build cabooses. By the late 1920s, newly constructed freight cars were taller than most cupolas. This prompted the invention of the bay window caboose, pioneered by the Milwaukee Road and the Baltimore & Ohio. Built with one set of windows on each side, projecting out from the side wall to form a viewing alcove, the bay window caboose allowed the conductor and brakeman to view each side of their moving train. This type of caboose was cheaper to build than the cupola, and also helped solve tunnel clearance problems faced by many eastern railroads. The Milwaukee Road is also credited with building the "rib-side" caboose. For added strength, narrow steel ribs were welded to the car's side panels. Between 1939 and 1951, the railroad's Milwaukee Shops built 315 rib-side cabooses. Spacious front and rear platforms, and smaller enclosed areas were hallmarks of transfer cabooses. This one was photographed at Green Bay, Wis., in September 1992. (John Kelly) In large rail terminals and urban cities, transfer cabooses were often used. They were similar in design to the early wood, shanty-type caboose, and were very plain inside, with only a desk for paperwork. The large, outside storage platforms were used to haul work material, spare couplers and tools. The transfer caboose usually did not travel far from its home terminal, and was popular with big-city belt and terminal railroads. Railroaders affectionately called their cabooses by many nicknames, including cabin, crummy, buggy, doghouse, waycar, shack, and hack. On the Pennsylvania Railroad, the caboose was a cabin or "cabin car." The Burlington, C&NW, and other roads used the term waycar. Canadian cabooses were called "vans," a word similar to "brake van," used in England to describe railroad cars that performed a similar function to a caboose. Most railroads painted their cabooses "boxcar red" for high visibility. However, after World War II, the "little red caboose" showed up in many different colors, typically associated with the paint schemes found on the railroads' new diesel locomotives. The colorful caboose with its railroad's logo and paint scheme presented a rolling image for everyone to see. Denver & Rio Grande Western had cabooses of silver and gold, while Milwaukee Road's were orange and black. Pennsylvania Railroad cabooses were painted "tuscan red," and Southern Pacific's were reddish brown. Chesapeake & Ohio liked to paint their cabooses yellow and blue, and Boston & Maine chose black and blue. Chicago & North Western waycars were various shades of yellow and green, while Burlington Route's all-steel waycars were painted silver. A popular color for cabooses was green, some shade of which could be found on roads such as the New York Central and successor Penn Central, Northern Pacific, Lehigh Valley, Indiana Harbor Belt, Reading, Rutland, and Missouri-Kansas-Texas. Two latter-day caboose colors were Burlington Northern "cascade green" and Conrail blue. Technology catches up Increasingly taller freight cars such as autoracks and hi-cube boxcars towered over caboose cupolas, blocking the rear end crew's view of the train. Bay window cabooses solved the visibility problem, but the non-revenue cars were still expensive to operate and maintain. (George Kleiber) In railroad jargon, the caboose was classified as "non-revenue" equipment. Cabooses were expensive to build and maintain, unlike regular freight cars, which earned their keep. Extra switching moves were needed to add or uncouple a caboose at the end of a train, and they required caboose tracks at major yards, as well as carmen and laborers to work on them and service them. In 1980, the cost of operating a caboose was 92 cents per mile. One terminal superintendent on the Cotton Belt estimated his railroad spent $300 a day in crew time switching out cabooses at terminals. To many railroad accountants the caboose was "just along for the ride." As railroad technology advanced, the caboose's function became less important. The introduction of remote switches thrown by dispatchers at CTC consoles meant that a rear brakeman wasn't needed to close a switch behind a train. Increasingly taller freight cars blocked the view from the cupola. Many railroaders believe the final nail in the caboose's coffin was the "End-of-Train" telemetry device. This small metal box was first used by the Florida East Coast Railroad in 1969. The EOT fits over the rear coupler of the last car on the train, and is connected to the train's air brake line. Powered by battery, the EOT sends a periodic signal to the locomotive indicating the brake pressure at the rear of the train, whether or not the last car of the train is moving, and in which direction. EOTs are also equipped with