Trainfest 2004

Green Bay & Western model news and equipment from Milwaukee's Trainfest, November 13 & 14, 2004.

Atlas O 50' PS-1 boxcar

A sample of the green 50' boxcar lettered for GBW was in the Atlas display case. I was amazed at the massiveness and detail packed in this model! This boxcar is a dead-on match for the GBW 500-519 boxcars delivered in 1962. The model has separately applied details, including an etched metal roofwalk.

#6592 50' PS-1 Single-Door Box Car 3-rail, retail $59.95.
#7592 50' PS-1 Single-Door Box Car 2-rail, retail $62.95.
Expected delivery date: January 2005.

Accurail HO GBW boxcar and WRX reefer

Accurail was selling a limited edition 40' red GBW boxcar and a 40' gray WRX reefer at their booth. They indicated that excess cars would be sold through their web site after the train show ended, but it looks like the GBW and WRX cars sold out at the show.

SLHTS 50' outside braced boxcar kit

The Soo Line Historical and Technical Society was selling their Accurail model custom painted to represent the GBW 1700-1719 cars acquired in the mid-1960s. There is no future SLHTS/GBW model project right now.

Walthers HO bridge crane kit

Although not patterned after a specific prototype on the GBW, one glance convinced me that this crane is typical of the two Reiss Coal Company bridge cranes that were a landmark on the west bank of the Fox River in Green Bay. The GBW served the coal dock -- as a matter of fact, the coal yard marks the location where groundbreaking for the original railroad began. The kit can be built to a variety of lengths from 22" to 31" and features an operator's cab with a positionable trolley with clamshell bucket.

Maybe the biggest model news at Trainfest was what was no news at all...

Life-Like HO RS-27

There's been a rumor that Life-Like will be offering a GBW RS-27 loco with DCC and sound. Life-Like had a booth at the show and I had a chance to talk one-on-one with their representative. I asked him about the locomotive; after a lecture about how his hands are full already with just trying to move the stock that the have on hand and promoting the items coming out in the near future, he told me he didn't know anything about an RS-27 project. I picked up Life-Like's new catalog and there's no mention in there, either.

LBF HO 52'-6" fluted side gondola

About a half-year ago LBF mentioned that they might offer their gondola kit lettered for the GBW. LBF was at the show but when I stopped by their booth Bill McKean was swamped with modelers; I'm not sure what was going on. I came around later and looked at their product line - no mention of GBW a gondola.

Model Photos

Kettle Moraine Ballast Scorchers West Bend, Wis. N scale	An Alco RS-2 pokes it's long hood out of the shops building.
S.S. Badger Carferry Display HO scale	This superbly detailed model of the carferry S.S. Badger was on display near the main entrance to the train show.	Besides a sound system complete with a foghorn, the deck could be removed to reveal the full interior of the ship... ...to top it off, a switch engine was in operation loading the ferry.
METRO Model Railroad Club Port Washington, Wis. HO Scale	One of the Accurail special run reefers was spotted in a cut of cars at the yard.	A red GBW boxcar (also from Accurail) was on the spur next to the scrap yard. This old wood WRX car was spotted in a long string of reefers in an express train on Sunday afternoon.
Lionel Railroad Club Kenosha, Wis. O scale	In what was the best show of solid Wisconsin railfanning at the entire train show, a pair of Wisconsin Central locos pull an all-GBW consist on the Kenosha club's layout.	Not only was the large size and high speed of the trains an attraction to young railfans... ...but the layout also included a TV camera mounted in the lead WC loco. I can't tell you how many laps of the train I spent down at the layout level waving as the train passed so my kids could see me in the TV monitor!!!
Milwaukee Light Engineering Society Jackson, Wis. 7.5" gauge	Tom Artzberger and David Gehrke had their RS-20 on display at Trainfest. The model weighs 700 pounds!
Bits N Pieces R.R. West Allis, Wis. HO & N scale	This RS-3 in the classic red-and-gray was the power on a train sitting on a passing siding...	...while a yellow caboose brought up the rear of the train. This WRX reefer had billboard lettering for the Marty Cheese Factory of Monroe, Wis,
Northeastern Wisconsin Exhibition Railroading Green Bay, Wis. HO scale	A well-weathered Thrall-Door boxcar passes by a lumberyard on the NEWER layout.
Waukesha County Gandy Dancers Waukesha, Wis. HO scale	This 40' GBW boxcar was spotted on the Gandy Dancers' wooded main line, near a pair of whitetail deer.
Lionel Railroad Club Milwaukee, Wis. O scale	A Milwaukee Road GP locomotive led a GBW waffle-side boxcar on a high-speed sprint around the layout.

Model News