Friday, May 24, 2013 Hans Our policy is to make at least one factory visit a year, but last time was over 2 years ago. Currently, AZL products are made by AFFA and SDK in China. A small portion is still made by Bowser in Pennsylvania. This trip was to AFFA who made our recent [...]
Thursday, April 25, 2013 Rob A. While the individual railroads almost always owned their Coach (or Chair Car in the case of ATSF) rolling stock, up until the breakup of the Pullman Company in 1944 (enforced in 1947), Pullman owned and operated virtually all of the sleeping cars in America. The vast majority of these [...]
Saturday, April 6, 2013 Hans Scranton, PA. Big Boy 4012 One of the best preserved Big Boys I know. There are 8 in existence. 3 of the photos were taken exactly two years ago during a visit to Steamtown National Historic Site. My first visit to Scranton was back in 2002 and the photo that [...]
Thursday, July 5, 2012 Rob A. With our GP38-2 locomotives arriving any day now, some people have asked about the quality of a $100 Z scale locomotive. Traditionally locomotives in Z scale have cost from about $150 to over $200, so what corners do we cut to produce motive power for so much less? There [...]
For the mid-June from AZL we have Baltimore & Ohio 8-1-2 sleepers and paired window coaches! This is a very limited release as there are no 6-3 sleepers in this release. B&O 8-1-2 Pullman Sleepers ▼ 71210-1 B&O 8-1-2 Pullman Sleeper B&O Blue/Grey | Centabella | MSRP $53.00 71210-2 B&O 8-1-2 Pullman Sleeper B&O Blue/Grey [...]
Pumpkins in June? What the heck… the BNSF GP38-2s are here!! BNSF EMD GP38-2 ▼ 62503-1 BNSF GP38-2 2007 | MSRP $99.00 62503-2 BNSF GP38-2 2013 | MSRP $99.00 62503-3 BNSF GP38-2 2016 | MSRP $99.00 62503-4 BNSF GP38-2 2032 | MSRP $99.00 SOO Line Centerbeams ▼ 90354-1 SOO Centerbeam 4 pack 600064, [...]
AZL continues with their new body styles of sleepers and paired window coaches. For mid month May 2013 we have the iconic PRR, the Pennsylvania Railroad. Pennsylvania Railroad 8-1-2 Pullman Sleeper ▼ 71203-0 PRR 8-1-2 Pullman Sleeper PRR Tuscan Red | MSRP $53.00 71203-1 PRR 8-1-2 Pullman Sleeper PRR Tuscan Red | Centfaun | MSRP $53.00 [...]
May is going to be another exciting month of Z scalers. We have three new body styles of heavyweight passenger cars coming your way! But first, new GP38-2s and Centerbeams! GTW EMD GP38-2s ▼ 62512-1 GTW GP38-2 4910 | MSRP $99.00 62512-2 GTW GP38-2 5824 | MSRP $99.00 62512-3 GTW GP38-2 5827 | MSRP $99.00 [...]
About the F59PHI Locomotive | Sets: The Electro-Motive Diesels F59PHI diesel-electric locomotive is a common locomotive on passenger trains in North America, built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. First built in 1994, the locomotive is a 3,200 hp (2.4 MW) B-B diesel-electric locomotive intended for service on North American mainlines. The F59PHI has a fully [...]
The EMD GP30 was a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle B-B diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange
The EMD GP38-2 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive of the road-switcher type built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of
About the 40′ PFE Reefers: Pacific Fruit Express (reporting mark PFE) was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. The company was founded on December 7, 1906 as a joint venture between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. It began operation on [...]
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 73′ Centerbeam Flat 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). [...]
Model Photos: Canadian National | Grand Trunk Western Cars: Additional Manufacturer Notes:
CA-3 Steel Caboose: AZL is excited to announce the release of brass UP CA-3 cabooses. These cabooses are the perfect compliment to AZL’s Big Boy locomotives. These cabooses are a limited run. AZL Model Details: Detailed pad printing Window glazing Separately applied handrails Blackened metal wheels AZL AutoLatch™ couplers Model Photos: AZL [...]
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 [...]