a flashing red light, activated at night by a sensor, which serves as the train's rear marker. New labor agreements cut train crew sizes to two or three, eliminating the need for the extra crew space provided by a caboose. (Charles B. Castnef) By 1972, Florida East Coast had replaced all of its cabooses with EOTs, and other railroad soon began to follow suit. In 1985, Robert Claytor, then chairman of Norfolk Southern, summed up the reasons for doing so in an address to the Railroad Public Relations Association. "Today's caboose costs about $80,000 - more than the cost of most freight cars - and weighs about 25 tons. It can be replaced with a box that costs about $4000 and weighs 35 pounds. The end-of-train monitor doesn't have to be switched through terminals and doesn't require expensive maintenance….The fact of the matter is that the caboose is certainly the most dangerous place to ride." By the mid 1980s new labor agreements reduced the hours of service for train crews, eliminating the need for a caboose to provide overnight housing. The labor agreements also cut crew size from five to four, and finally two - an engineer and conductor, both of whom could ride comfortably in the locomotive cab. Included in the agreements were provisions for the removal of cabooses from the rear of freight trains. Union Pacific's Armour yellow paint was applied to cabooses as well as locomotives. UP also added safety and advertising slogans to the sides of its cabooses, such as this one at Kansas City proclaiming "Have train, will travel." (Jim Hediger) One by one throughout the 1980s, individual states repealed age-old laws that required the use of cabooses in train operation. The last state to do so was Virginia, which relented on July 1, 1988. Not long before, in December 1987, the Canadian government approved the cabooseless operation of freight trains provided a two-way EOT system was used in its place. In the mid 1920s there were approximately 34,000 cabooses operating on U.S. railroads. Today, only a few hundred cabooses remain, used in transfer work, and on yard jobs, work trains, and trains that require backup moves. The colorful caboose that generations once looked for at the end of every freight train is now a thing of the past, replaced by modern technology.

Locomotives: The new shipment of Chivers Fineline conversion kits has arrived. This shipment includes the Prarie, both versions of the 0-4-0 Baldwins, the 2-4-4T and 0-4-4T Forney locos with the standard cabs, the larger 2-4-4T Forney and the Davenport. There will also be a large quantity of diesel bodies to fit the Kato pocket drive. When built, it is the same as the C&DRR #4 diesel, which shows up in many of Bob Hayden's photographs of his Carabasset & Dead River RR. It is probably the easiest of Chiver's conversions to build and will run smoothly on the Kato chassis. Passenger Cars: Roger has informed me that this run of WW&F passenger cars will be the last run he will ever produce. He will no loner be able to get the brass pieces necessary to build these cars. I have all of the remaining cars on the way to me. I am taking pre-orders on these cars and will deliver the in the order in which the orders were received. WARNING!! REMEMBER, THESE CONVERSION KITS ARE FOR THE OLDER BACHMANN MECHANISMS AND CANNOT BE BUILT ON THE NEW MECHANISMS, WITHOUT EXTENSIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISM AND CONSIDERATION OF MOUNTING A METAL BOILER ON A SPLIT FRAME CHASSIS.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOW TAKING ORDERS FOR FEBRUARY 2007 DELIVERY ATLAS CONVERTED HOn30 R-T-R SHAY Atlas has announced that a new run of their 3-Truck Shay is expected in January of 2007. We have reserved many of these units, in order to produce Shays for the needs of our HOn30 customers. The new Shay has been redesigned, with an insulated motor for easy installation of a DCC decoder. These Shay locomotives are built upon the Atlas N Scale Shay chassis. The conversion is done by adding a resin cab casting and fuel bunker. If you special order one of these fine running models, you may have a choice of having a wood load or a fuel oil bunker to complete your model. These models are being built by Tom Price and come completely built, detailed, painted, weathered and have Micro Train couplers installed. For custom paint, numbering or specially applied details, we will quote you a price for the extra work. One advantage over other HOn30 Shay locos is that with the Atlas Shay (the mechanism) spare parts are available and that you could always return the mechanism to Atlas if there is a serious problem. TOM PRICE HOn30 RTR SHAY............... $399.9 These units are custom built to order. You not only have your choice of road name and number, but you may elect to have it built either as an oil burning or wood burning loco (wood burner shown above). