February 2024 - Click here to download February 2024 Micro-News

  MICRO-TRAINS - N SCALE NEW RELEASES

Chessie® System
Road Number 631517

This PS-2 hopper with Bettendorf trucks was built in 1957 in a series of 600 cars for the Baltimore & Ohio. The Pullman-Standard all-welded steel, 2,003 cubic-foot two bay covered hopper would become one of the most popular cars of its type with railroads and private industry. It was designed to haul everything from powdered chemicals, to grains, to construction materials such as sand or cement. Versatile and durable, this car continued in revenue service into the early 2000’s, and was sometimes found later in MOW service

#095 00 091...$47.95

Utah-Idaho Sugar Company
Road Number 47900

Three-bay covered hoppers are designed to carry everything from grain, to plastic pellets, to dry chemicals depending on the needs of the lessee. This ACF-owned covered hopper with Barber Roller Bearing Trucks was leased by Utah-Idaho Sugar Company (also called U and I Sugar), a large sugar beet processing organization originally owned and operated by a large U.S.-based church. The company was sold off in the 1980s and renamed AgraWest. Today, it is focused primarily on Brazilian sugar production.

#093 00 200...$33.90

Seaboard Air Line
Road Number 25303

This 40’ PS-1 boxcar with Bettendorf trucks was built for Seaboard Air Line in 1952. Seaboard used this car to ship beer from a Florida manufacturing facility, which necessitated the all-silver paint to help control interior temperatures. SAL later merged with Southern and other railroads to form CSX Transportation.

#020 00 387...$28.90

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Road Number 22222

This 40’ boxcar with Bettendorf trucks was built in 1966 and was class Bx-115. It was primarily used to haul grain. Founded in 1859, Santa Fe was one of the largest railroads in North America up until 1996, when it merged with Burlington Northern to form BNSF.

#074 00 190...$26.90

Kansas Egg & Poultry Co.
Road Number 3520

This ice reefer with Bettendorf trucks was leased to the Kansas Egg & Poultry Company (the “Sunflower Brand”) of Hillsboro, Kansas. North American Despatch was founded in the early 1900s and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, primarily leasing tank cars and refrigerator cars.

#058 00 602...$29.95

SIDE A

SIDE B

NS ex-Original Norfolk Southern
Road Number 406818

This general purpose 50’ boxcar with Barber Roller Bearing trucks was built for the original, unrelated Norfolk Southern Railway that operated until 1982. It eventually made its way to the modern Norfolk Southern, coincidentally founded in the same year following a merger between Norfolk & Western and Southern Railways.

#025 44 286...$32.95

Penn Central
Road Number 350302

This class-X54 boxcar with Bettendorf trucks was among the last 40’ boxcars built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the early 1950s. It was later rolled into Penn Central, shopped, and repainted into the PC green scheme. Penn Central was formed through the merger of Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central, and operated until 1976 when it was rolled into Conrail Corporation.

#074 00 180...$26.90

Spokane, Portland & Seattle
Road Number 725

This Wood Sheathed Caboose with Bettendorf trucks was built around 1910 and operated in general freight trains through the 1960s. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle was a railroad in Washington and Oregon incorporated in 1905 as a joint venture between Great Northern and Northern Pacific. It operated until 1970, when it was rolled into Burlington Northern.

#051 00 061...$34.90

CSX® 4-Car Runner Pack

These single-door boxcars with Roller Bearing trucks were used in general service by CSX. CSX was formed through the 1986 mergers of Chessie System and Seaboard System/ Family Lines, and continues to operate today across more than 21,000 miles of track in the Eastern United States.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 00 220...$119.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 00 220...$134.95

MICRO-TRAINS - Z SCALE NEW RELEASES

Kansas Egg & Poultry Co.
Road Number 3520

This ice reefer with Bettendorf trucks was leased to the Kansas Egg & Poultry Company (the “Sunflower Brand”) of Hillsboro, Kansas. North American Despatch was founded in the early 1900s and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, primarily leasing tank cars and refrigerator cars.

#518 00 862...$29.95

Medford, Talent & Lakecreek

Road Numbers 5875

Built by Medford, Talent & Lakecreek in 1926, this car served various orchards and fruitpackers around the Rogue Valley. The Medford, Talent & Lakecreek Railroad was established in 1918 to serve the communities throughout Oregon’s Rogue Valley, helping move commodities to the Southern Pacific interchanges. The success of the modest shortline revolved around serving various agricultural, timber, and manufacturing industries, as well as some passenger and tourist traffic in the region.

