All too often, the only view the public has of contemporary mainline railroading is when a freight car derails, then tank cars explode and soon an entire town is evacuated. In Baltimore, site of the early MTS, favorite targets for criticism are the aged infrastructures on CSX, including the Howard Street Tunnel and the notorious B&P Tunnel on the Amtrak Northeast corridor. Unfavorable and frequently exaggerated tales of both tunnels should vanish soon from the media since improvements to the former and a replacement for the latter are in progress. Unfortunately, the news world of today seems focused on sensationalism rather than letting an emergency play out and being less quick to blame a specific carrier if not the entire railroad industry.
US railroads have made great progress in the past forty years to modernize, introduce impressive technology and ramp up safety protocol. Much of this goes unnoticed in the greater world since most of us have little or no connection with mainline railroading given that passenger service has largely disappeared from our daily life and railroads have embraced a European model for strict security that heavily restricts access to railroad property. In a very real way, model railroading is a surrogate to the actual mainline experience, offsetting the effects of restricted access.
All that are rail inclined do notice the continuing evolution of big, new diesel-electric motive power that hauls freight of all descriptions across our great Nation. One cannot help being impressed by the size and power they deliver and many locomotives now display eye-catching graphics that are a positive reversal from 40 years ago when cost-containment was the buzzword, and survival for many railroads was in suspense. The current trend to honor predecessor railroads by incorporating colors and logos from the past on selected units also adds new interest to train watching and photography.
Equally impressive are the enormous consists that follow the locomotives on the head end frequently with distributed motive power spliced in the center of the train. The varying designs of well cars and containers testify to the constant efforts by the railroads to apply better technology and design and more importantly, be responsive to shippers needs. Railroading is a business where the needs of the customer should always remain in the forefront.
At MTS, we too are customer-centric and want to continue our drive to serve you more effectively. For all those reasons this week we want to pay tribute to the big freight haulers of today with a special motive power sale. Contemporary motive power is available at competitive pricing and a sample of the classes represented include: EMD SD9043MAC, SD80MAC, SD 75M, SD70M, SD 75I, SD70ACe and General Electric DASH 8-40B, C-36-7 to mention a few. Most are available with sound and all feature a high level of accurate detailing. We want to give you compelling reasons to review our sale and general inventory as well in your quest to replicate the signature locomotives and railroads of today!
Frank Wrabel
modeltrainstuff.com