News

Thanks to John Westley and John Greene we have HO models of Heater Cars 6 and 7 now in the store! Great Northern used heater cars with passenger trains running though the New Cascade Tunnel completed in January of 1929. Trains transiting the 7.79-mile-long tunnel could not use steam power because of toxic gas ventilation problems, and the Z-1 and Y-1 electrics ordered for tunnel service did not have steam generators, so steam for heating and hot water had to be provided by “steam heater cars”. See GNRHS Reference Sheet 358, March, 2010 for more background. Increasing passenger traffic during...

We are pleased to announce that we have added to the store FIVE different sets of decals for nominal 50-foot flat cars. All cars were built as plain flats and converted to TOFC service beginning in 1955.  The first set is for cars 60045 to 60057 which were 52' long ACF cars built in 1945. The second set is for cars 60060 to 60076 which were 53' 6" long cars built by PC&F. The third set is for cars 60077 to 60096 which were 53' 6" long cars built by PC&F. The fourth set is for cars 60200 to 60224...

We just received a shipment of 40 foot express cars #200-201. Get 'em while we got 'em!

We have placed in the store models of Great Northern 12 panel box cars by InterMountain in five different paint schemes the Great Northern actually used, each with six road numbers. The models are painted: Vermillion red with slanted ‘Great Northern’ to the right of the door, Vermillion red with 'Empire Builder" lettering, Glacier green  with 'Empire Builder" lettering, Big Sky Blue, and Pullman Green express box cars that operated in passenger trains. Great Northern built 4,000 of these 12 panel 40' 6" Inside Length box cars at St Cloud in 1948, 1949 and 1951, 25 of which were express box cars.  When production of...

We are pleased to now have Great Northern first class heavy weight coach kits This kit represents Great Northern first class coaches numbered 950 through 973 and 977.  These cars were received in September and October 1914 from the Barney & Smith Car Company as all steel first class coaches. Their original numbers were 4500 through 4523 and 4527. They were air conditioned from 1935 through 1938 and operated on the Empire Builder until 1938. They were used system wide beginning in 1938, and a few were assigned to the Cascadian from about 1938 until 1954. Several of the cars in...