#518 00 851...$28.95

Road Number 5896

Built by Medford, Talent & Lakecreek in 1926, this car served various orchards and fruitpackers around the Rogue Valley. The Medford, Talent & Lakecreek Railroad was established in 1918 to serve the communities throughout Oregon’s Rogue Valley, helping move commodities to the Southern Pacific interchanges. The success of the modest shortline revolved around serving various agricultural, timber, and manufacturing industries, as well as some passenger and tourist traffic in the region.

#518 00 852...$28.95

MID-MONTH

Southern Pacific® Supply Car 3-Pack

Southern Pacific and its subsidiaries had a territory that spanned from the Pacific coast, down thru Mexico and east as far as New Orleans. It required constant upkeep, so older cars that were still roadworthy were converted to Maintenance of Way duties including remote living quarters, wreck recovery and supply. Our set represents three such cars used to get specialized supplies to work sites and return with repairs or discarded parts to nearby yards.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 235...$81.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 02 235...$93.95

Medford, Talent & Lakecreek 70's-80's Dinner Car 4-Pack

The Medford, Talent & Lakecreek Railroad, while primarily a freight railroad, did operate a number of dinner excursion trains to various landmarks and destinations, including Crater Lake, the Oregon coast, and the northern California Lava Beds. The Medford, Talent & Lakecreek Railroad was established in 1918 to serve the communities throughout Oregon’s Rogue Valley, helping move commodities to the Southern Pacific® interchanges. The success of the modest shortline revolved around serving various agricultural, timber, and manufacturing industries.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 236...$129.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 02 236...$144.95

NP Log Gondola with Flat Car and Log Loads 3-Pack

One of the benefits of drop end gondolas is the capability of carrying loads longer than the gondola itself. In this case, long utility poles have been loaded into 65’ mill gondolas, and the overhanging load protected by a flat buffer car. Northern Pacific was a Class 1 Railroad formed in 1864, and eventually acquired in 1970 by Burlington Northern Railroad through mergers, which went on to merge with Santa Fe, becoming BNSF.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 240...$99.95
Packaged in Foam Nest #983 02 240...$111.95

CP Rail/ex SOO MOW Hoppers with Tarps 4-pack

During the winter season railroads had to produce ways to keep loads in open hoppers from getting wet and freezing over during storms. One way was to cover the car with a tarp which could be easily removed by a work crew on site. The model represents MOW hoppers carrying ballast that had road numbers spray painted on the sides. Once the car was empty, the tarps could be folded and stored inside the hopper for the next loading operation.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 239...$129.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 02 239...$144.95

NEW PRE-ORDERS

Northern Pacific Weathered 3-Pack with Sugar Beet Load

These Northern Pacific gondolas in series 118541-118590 were built in 1936-1937. Decades later, these GS gondolas were converted with the addition of wooden extensions. The extensions allowed for loads such as woodchips, or sugarbeets as represented here. Sugarbeets are root crops with farms in over 10 states across America. These foot long beets account for the production of over 5 million tons of sugar in the U.S. each year!

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 248...$99.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 02 248...$111.95

Pacific Fruit Express® Reefer 4-Pack

These class BR-40-10 refrigerator cars were converted from R-40-10’s between 1951-1953. They received overhead electric fans and several additional updates. These express cars were painted a passenger dark olive with dulux gold lettering, and featured bettendorf trucks.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 00 225...$114.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 00 225...$129.95

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe w/boat load
Road Number 91500

During WW2 the “Higgens Boat” or Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LVCP) was designed to get troops and equipment from Naval ships to shore safely and efficiently. The Higgens did just that. They served in every theater of the war and lasted well into the last half of the 20th Century.

#045 00 750...$29.95

Cotton Belt® w/boat load
Road Number 85237

Tugboats come in all shapes and sizes and can be found plying their trade in just about any body of water. Smaller tugs such as this push and pull barges, boats and even floating logs if necessary.

#045 00 760...$29.95

CSX®/ex-Clinchfield RR Weathered 3-Pack

These ex-Clinchfield flatcars were converted into icebreaker cars in 1984 by the Seaboard Railroad, and they later made their way to CSX. To prevent impact damage to revenue railcars and lading, these cars featured large vertical steel frames to physically clear icicles from the inside of tunnels and low bridges. The phenomenon is more prevalent during spring and fall, when freeze/thaw cycles allow for the formation of large and damaging icicles.

Packaged in Foam Nest #993 02 249...$89.95
Packaged in Jewel Case #983 02 249...$101.95