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Monthly RailKing 2019 Volume 2 O Gauge Catalog Product Spotlight

August 28, 2019 - Each month throughout the year, M.T.H. will be spotlighting various items from our RailKing 2019 Volume 2 O Gauge Catalog. This week's feature will focus on the RailKing New York Central Mohawk Steam Locomotive; Mohawk Locomotive Passenger Sets in Texas & Pacific, U.S. Army, and Reading & Northern liveries; the Mohawk Christmas train set in Christmas and North Pole liveries; RS-3 Diesel; and SW1500 Diesel. Each of these items is currently slated to begin delivering in October 2019.



NYC Mohawk Steam Locomotive - While its competitors needed monstrous engines to conquer mountain ranges, the New York Central did not. Its Water Level Route from New York City to Chicago was a nearly level raceway built along rivers and the Lake Erie shoreline, and the Central’s mainline steam engines were racehorses bred for speed on that route. continue reading		Texas & Pacific Mohawk Passenger Set - By the early 1930s, the NYC relied on two locomotives for premier services: the 4-6-4 Hudson for its Great Steel Fleet of passenger trains and the nation’s largest stable of 4-8-2s for fast freight. Although the 4-8-2 was labeled a Mountain on any other railroad, that would hardly do on the Water Level Route, so the Central named its engines Mohawks after one of the rivers its rails followed. continue reading



U.S. Army Mohawk Passenger Set - As the Depression waned in the late 1930s and traffic picked up, the need arose for a dual service locomotive that could augment the Hudson fleet and hustle freight as well. As an experiment, two existing L-2 Mohawks were modified with higher boiler pressure, smaller cylinders, lightweight rods and other reciprocating parts, and roller bearings —which pushed their top speed from 60 mph to the 80 mph needed for passenger work. continue reading		Reading & Northern Mohawk Passenger Set - The success of these engines led to the class L-3 Mohawks delivered from 1940–1942. With over 5000 horsepower on tap, they were equally at home pulling the 20th Century Limited or more than 100 freight cars. A new feature on the L-3s was the largest tender yet seen on a Central locomotive, with a 43-ton-capacity coal bunker. continue reading



Christmas Mohawk Train Set - The holidays bring family and friends together in an annual celebration of color, sound and smells. Nothing says holiday tradition like the sight of a model train circling a Christmas tree and this 2019 Christmas diesel or steam locomotive and optional cars might be a great way to start your very own holiday tradition. continue reading		North Pole Mohawk Train Set - If you've been a fan of our North Pole themed cars over the past ten years, then this locomotive and assorted 2019 North Pole cars are the perfect way to build your very own holiday train. The locomotive is a powerful die-cast puller that can easily haul the North Pole cars collection no matter whether you've got every car in the series or are just starting out. continue reading



RS-3 Diesel - By the time the first RS-3's rolled off the assembly line in 1950, Alco had refined its road switcher concept to create "a truly universal locomotive which could do anything and go almost anywhere," in the words of author J.W. Swanson in New Haven Power. continue reading		SW1500 Diesel Switcher - The end-cab switcher was the advance guard of the diesel revolution, working its way onto Class 1 rosters before road diesels were even considered. Compared with the 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 steamers they replaced, the advantages of diesel switchers were obvious. continue reading

Each of the above RailKing Line items can be ordered through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. To see the entire 2019 Volume 2 RailKing Lineup, click here.

Have You Ordered Your RailKing One Gauge G Scale Challenger Yet

Check Out The Quick Start Video

August 28, 2019 - The first Challengers were conceived in 1936 as fast freight engines to replace the Union Pacific’s fleet of three-cylinder 4-12-2 locomotives. With an extra center cylinder for added power and a top speed of 45 mph, the 4-12-2s had been successful freight engines when built-in 1926. But a decade later they were considered slow and difficult to maintain.

So American Locomotive Works (Alco) was commissioned to build what became one of the most successful fleets of articulated engines on any railroad. Forty Challengers were built in the 1930s. The pressure of wartime traffic brought an order for 65 more with bigger tenders and many minor improvements.

The Challengers were steam power at its zenith. They incorporated all the technology that represented super-power steam, including roller bearings on all axles and drive rods — but none of the foolishness that characterized some of the desperate efforts to save steam in the post-war years. Most Challengers were assigned to freight duty, but a number were designated for passenger service, hustling 20-car trains across mountains and deserts to California and Oregon at speeds up to 70 mph.

It was in a roundabout way that six Challengers ordered by the UP ended up hauling coal through the Appalachians for the Clinchfield Railroad. In the midst of World War II, the War Production Board refused the Rio Grande’s request to order new articulateds of its own design from Baldwin Locomotive Works. Instead, the Board diverted the last six Challengers in UP’s order to the Rio Grande — which turned up its nose at the locos and decided to lease them for the duration rather than buying them. After war’s end, the Rio Grande returned the unwanted engines to the government. In 1947, the War Assets Administration sold the orphan locos to the Atlantic Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville Railroads, which put the Challengers to work on their jointly-owned subsidiary, the Clinchfield, Carolina & Ohio. Thus a group of engines intended to speed over western deserts and mountains ended up thundering through Appalachia.

Our replica of this iconic engine returns to the RailKing lineup for 2019, newly updated with wireless drawbar, LED lighting, DCC as well as DCS command receivers, and all the additional features of Proto-Sound 3.0.

You can see the details of the locomotive on video by clicking HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about these latest releases.

These limited production locomotives can be ordered for immediate delivery through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer or directly from the M.T.H. Online Store.

2019-2020 S Gauge Catalog To Be Released Online on Friday, August 30, 2019

August 28, 2019 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will publish its 2019-2020 S Gauge catalog to the M.T.H. website beginning this Friday morning, August 30th.

When the catalog goes live on Friday, it can be viewed online by clicking the following links:

2019-2020 S Gauge Catalog

M.T.H. Authorized Retailers will begin receiving their bulk deliveries of catalogs in mid-September.

M.T.H. mailing list subscribers and MTHRRC Railroad Club Members will receive the catalog in the mail when they begin shipping during the third week of September.

2019 Volume 2 O Gauge Catalog Now Online

See It Online

Order items through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

Hurry Before They're Gone, Just Five Or Fewer Of These Items Remain In Stock

August 28, 2019 - Each week, M.T.H. releases product lists spotlighting quantities of Five Or Fewer items that are remaining in our onhand inventory. In many cases, these items will NOT be re-run in the future and these lists could be your last chance for ordering them before they're GONE FOR GOOD. Don't miss out on these items! Click on the appropriate product line link below and then any item number in the corresponding list to purchase that item from the M.T.H. Online Store or order directly from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

RailKing One Gauge

M.T.H. HO Scale

Premier O Scale 2-Rail

Premier O Scale 3-Rail

RailKing O Gauge

M.T.H. S Gauge

Tinplate Traditions