I've been getting into Z scale lately (for space reasons, I prefer N or HO but just don't have the room to run them). This car looks pretty similar to the VTG gas cars recently released, but is a different company apparently. They are both gray with the orange stripe - is the orange stripe a brand mark, or safety mark, or coincidence?
A company like Rails definitely won't entertain engaging in customs fraud just to save you a few dollars / euros / other currency
Nice! SEPTA stopped selling the hand-made models of the various EMUs unfortunately. I held off too long on buying a pair. Another interesting Rapido release is SEPTA CLRV https://rapidotrains.com/ho-clrv-dc-dcc-sound-philadelphia.html. Probably going to pick that up even though I am not doing anything with HO these days. I do have some HO tram/streetcar/LRV type vehicles.
Every now and then I think about grabbing one of the Con-Cor SEPTA MP54's that pop up on eBay, but they're always listed for stupid prices. I almost grabbed a SEPTA AEM/ALP when I was at Red Caboose in Manhattan the other day, but even he wanted $300/+ for it. I ended up just pre-ordering one of the Athearn F-Units to run the set. It's not proto, but it'll look cool. If I'm gonna spend that kind of money, I'd rather have it be on a brand new unit and not something that's been sitting in a case underneath 45th Street for lord knows how long lol. I've actually got one of the TTC CLRV's on pre-order that I'm pretty excited for. I picked up some HO Bachmann auto-reverse track and a couple MBTA and Transit PCC's a while back that I'm planning to incorporate into my future layout, the CLRV will make a cool addition.
I recently discovered that there are wooden trains geared towards adult collectors and picked some up for a small future display once I find a house These would've completely blown my mind as a kid, I only had the basic BRIO ones (there were ones based on famous prototypes, ICE, Eurostar, Mallard, etc., but I never had any much to my great disappointment), which while having their own charm, wouldn't have compared to having trains I knew from my local railroads and museums.
New train items coming soon. Exciting! I just ordered one new thing this afternoon (Mon. 9/7) from Trainworld (Labor Day Sale discount too!). What is it? A locomotive? Rolling stock? Nope. I ordered a Lionel Gantry Crane! The best thing: it has Lionel TMCC on board so I can run it off my control system! I've been wanting a Lionel gantry crane for a while. Stay tuned. Updates coming. I do have a couple more items on order that should be coming before the holiday season. 1: Atlas O UP SD70M #1616 Abraham Lincoln Locomotive 2: Lionel Trinity Leasing 30K Gallon Ethanol Tank Car (with sounds!) It's going to be a fun rest of the year. Next year should be even more awesome because I have two more cool items on order: 1: BNSF America 250 ES44ACH #1776 from MTH; love that patriotic paint scheme 2: Golden Gate Depot BNSF Boeing Fuselage Train Set and Skybox Flatcar; can't wait for this one; so awesome (we need this train in game on BNSF routes in the Seattle, WA or Wichita, KS areas)
New gantry crane coming today! Lionel always did have the best operating accessories in O-Scale. Still wanting a TMCC Intermodal Crane that could work with scale-sized O-Scale containers or trailers.
My Little N track layout, with a traverse. I use drawer runners that works in both directions. Bought them for a few euros. Constructed everything upside Down so everything is nicely lined out.
Update on the Lionel gantry crane. I had a minor problem (not electrical, fortunately). The motors all function well, so no problem there. The problem was that one of the gears underneath the gantry section (where the motors that rotate the crane cab and raise/lower the hook are located) had a part that holds the gear to the shaft fall off so the whole thing was functional but shaky and the gear would have fallen out (not good). I thought that I would have had to send the crane back to Trainworld and replace it, but I found a way to fix it (hopefully) with a bit of help from my dad. We glued the gear in place. I'm waiting for the glue to dry so I can put the crane back together and test it out.
Well, my Lionel gantry crane is now fully functional. Yay! It is so great to have a gantry crane on my layout. It's something every O-gauge layout needs. I will use mine to load a few scrap metal loads (just random steel pieces left over from benchwork and track laying) or a pair of canisters into a gondola and a few rail loads onto a flatcar. Now I just need to find a sound shed and my crane will have sounds, just like my crane car/boom car set (also a cool accessory to have; it works great too!). Why do I like O-gauge 3-rail trains? Here are several reasons: 1.) The trains are BIG (and heavy too!) 2.) SOUND! -While sound features are available in smaller scales, and even G-Scale, O-gauge has amazing sounds and other features. -The bass is better with the larger speakers of O-gauge trains (especially Lionel's speakers). 3.) Simplicity of wiring: -Reverse sections and turntables are way easier with the AC power of O-gauge 3-rail; no reversing relays like with DC power -Wiring command-control is very easy; I just added MTH's and Lionel's command systems into my existing wiring and started setting things up 4.) Other fun features: -Signals and crossing gates (also Lionel's classic gateman accessory where the guy exits the trackside shed) work off a dead rail; the train actuates the accessory; can't do that without the 3-rail track setup -Operating accessories (like my gantry crane) Lionel and (American Flyer too) made such cool accessories. Other companies should make operating accessories in other modeling scales too. -O-gauge trains also have smoke and cool lighting features. These features are available in smaller scales and G-scale now too 5.) Details: -Because of their size, it's easy to see all the cool details on modern O-gauge 3-rail trains, especially from Atlas, Lionel, MTH, and Sunset Models/3rd Rail/Golden Gate Depot (especially the last company). -Detailing is way better on recent models, as manufacturers are adding details to match the prototypes better.
