Christmas Trains What is Christmas without a train? I couldn't imagine a christmas without a train going around my tree. USA Trains has a very nice big selection of Christmas themed trains. I have a sunroom that I dedicate for Christmas every year and have a train going aroung the tree, so having room for a G scale Christmas train is no big deal. For more pictures and selctions of Christmas trains visit>>> www.usatrains.com
Large Scale ONLY train shows For those of you who are interested in going to a G scale ONLY train show becuase you are tired of mixed scale shows, visit www.largescaletrainshows.com They put on one great show and you at least go once, you can reserve hotels, get tickets and directions all from this site. I attached a few pictures of last years East Coast Large Scale train show in York, PA. The pictures are from the train display wing.
Go USA Army Go Some people look for different types of trains to collect that would be considered special trains such as a circus train for example. Well, if you are looking for something different, USA trains has a "Military series" with the US Army as the roadname. Below are some pictures of the US Army USA Trains "Military Series". Visit >>>> www.usatrains.com for more selections
How to pick that right transformer for your layout Hi, To avoid costly mistakes like me, I will go over what to look for when shopping for a trasnformer if you choose track power. First you have to know your locomotives requirements, lets take USA locomotives for example, they love the power and use alot of it. So for example you could get away using just a 10 amp power supply for 1 locomotive. Know the secifications on the transformer you are shopping for, some just rate their transformers in amps, but you have to know volts and amperage go hand in hand so for instance a transfomer may have 10 amps but only 12 volts to back up the amperage. Volts is defined as a potential difference across a conductor when a current of 1 amp disipates into 1 watt of power. Next you have to know what kind of trains you want to pull, how heavy they are and how many you want to pull. The reason I say this part is because for example, you go out and buy a Ford Ranger pickup truck and then later to decide to buy a 28ft travel trailer, there is no way this combination would work, even if you tried, the vehicle wouldn't last long. There is a pulling force needed to run your trains, pretty much like there is torque needed to pull with your pick up truck and NOT horsepower. The pulling force in the G scale train world is measures in ounces. Electric locomotives uses amperage to pull with and each locomotive will max out at a certain amperage and with a load applied, the locomotive will reach it's max amperage fast. Just like you need horsepower to back up the torque in your pickup for pulling, you need volts to back up the amps in your locomotive. The higher the transformer voltage, the less sooner is runs out of max amps allowing you to pull more. You also need to know the specifications of the max voltage your locomotive is safely allowed to run on. To measure the pulling force of any train, use a spring loaded ounce scale. For example, it takes 10 amps for my 3 USA GP40-2 locomotives to pull 17 50ft reefer cars & 50ft box cars which are real heavy to go at a decent rate of speed, if this transformer was anything less than a 24 volt systems it would burn out or I would not to be able to go very fast. USA locomotives are safe to run on up to 24 volts which is considered high voltage in the train world since most people only run up to 12 volts. I myself run Bridgewerks 24 volt transformers which limit me to what accessories such as lights and sounds I can run on my locomotives. My transformers are all 15 amps, Bridgewerks makes a 20 amp transformer now, but it's not 100% radio controlled like mine, it's limited to just stop and go radio controls due to it's high amperage. My mistake, I started out with a MRC 10amp transoformer, but as my layout grew, it burned up, teaching me a hard lesson about checking the voltage rating on transformers Bridgewerks clearly labels each transformer of how many amps and volts it is rated for. They also have output jacks for DC and AC which is also clearly labled. Shopping for transformers, check out Bridgewerks > www.bridgewerks.com
