News column - 15
Briefly noted at press time...
. . . The Amherst Railroad Hobby Show, held each year in West
Springfield, Massachusetts, is one of the largest and more
important annual shows for model railroad hobbyists and sup-
pliers alike. This year’s event was held in late January and sev-
eral MRH staff members were in attendance. Here is a brief
recap on some of the new items that caught their eye.
ExactRail
previewed their all-new Bethlehem 4000 open-top
hopper cars. The modern Evolution series HO scale model is
ready-to-run. Also on display was ExactRail’s new Evans 4780
covered hopper that will be released in seven new road names.
Bachmann’s
large product booth was full of models from N
through G scale. Among the more popular attractions was a
well-executed HO GG-1 Electric Locomotive aptly decorated in
Pennsy livery.
Eastern Seaboard Models
showed preproduction samples of
their N scale Burlington class XML-14 (ex-X58) boxcars. No firm
release dates yet.
Hornby America
showed several undecorated preproduction
samples of its forthcoming HO scale U25C diesel locomotives.
The company handles the distribution of several European
brands in North American including Rivarossi.
Bowser
had samples of a number of future products on display
inluding M-636 and Alco C-636 diesel locomotives. Also a new
H30 class covered hopper. All should be available late this year.
Atlas
showcased their N scale PS 2750 hopper car along with a
new 70-ton Hart Ballast car that will be released in several new
road names.
Walthers
large product booth included several pre-production
models including its recently-announced Russell snow plow.
Although appropriate for January weather in West Springfield,
the HO scale model won’t be ready for delivery until sometime
this summer. Also available for close inspection were samples
of Walthers recently announced HO Proto series SD7 and SD9
diesel locomotives.
Athearn
continues to focus on EMD products with the
announcement of a long hood SD70M with flared radiators.
Developing the project involved some new tooling combined
with existing SD70 components. Additional new HO scale items
coming from Athearn this fall are SD40-2 diesels decorated
for Conrail, Florida East Coast, and BNSF’s Heritage I scheme.
Athearn also showed off its handsome FEF 4-8-4 steam loco-
motive decorated in four different Union Pacific paint schemes,
along with a Genesis edition of a Canadian GP9.
Rapido
displayed samples of seven new road names for the
second run of their hot-selling General American 37’ wood-
side meat reefer. The run is scheduled for late this year and will
include another Swift car – this time in a yellow body. Other
road names will be Abraham Bros, Armour, Cudahy, Decker,
Wilson, and WIMP.
Watch for more details on these and other new products in the
next edition of MRH.
MRH-Feb 2014
