Modern commuter service -
4
Fredericksburg and another west (RR south) to Manassas. This
service operates on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight lines and
also shares the rails with Amtrak. VRE’s line from Washington
to Manassas runs less than a mile for from the layout in my
basement. It is easy to study in order to learn how to represent
modern commuter operations, since a half-a-dozen train pass
by each morning and afternoon.
Today’s VRE is an easy example to implement, since all of the
equipment currently used is readily available in model form.
Kato recently released sets of VRE Nippon Sharyo Bi-Level com-
muter cars and both MP36 and F40PH locomotives. Cars and
motive power are also available separately. In addition to the
Nippon Sharyo cars, VRE still operates former Chicago and
Northwestern (Chicago Metra) Pullman-Standard bi-level cars.
These are available from Wheels of Time and Con-Cor.
4: Like most commuter trains, VRE consists include a
single locomotive and up to six bi-level cars. These cars
currently are available from Kato in VRE and Chicago
Metra livery.
MRH-Feb 2013
