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February Fair Days
By Joe Mania
K-Line Electric Trains was kind enough to take us on a personal
tour of their 2004 line as displayed at the New Jersey Exposition
Center in Edison NJ on Friday, February 13, 2004.
Friday was reserved for dealers only, but Nick Ladd invited
us to come on that day to beat the crowds. He met my daughter
Danielle and me at the door and gave us free run of the displays.
We were introduced to Bill Swarthout, who took us on a tour
of the full 2004 line.
Some of the highlights are:
The scale locomotives which include
a Challenger, Berkshire, Shay, Mikado and Allegheny. All
are very nicely detailed, but
in my opinion, the Shay is the nicest. A nice touch on it
is a removable cover, held in place by magnets, which conceals
all switches for controlling engine functions. On the other
locos, a hatch on the tender is used. No more fumbling on
the
undersides for the switches.
Scale EP-5 Electrics
In a word, the Bombardier Commuter Cars are huge.
Getting the Bad Guys- Got Saddam and Get Osama operating cars.
Scale 40 Foot Reefers with full interiors
Outside Braced 2;Bay Hoppers with Die Cast bodies.
Extruded aluminum Modern Hoppers.
The new Aquarium Car is filled with real water and has miniature
(and artificial) fish.
Voltmeter cars for checking voltages around the layout. Each
car has an indicator light on the roof and an analog voltmeter
built into the side.
A very nice selection of “S” Gauge with American
Flyer compatible couplers.
How about a set that includes a GP9 Diesel, Boxcar, Tank Car,
Caboose, track and infrared controller to control direction
and sounds…,for less than $40.00. It’s battery
operated and can run on regular “O” Gauge track.
The Operating Swing Bridge is impressive, but the Speeder Shed
and Speeder is just plain fun. It includes a small turntable
a track maintenance Speeder and a Shed. The Speeder is run
down the mainline and onto the turntable. A lever is flipped
and the table turns 90 degrees then pull the Speeder into
the shed.
More info is available at
http://www.k-linetrains.com/
Some other manufacturers were also present at the K-Line February
Fair Days. We also had the opportunity to talk to representatives
of Showcase Line, Aristo-Craft and O Gauge Railroading Magazine.
Aristo-Craft’s Mike Hauptmann showed us the few locomotives
that they had displayed. And with the size of them, there was
not too much room for more than a few of them! The steamers
shown have cooling fans on the motors, full sound systems and
smoke and are just plain huge.
More info is available at
http://www.aristocraft.com/
Dom Thompson of The Showcase Line showed the new line of “Great
Lakes” 70 Ton Ore Cars. He pointed out that they have
correct 5 Foot wheelbase trucks instead of typical freight
trucks. We also were shown samples of the new rust colored,
assembled KD style coupler which will be available with the
ore cars this spring. There were several new USRA 50 ton 2
bay open top hoppers as well as painted samples of the upcoming
2-8-0 Consolidation Steam Locomotive. The loco features a die
cast cab and boiler, motor driven smoke unit, and sound system.
Receiving a lot of attention form everyone attending was the
partially constructed 5’x9’ display layout. Don
said that he answered many questions on the construction techniques
using Woodland Scenics risers and elevations as well as the
use of "Great Stuff" urethane insulation in the can
for the grades and mountains.
More info is available at
http://www.showcaseline.com/
Jim Barrett of OGR Publishing showed us three new DVD’s
on toy train repair. He also showed us the Ameri_Towne building
kits in their new packaging. Beautiful kits and Jim says they
have enjoyed 400 percent increase in sales since the boxes
were redesigned. Also new is a line of cables for wiring your
layout. Used in the security industry, these cables are shielded
so as not to pick up any interference. This is a great step
toward eliminating problems on Command Control layouts.
More info is available at
http://www.ogaugerr.com/
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