Crunching multiple numbers with USA trains Hi, Everyone has their own idea of what a railroad should be and how it should operate. I look at many railroad sets and operations at the train shows. Some just run a mixed freight with mixed locomotives pulling it, or some just run a passenger service. It' amazes me how different each layout and set up can be, although alot of them simliar, none really the same. I myself run "dedicated type trains", that means my trains are not mixed freight and only have certain types freight fro each train I run. For example, My new Heritage series SD-70MAC which is also hooked up to another USA trains Rio Grande SD-70MAC running as a double header pulls a string of 55ft center flow hopper cars and 55ft modern tank cars, thats it. Sometimes dedicated trains get even more extreme, only pulling just tank cars or just center flow hopper cars. Thanx to USA using making trains with mulitple road numbers, a person like me who runs dedicated trains can run a string of the same road name rail cars. In the early 2000, USA trains started producing mutiple road numbers on trains, starting withe the locomotives of course. then they moved on to freight cars starting with the single dome tank car (Not to be confused with the 55ft tank car) and the 70 ton coal hopper. At this time they were making up to 6 different road numbers on some of the more popular items such as the 70 ton hopper car. I bought all 6 road numbers at the time. Today I'm glad that I did, USA has cut back some time ago down to only 4 multiple road numbers for the more popular road names and rail cars. I have 2 Rio Grande 70 ton hopper cars in road numbers that USA no longer makes, making them very rare. Now they have even made multiple road number on the cabooses so you can run 2 trains and actually have 2 different cabooses. On another note: For those also interested in running dedicated trains, here is a list of dedicated trains I run below V. Train #1 USA 55ft centerflow hopper cars (9) & 55ft modern tank cars (9) pulled by 2 USA trains SD-70MACS Train #2 USA 50ft reefer cars (9) & 50ft box cars (6) pulled by 3 USA trains SD40-2 locos Train #3 USA 70 ton hopper cars (12) with coal load pulled by 2 USA trains GP-9 Train #4 USA 40ft box cars (6) & USA single dome tanks (9) pulled by USA trains F3 ABBA lash up (4 locomotives) Trains #5 Dedicated to flat service, this train only pulls flat type cars, this was inspired by me when reading a article in Garden Railways called "Dedicated Flat service" There are 11 flat type cars and will be adding 2 more this year, they are pulled by 2 USA trains GP-30 locos Train #6 Dedicated MOW train, there is only MOW type rail cars on this train, all which are USA, so far I only been able to collect 8, I'm looking for 4 more, but real rare, this is pulled ny a USA trains NW-2 Cow and Calf loco.
Some Charles RO reefer and box car info Below is a list of Charles RO (Early pre-USA Trains) woodside Reefer cars and woodside box cars complete with a name and part number. It's not a complete list by any means, but it's a start. Reefer Car List __________________________________________________ ___________________ R1699 Illinois Central R1695 Morrels" Refrigerator Line R1694 Borden's Milk R1693 Armour Pcking Company / Kansas City R1692 Carnation Wheat / Union Refrigerator Transit R1688 Phoenix Cheese / Union Refrigerator Transit R1685 Wilson & Company R1683 Nordic / Safety Refrigerator R1682 REA / Union Pacific R1680 Pcific Co-Op / Northern Refrigerator Car R1679 Santa Fe Route R1678 G.H. Hammond / Dressed Beef / Hogs / Sheep R1677 Cudahy's Ham - Bacon - Lamb / Northern Refrigerator Car R1675 Zimmermans Poultry - Fruit - Beef - Game fish - oysters R1674 Kraft cheese / Northern Refrigerator car R1673 Swift Bacon / Kansas City dressed beef line Outside Braced woodside box cars __________________________________________________ ______________________ R1436 Virginian R1435 Reading R1434 Western Maryland R1430 The Rock R1429 Colorado & Southern in 4 road numbers R1427 Rio Grande R1428 Rio Grande R1426 Grand Trunk Western R1425 Sandy River #14 R1424 Sandy River #12 R1423 Frisco R1420 Nickel Plate R1419 Dixie Line R1417 Pennsylvania R1416 CB&Q R1415 American Transit R1413 New York Central R1400 Chicago & Northe Western Here is a very short list of RO Trains Piggybacks __________________________________________________ ______________________ R1799 Quaker Oats R1798 Bakers Chocolate R1797 Santa Fe R1796 Any Boy R1793 Bud of California R1791 Clipper R1790 Dixie Ohio Express R1789 New York Central R1787 Carolina > very rare R1786 Valvoline Oil R1785 Union Ice Company R1780 Copper Jarrett R1778 Illinois Central R1762 White Pass > very rare This completes my list of Charles RO made trains I have so far.
