The West Springfield Report

[CBQ Fan]

Thanks for the scan!  Some good news in there for me!  I am going to have to order some Q and NP geeps! ;D

[sundowner]

Those TTX and CSX ER 65' gons are going to make me sell all my 65' LBF gons. Probably get some of the NOKL ones to.

Finally some pictures of the Atlas 25.5 tank, nice. And the FEC 100th GP40 looks great.


Thanks for the pics Bsoplinger.

[lock4244]

But seriously, look in the bottom corner - there is a SECOND gondola model - the "CP RAIL" marked car in Action Orange.  What the heck is that - looks like more new tooling, ,eh???

That caught my eye as well... very interesting.

[ljudice]

Looks like a Canadian proto gon - with the slightly shorter wheelbase....

Trenton Works???

[ljudice]

Here's the proto - not sure is this another Thrall prototype????

[bsoplinger]

By the time I'd gotten to the ExactRail table I was rather beat. Didn't even really see what I was taking pictures of and never noticed that CP gon as being different than the others until you pointed it out. Sorry I didn't catch that and get a better picture. I looked closely at their modern 50' box cars. Didn't seem very special and I rather like the FVM stuff so didn't look closely at those either, just took a few pics.

Did actually touch and held one of the new FVM GEVOs and they look very good right out of the box, even without the grabs attached. IMO they looked better with the smooth surface where holes would be drilled for the grabs over the standard molded in way out of scale grabs on other company's locos like the Katos.

I also forgot to take pics of the Freuhof (sp?) trailers from the latest Athearn release (shipping to dealers "any day now") which included a very nice St. Johnsbury (sp?) trailer pulled by a Mack B (I think) tractor.

Also thanks to whomever pointed out it was City Classics that's doing the nice laser cut el stuff. Saves me from going through the notes I made and posting here.

[ljudice]

I'm told it's a Marine Industries car...

[John Burkush]

Stopped by the Bachman booth with questions about the 44 tonners.
I was told by the same person at the national train show in Hartford
they were planning on releasing some more road names.
I suggested the next release includes a B&M which I also requested
on Saturday. I also mentioned the issues posted on the railwire regarding
the issues replacing the couplers.
I was told to check the website towards the middle to end of February
for a new release with new road names and magnetic couplers with some
design improvements. I have been putting off purchasing the 44's since
talking Bachman in Hartford so I hope the wait is worth it.

Also, there is a new player in the N scale Laser Building lineup;
"Imagine That" out of Canada introduced their first laser cut building.
This a high rise office that looks great and is reasonable at $40.
I bought one along with 18 other structure kits at the show and 2 of the
new Central Valley truss bridges for the new layout; I have enough kits
plus more at home to keep me building until the show next year!

[bbussey]

Looks like a Canadian proto gon - with the slightly shorter wheelbase....

Trenton Works???

Had the pleasure of speaking with Blaine at ExatRail for a while.  Yes, that is a CP prototype gon from the 1970s and not the same as the others.  He did say that it would be released in CP Rail only, and the plan moving forward is not to release foobie schemes on the model.  No interior detail in either car, but the exterior detail is excellent (especially on the CP prototype) and both models sit at the correct height above the rail.  The modern mill gons looked great, but the CP car looked extremely good.  Both models will be announced officially within the next few days.

Other news that hasn't been mentioned up-thread:

Regarding the MTL heavyweights - two different sleeper configuration test shots and one parlor test shot were on display.  Lots of good material to kitbash prototypes that are different than the models.  Only the bodies, trucks, diaphragms and roof components were displayed; the underbody and interior were not present.  All three cars have air conditioning, and the roof configuration is vastly different for each of the three.

Atlas had painted samples of the next upcoming modern tankcar (don't remember which prototype is next) as well as samples of upcoming releases on various rolling stock.  They also had a sample of the new code 55 truss bridge in black which looked very nice.

FVM had samples of the next MILW boxcars as well as production run versions of all the announced GEVOs and various recently released modern rolling stock on display.

Rapido said the demand for the HO scale PBLWs was greater than they imagined, and that it probably would inspire them to produce the remaining three variations of the model.  N scale versions definitely are being considered, but they would be at least two years beyond the release of all the HO variations, so that the N scale variations could be tooled simultaneously.  Replicating the HO scale steam car in N is unlikely due to trying to make the smaller model produce visible steam.

IMRC had samples from the latest Centralia passenger car releases, including the 13DBRs that started shipping right before the show.  They also had a sample of the upcoming fluted coach due in March, I think decorated in C&O but I don't remember for certain.  I do remember that it looked very nice.

[inkaneer]

Oh, a few more thoughts. The Mallory building was expanded this year. Because it is a livestock building (the Big E campus was a military complex converted to a super-regional fair ground), you have a exhibition hall then the main hall down a long, narrow corridor. This is the new, expanded area and its roughly 20,000 square feet. This is where Rapido, MTH and City Classics was located. City Classics was the company doing the laser cut structures (large buildings) and the elevated railway, which I plan on using parts for my Worcester station project...

Is this the same City Classics that produced the Gulf service station kit some time ago?  If so, I attended a presentation he gave on the history of the American gas station in which he stated that he lost money on that kit and gave up on N scale to concentrate on HO.  If it is one and the same individual I wonder what made him change his mind?    Not complaining mind you, just wondering.

[TrainCat2]

[Mark5]

Nuttin new from Atlas to tempt me, still waiting for them to load up the Winter cat though.

My wallet is hoping manufacturers will keep tossing up goose eggs for the next six months or so.

[asarge]

You're wallet maybe hoping, but if you're like most of us, the brain hopes in direct contrast to the wallet.

[Mark5]

You're wallet maybe hoping, but if you're like most of us, the brain hopes in direct contrast to the wallet.

Exactly!

[James Costello]

Is that a VTTX container flat Bob?