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW EGGER-BAHN, HOn30 TURNTABLE Andreas Schoenfeld has produced a very similar turntable to the one that Egger-bahn had planned to release in 1965. Although they produces 8-9 sample turntables, they never figured out the electrical and consequently, the turntable was never released. Using drawings and dimensions from the sample he owns, Andreas has produced this RTR turntable. For more information on this turntable, click this INFORMATION LINK. Egger-bahn Turntable, Photo #1 Egger-bahn Turntable, Photo #2 Egger-bahn Turntable, Photo #3 Egger-bahn Turntable Drawing Price: Retail......299.99, our Price $249.99 __________________________________________________________ NEW FROM FLOQUIL Rail Weathering Kit and other Weathering Kits Each Set Contains Three Different Colors Floquil F3801 Rail Weathering Kit Rail Brown, Rail Tie Brown and Rust ----------------------------- $ 5.99 Floquil F3802 Structure Weathering Kit Aged Concrete, Weathered Black & Roof Brown -------- $ 5.99 Floquil F3803 Earth Tones Earth, Mud & Grime ------------------------------------------------------ $ 5.99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STARTER SETS B&F Hobby Starter Sets B&F Hobby Shop has available an HOn30 starter set which was was released in October if last year. B&F again has these sets available for anyone wanting a good running narrow gauge train, without the expense of HOn3. There are two different sets available, one with track and transformer; and one without. The first set will contain the Mocalova Round Roof Diesel Loco (built on the Bachmann N Scale MDT Diesel Mechanism), a Railway Recollection 20' gondola, 18' flat car, 18' box car and a 16' bobber caboose. (Photo's of the flat car and caboose to be added shortly). If you order the sets with track and transformer, it will include an oval of Bachmann N Scale Nickel Silver EZ track, Connector and an MRC 1370 Transformer. The set will contain an instruction book, containing information on the HOn30 Home Depot and the HOn30 yahoo groups. Hopefully these starter sets will encourage more modelers to consider HOn30 modeling. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BNF-SET-1 HOn30 Plymouth Starter Set. Contains one each of the following: Mocalova Round Roof Diesel Loco (built on the Bachmann N Scale MDT Diesel Mechanism), a Railway Recollection flat car without stakes, gondola, box car and a 16' bobber caboose. All cars come Ready-to-Run, painted and have Micro-Train Trucks and Couplers. IN STOCK AND SHIPPING $ $199.99 BNF-SET-1 HOn30 Plymouth Starter Set w/Track & Transformer. Contains one each of the following: Mocalova Round Roof Diesel Loco (built on the Bachmann N Scale MDT Diesel Mechanism), a Railway Recollection flat car without stakes, gondola, box car and a 16' bobber caboose. All cars come Ready-to-Run, painted and have Micro-Train Trucks and Couplers. IN STOCK AND SHIPPING $ $219.99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR ADDITIONAL READY-TO-RUN ROLLING STOCK, CHECK THE ROLLING STOCK PAGES. THERE ARE SEVERAL ADDITIONAL CARS FROM RAILWAY RECOLLECTIONS AVAILABLE. ALL R-T-R CARS COME COMPLETE WITH TRUCKS AND COUPLERS. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR ADDITIONAL READY-TO-RUN LOCOMOTIVES, CHECK THE ROLLING STOCK PAGES. THERE ARE MANY OTHER LOCOMOTIVES, WHICH WE HAVE ASSEMBLED AND PAINTED. ALL R-T-R LOCOMOTIVES COME PAINTED AND HAVE MICRO TRAIN COUPLERS INSTALLED. __________________________________________________________ What is HOn3 or HOn30 HO, HOn30 and HOn3 are all the same scale. HO scale is 1/87th scale or 3.5mm per inch scale. So all models in HO, HOn30 and HOn3 are all built to the same scale or proportion to the prototype. The only difference between HO, HOn30 and HOn3 is the difference between the rails on the three different gauges. HO standard gauge represents 4'8.5" between the rails. HOn30 represents 30" between the rails HOn3 represents 3' between the rails. PICTURES My Home HOn30 Railroad A new page has been created with a tour of my home railroad. Click on LINKS & TOURS in the browser and it will take you to a personal page. The page contains some personal information; information about me, the store, my railroad, the Left Coast HOn30 Module group, tutorials and some of my favorite links. The railroad is modeled in HOn30 and represents a mining and logging line which shares about 100' of common track from the logging and mining areas to the valley below. If you have the time, take a ride down the hill and across the Dixie Creek Gorge behind Old F&C #3.