About the Southern Pacific GS-3 | GS-4: The GS-3 was a streamlined 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive that served the Southern Pacific Company from 1938 to 1957. They were built by Lima Locomotive Works and were numbered 4416 through 4429. GS stands for “Golden State” or “General Service.” They received the orange and red “Daylight” [...]
About the AC-12 Cab Forward: The best known example of the cab-forward design in the United States, the Southern Pacific Cab-Forward (also known to a lesser extent as “Cab-in-fronts” and “Cab-aheads”) placed the cab at the front by the simple expedient of turning the entire locomotive, minus the tender, by 180 degrees, an arrangement made [...]
About the Challenger: Built between 1936 and 1943, the Challengers were nearly 122 feet long and weighed more than one million pounds. Articulated like their big brother, the Union Pacific Big Boy, the Challengers had a 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement. They operated over most of the Union Pacific system, primarily in freight service, but a few [...]
About the SD75I: The EMD SD75I is a diesel-electric locomotive produced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). This unit is the same as the EMD SD75M, with 4,300 horsepower (3,200 kW), HTCR-II radial trucks and a 72 feet 4 inches (22.05 m) frame. The only difference between the two models is the cab. The “I” [...]
About the TTX Type BSH22A 89’ Intermodal Flat Car: Before the advent of double-stack technology, these cars formed the backbone of the intermodal fleet during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Many are still in use today, but most have been converted into autorack flat cars, or cars to carry pipe or wind energy components. [...]
About the Center Beam Partition Car: Centerbeam flatcars, centerbeams or center partition railcars are specialty cars designed for carrying bundled building supplies such as dimensional lumber, wallboard, and fence posts. They are essentially bulkhead flatcars that have been reinforced by a longitudinal I-beam, often in the form of a Vierendeel truss, sometimes reinforced by diagonal [...]
About the PC&F Beer Car: A refrigerator car (or “reefer”) is a refrigerated boxcar (U.S.), a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Some of the the well insulated reefers became know as beer cars, as this was often what they carried. Manufactured by Pacific Car and Foundry (PC&F). [...]
About the 23,000 Gallon Funnel Flow Tank Car: Tank cars are specialized pieces of equipment. As an example, the interior of the car may be lined with a material, such as glass, or other specialized coatings to isolate the tank contents from the tank shell. Care is taken to ensure that tank contents are compatible [...]
About the Bay Window Caboose: In a bay window caboose, the crew monitoring the train sits in the middle of the car in a section of wall that projects from the side of the caboose. The windows set into these extended walls resemble architectural bay windows, so the caboose type is called a bay window [...]
May is another big month for American Z Line! We’re happy to announce five new items. The first releases are Rock Island bay window cabooses. Two road numbers have been released. They are: 17081 (item #92007-1) and 17172 (item #92007-2). The MSRP is $64.00. Missouri Pacific 2420 waffle gondolas have been released. A runner pack [...]
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 Rob A. This has been a work in progress for a long time, but we have finally entered the 1990s and commissioned a proper web site. John Cubbin, designer extraordinaire and Z scale enthusiast has been working night and day (mainly nights) at our new look. We hope that you enjoy [...]
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 American Z Line showed off a number of new products during the National Z Scale Convention. Let’s start with GP38-2s. AZL released the ‘Don Bouchard’ SP GP38-2s during the show. Shipments to those who pre-ordered and were not at the convention will go out this week. Unfortunately, the BN ‘Don Bouchard’ [...]