List of USA trains woodside Reefers Todays economy is in shambles which means manufacturers will be cutting production back harder and harder, especially in the non essentials market such as hobbies. USA trains is no different, here is a list of USA trains woodside reefer cars, some in short supply, some no longer produced and you will see that in the missing numerical stock numbers on this list. Please note, this is not a list of old Charles RO trains. Notice how the stock numbers jump between each other. Starting with stock number R16001 and so far the last stock number is R16337. That means USA has built 340 different paint schemed woodside reefer cars to date, see how many of these stock numbers are missing? Note: the first 2 reefer cars have the old Charles RO numbers, just like the work train series, USA decided to carry these over and keep producing them under the same number. Anything in blue is a hyperlink and you can click on it to view a picture. R1654 Gerber Girl - Pink/White I.S.$67.00R1655 Gerber Boy - Blue/White I.S.67.00CUSTOMIZE GERBER CARS WITH NAME, BIRTH DATE, WEIGHT AND LENGTH OF BABY (Additional Charge)R16068 Lighthouse Soap - Yellow with Blinking Lights in Lighthouse Ltd. Qty. B.O.77.00 R16195 Interstate Engine & Tractor Co. - White/Turquoise Ltd. Qty. B.O.67.00 R16203 Skellig Finest Irish Cheese - Cream/Green B.O.67.00 R16204A Alaska Railroad (9006, 9007) - Orange/Silver I.S.67.00 R16204B Alaska Railroad (9159, 9160) - Tuscan/Silver I.S.67.00 R16204C Alaska Railroad (9284, 9285) - Blue/Silver I.S.67.00 R16204D Alaska Railroad (9563, 9564) - Red/Silver I.S.67.00 R16208 Peerbolte Onion Sets - Reefer Orange/Tuscan B.O.67.00 R16211 Fruit Growers - Orange/Silver B.O.67.00 R16214 B&O - Blue/Silver B.O.67.00 R16215 R16219 REA/New Haven - Green/Black I.S. Furniture & Buggy Dark Green I.S.67.0067.00 R16220 Jelke/Good Luck - Reefer Yellow/Red/Silver I.S.67.00 R16221 Alaska Salmon - Red/Black I.S.67.00 R16224Universal Tractor I.S.67.00 R16225MKT - Maroon/Red B.O.67.00 R16231 Squirt Soda - Cream/Black/Green B.O.67.00 R16233 R16234 R16236 Dairy & Fruit Express - Orange/Black/Silver I.S. RENKEN'S MILK & CREAM I.S. POLAR GINGER ALE GOLD/BLUE I.S 67.00 67.00 67.00 R16240 Kelly Springfield ( Truck Car) - Light Green/Tuscan B.O.67.00 R16241 Quaker Oats Cereal Bars - Red/Blue I.S.67.00 R16243 Waterloo Boy - Green/Silver I.S.67.00 R16244 Maccar Truck Co. - Lt. Gray/Black/SilverI.S.67.00 R16245 Autocar Co. - Cream/Black I.S.67.00 R16249Blitz Weinhard Brewing Co. - White/Red/Gold B.O.67.00 R16254 Seaworld NGRC Convention Car - White/Blue B.O.67.00 R16255 Whitings - Green/Black I.S.67.00 R16256 Southern Star - Yellow/Red I.S.67.00 R16257 R16260 Union Pacific Overland - Yellow/Black I.S.ERIE/RAILBENDR ALE-YLW/SILVER I.S 67.00 67.00 R16261 Del Monte - Green B.O.67.00 R16262 Sezoens - Silver I.S.67.00 R16264 Puntigamer-Marzen Bier - Blue I.S.67.00 R16266 Cerveza-Aguila - Yellow B.O.67.00 R16267 Peroni Birra - - Silver/Red/Gold I.S.67.00 R16268 ACL/REA - - Green/Black I.S.67.00 R16274 Rose Of Maine Apples - White/Green I.S.67.00 R16275 Hatchet Brand Sugar Corn - White/Black I.S.67.00 R16277 OBC Brewing -Gray/Black I.S.67.00 R16278 Rio Grande - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16279 Samuel Adams - White/Brown I.S.67.00 R16280 Straub Beer - White/Red I.S.67.00 R16281 Progresso Soup - Two Tone Blue I.S.67.00 R16282 NYC/REA - Green/Black I.S.67.00 R16283 Northern Pacific - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16285 Salvador´s Margarita - Cream/Green/Gold I.S.67.00 R16286 Mountain Valley Spring Water - Green I.S.67.00 R16287 Quinn´s Irish Style Ale - Yellow/Lt.Green B.O.67.00 R16289North Western - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16291Murphy´s Irish Stout - Yellow/Brown