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American trains

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENE is truly spectacular. It represents the sort of scenery seen in the great divide, in Arizona or the Western Sierras. This display is unique in the British Isles as the tracks are arranged at many heights and trains even run overhead as they traverse the passes on the massive mountains. The mountains at one point tower from close above floor level to far above the audience. The trains arranged in tiers in this way can be seen by everybody including small children and those in wheelchairs. This is a departure from the usual model railway show, where displays are all more or less at table level, which, apart from being boring can be difficult for some to see except for the bits at the front

American trains have always been bigger and more spectacular than on this side of the Atlantic and from the 1930s more colourful too. We have models to run of some of the most amazing locomotives ever built. From giant brightly coloured diesels to the slow grinding geared locos. of the logging lines. The vast distances and dramatic gradients of the USA required development of true giants of the rails like the amazing ‘cab-forwards’ of the Southern Pacific and the massive ‘Big-Boys’ of the Union Pacific. Engines like these were needed to pull massively heavy trains at high speeds through difficult terrain.

The Southern Pacific ‘cab-forwards’ were possible as oil firing allowed tenders to be fixed at ‘the wrong end’ of the loco. that ran effectively backwards with the cab at the front, the necessity being to save the lives of the crew from asphyxiation by smoke while hammering up the mountains under the snow sheds!
 

We often run Union Pacific engines such as the Big-Boys and others, which were monsters. The Big-Boys could pull 100 freight cars at 80 mph on the flat and get them over the hills of Wyoming although they might be reduced to 4mph to do it! After the end of steam it was the UP, of course who developed the biggest ever diesels! You may see a lash-up of DD40AX ‘Centennials” which were the largest diesels ever built. We also show local freights and old time trains running through our little Wild West town.

Not all the most spectacular trains ran in the West. Many Eastern roads had spectacular trains too. One of our latest additions is the massive streamlined steam loco called the T1 of the Pennsylvania which had four sets of cylinders and a coal tender larger than any British locomotive! It could pull 20 coaches at 90mph!

You can be sure you will see amazingly long model trains here.