I.S.67.00R16292 Armour Refrigeration Line - Orange/Brown I.S. 67.00 R16293 California Fruit Express - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16294 Western Fruit Exp./GN - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16295 PFE/UP - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16296 Western Pacific - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16297 Steinlager - White/Gold I.S.67.00 R16298 Goodell CA Fruit Line - Yellow/Boxcar Red I.S.67.00 R16299ATSF Despatch - Yellow/Boxcar Red I.S.67.00 R16300 PFE SP/UP - Light Orange/Red Oxide I.S.67.00 R16301 PFE SP - Light Orange/Red Oxide I.S. 67.00 R16302 Northern Refrigerator Car Co. - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16303 D&RGW - Orange/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16304 Evansville Packing Co. - Yellow/BC Red I.S.67.00 R16305 Hofbrau Munchen -White/Blue I.S. 67.00 R16306 Sun Giant - Green/Blue I.S. 67.00 R16307 Swift - Yellow/Brown I.S.67.00 R16308 Screaming Lobster - Blue/White/Silver I.S. 67.00 R16309 Alaska Brewing Amber Beer - Tan/Green I.S.67.00 R16310 Decker Ref. Line - Yellow/Box Car Red I.S.67.00 R16311 Empire Builder Apples - Light Blue I.S.67.00 R16312 Harding Cheese - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16313Wisconsin Cheese - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16314 URT/Soo Line - Orange/Silver I.S.67.00 R16315 Lakeshire Cheese - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16316 URT/Minneapolis St. Louis RR - Orange/Silver I.S.67.00 R16317 N. Dorman & Co. Cheese I.S.67.00 R16318 Clipper Ship Apples - Red/Blue I.S.67.00 R16319 Crest Washington Pears - Blue I.S.67.00 R16320 Blue Bird Pears - Blue I.S. 67.00 R16321 Royal Crest Apples - Red/Silver I.S.67.00 R16322 USA Trains "Add A Little Magic" - Blue I.S.67.00 R16323 Express Salmon - Red/Silver I.S.67.00 R16324 NW Reefer Line/Twin Brand Fruit Co. - Yellow/Silver I.S.67.00 R16325 Goehring Grapes - Cream/Blue I.S.67.00 R16326Santa Maria Vegetables - Two-Tone Orange/Silver I.S.67.00 R16327 Hanover Cranberries - Tan/Silver I.S.67.00 R16328 Jipco Pumpkins - Cream/Blue I.S.67.00 R16329 Alaska Brewing Bitter Ale - Green/Silver I.S.67.00 R16330 Geary's Ale - Black/Red I.S.67.00 R16331 Limoneira Lemons - Red/Blue I.S.67.00 R16332 Tiger Head Ale - Green/Silver I.S.67.00 R16333 BN/Red Rose Tomatoes - White/Blue I.S.70.00 R16334 Wagner's Peas - White/Green I.S.70.00R 16335 Templar Peas - White/Blue I.S.70.00 R16336 Delta Corn - White/Blue I.S.70.00 R16337 Primrose Sugar Corn - Light Blue/Dark Blue I.S.70.00
List of USA woodside reefers still available Hi, here is a list of USA woodside reefer cars still available from USA trains R16310Decker Ref. Line - Yellow/Box Car Red $92.95R16311Empire Builder Apples - Light Blue 92.95R16312Harding Cheese - Yellow/Silver92.95R16313Wisconsin Cheese - Yellow/Silver92.95R16314URT/Soo Line - Orange/Silver92.95R16315Lakeshire Cheese - Yellow/Silver92.95R16316URT/Minneapolis St. Louis RR - Orange/Silver92.95R16317N. Dorman & Co. Cheese 92.95R16318Clipper Ship Apples - Red/Blue92.95R16319Crest Washington Pears - Blue92.95R16320Blue Bird Pears - Blue92.95R16321Royal Crest Apples - Red/Silver92.95R16322USA Trains "Add A Little Magic" - Blue 92.95R16323Express Salmon - Red/Silver92.95R16324NW Reefer Line/Twin Brand Fruit Co. - Yellow/Silver92.95R16325Goehring Grapes - Cream/Blue92.95R16326Santa Maria Vegetables - Two-Tone Orange/Silver92.95R16327Hanover Cranberries - Tan/Silver92.95R16328Jipco Pumpkins - Cream/Blue92.95R16329Alaska Brewing Bitter Ale - Green/Silver92.95R16330Geary's Ale - Black/Red92.95R16331Limoneira Lemons - Red/Blue92.95R16332Tiger Head Ale - Green/Silver92.95R16333BN/Red Rose Tomatoes - White/Blue99.95R16334Wagner's Peas - White/Green99.95R16335Templar Peas - White/Blue99.95R16336Delta Corn - White/Blue99.95R16337Primrose Sugar Corn - Light Blue/Dark Blue99.95R16338Skookum Apples - Green/Silver99.95R16339Nob Hill Fruit - White/Blue 99.95R16340Samuel Adams - White/Brown 99.95R16341Samuel Adams October Fest - Blue/Orange 99.95R16342Moosehead - White/Red 99.95R16343GN/Seacoast - Cream/Blue 99.95R16344Cotton Belt - Yelloow/Brown 99.95R16345Union Ice Service - White/Silver99.95R16346Howel's Root Beer - Yellow/Green99.95R16347LaFrance Firetruck - White/Red99.95R16348Popeye Root Beer - Yellow/Red99.95R16349Uncle Sam Coffee - White/Blue99.95R16350Swift's Borax Soap - Red99.95R16351Vermont Boiled Cider - Green/Silver99.95R16352Oyster Crackers - Light Blue/Silver 99.95R16353New Haven Dairy - Green99.95R16354Pine Mountain - Light Green/Dark Green99.95R16355Golden Velvet Beer - Cream/Brown99.95 You can click on the blue to see pictures Visit here > www.usatrains.com to purchase any you may like
FOUND! Old ad for USA Trains woodside reefers Hi, I found an old ad for USA Trains woodside reefers and is marked ad #99-11. I have scaned it in and will share picture on line, not sure what year this is from but maybe the hint is in the ad number, so I'm guessing 1999.
Pictures of USA Trains R1600 reefers Part 1 Here is a few pictures from my 1998 USA Trains catalog of the R16000 series woodside reefer cars. For those who aren't familiar with USA trains, these are now called the American Series and are 1/24 scale ratio.
Pictures of USA R1600 Reefers part 2 Here is yet another set of pictures as the series grew from a catalog not dated
Pictures of USA R1600 Reefers part 3 Here is some more pictures as the series grows higher in numbers
USA Trains Piggyback pictures I ran into some USA trains American series piggyback pictures from my past catalogs I had stored. Below are scanned pictures from those catalogs. They range from 1998 to 2006
Have a Merry USA X-mas Hi, USA trains has a nice variety of G scale related Christmas themed trains. I attached a photo s you can see just a few from a USA Trains ad.
Vendors list for G scale locos and rolling stock HI, I will be listing a big list of vendors who sell G scale rolling stock and locomotives, although this is no where near a complete list, these are my top picks to deal with as far as quality and pricing. 1) USA Trains > www.usatrains.com 2) Charles RO > USA Trains 1:29 scale & 1:24 scale www.charlesro.com 3) Custom Model Products > importer of museum brass and stainless G products in narrow gauge www.custommodelproducts.com 4) RLD Hobbies > specializing in special run trains such as CSX, Burlignton Northern, Rock Island, Milwaukee Road, Kansas City Southern and Golden West Service road names in USA trains and Aristocraft www.rldhobbies.com 5) Art Knapp > the largest Canadian G scale store specializing in special run Canadian road name trains, they will export to the USA www.artknapptrains.com They really have some nice Canadian paint schemed trains A++++ 6) Winona Garden Railway > specializing in Canadian road named trains and custom paint jobs www.wgrr.ca 7) G Scale Junction > Mainly a Aristocraft dealer, does have some USA trains, Hartland Locomotive Works and MTH trains www.gscalejunction.com 8) Gold Coats Station > Specializing in Southern Pacific black widow special run trains mainly in USA www.goldcoatsstation.com 9) St Aubins Trains > basicly you name it they have it. They are definately a one stop shop. USA Trains, Aristocraft, Accucraft, AMS, Bachman, Hartland Locomotive works, MTH Trains, LGB, Piko, Pola, narrow gauge and mainline products. The biggest in the USA in my opinion and A++++ www.staubintrains.com 10) Just Trains > MTH Trains and Bachman www.justrains.com 11) Ridge Road station > Arsitocraft Trains www.ridgeroadstation.com
