Weekly Quick Hits: 2-Rail Edition

Well it looks like we’re back for another selection of my weekly “Quick Hits.”  Last week a collection came in featuring mostly Atlas products with tons of locomotives and rolling stock in fantastic shape. The kicker? All of these freight cars and locomotives were converted to 2-rail. With a collection so large and primarily featuring 2-Rail cars and locomotives, I’ve decided to dedicate this week's selections to all of you 2-Rail enthusiasts out there. Without further ado, let’s roll into some 2-Rail fun!

Atlas 3002151-3 O CB&Q Cali Zephyr "Silver Lodge" Dorm Car #4717

Kicking off the 2-Rail selections is a fan favorite with collectors and operators alike! It doesn’t matter if you’ve been collecting for 30 years or 2 months, chances are you’ve probably seen some version of the famous Zephyr cars. These passenger cars feature a nice, shiny aluminum finish and typically feature interior lighting for a little flair and character when they’re on a layout! It’s one of my personal favorites because they’re wonderful pieces of Americana with a great vintage look that still looks great even on more modern layouts, and I personally love to see the Zephyrs on layouts with 21st century architecture where the past and present meet. The “Silver Lodge” along with various other Zephyr models saw their run begin in the 40s, and would only become more popular during their lengthy run into the 50s and 60s. Today as of 2023 most of the old Zephyr produced have been scrapped with a few going into a preservation status throughout museums across North America. For anybody that wishes they could take a ride on one of these passenger cars, you may be excited to hear that Amtrak still offers rides throughout the West Coast of these United States on their website. Now that's a vacation!

Atlas 7595-1 O Scale GMO 50' PS-1 Single Door Boxcar #59210

We’ll just keep the 2-Rail fun rolling with some more….rolling stock! And while the Zephyrs were key for public transportation during the middle of the 20th century, it’s the freight cars that really do a lot of the dirty work when it comes to the railroad industry. Dirty work, doesn’t mean you can’t clean up nice, and this Gulf, Mobile & Ohio does so very nicely. Sporting a crisp dark-green finish and detailed to perfection, this GMO 2-Rail beauty is an aesthetic powerhouse. The dark green finish looks especially great on a layout that features lots of trees and nature with the dark green finish complementing those Earth tones wonderfully, and just looks really, really smooth when it’s rolling through the heavily wooded sections of your layout! And if you need additional rolling stock for your layout, we've got plenty of 2-Rail freight cars in our inventory! 

Atlas 7589-2 O Scale RF&P 50' PS-1 Boxcar #2376

Well we’ve covered some iconic road names with the previous two selections, so with this selection, I thought I’d try to pick a less prominent road name. The earliest iteration of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac railroads were first chartered in 1834 (some folks will argue on that date), but for now I’m going to go off of what the original charter says. The boxcar pictured above is a masterfully designed PS-1 boxcar emulating the original real life models to perfection! The blue design on the RF&P boxcars would first be introduced in the 1950s before eventually becoming the preferred design in the 1970s, and thank goodness because a break from the traditional black and brown paint schemes is always welcome in my book. It’s 2-Rail, it’s got a road name with a backstory rich in history, and it’s one of the coolest shades of blue you’ll ever see. Need I Say anymore?

Atlas 7588-1 O Scale NYC Box Car #4626  

So it’s time for my favorite amongst the 2-Rail picks, and I’m sure you might be able to guess why I love it so much….The color! In 1959 this bad boy was unveiled with the famous “Century Green” or more commonly called the “Jade Green” scheme, and I couldn’t be more in love. It’s everything a great model railroad piece should be – full of flair, character, and attention grabbing! This is not the subtle pick, and for anybody looking for some flash, this is your boxcar! It’s the kind of boxcar that looks good anywhere at any given time – put it on a desert themed layout, and watch a barren wasteland come to life. Run it through your mountains, and enjoy the beautiful cascade of Jade-green run down your hills. With the New York Central road name to boot, I know a few of you aren’t going to be able to resist this 2-Rail piece!

 We’re just steamrolling through the picks this week! So I know you’ve seen lots of freight cars to this point, so it’s only right we have a powerful locomotive to lead this 2-rail brigade. Coming up last, but never least is the wonderfully designed Northern Pacific RS-1 Diesel locomotive from Atlas. This 2-rail diesel locomotive boasts DC functionality and a truck-to-original design that’s been pulled off flawlessly, and becomes an immediate attention-getter on any layout. Go ahead, show your friends, they’re probably going to convert to the 2-Rail way after running this one. Yeah, I’m saying it’s that good! The real life RS-1 models could run for days backed with a 1,000 horsepower in the motor, and saw a lengthy 20 year run on railroads across the United States. Over the 20 year stretch over 600 RS-1 locomotives would be produced by ALCO before eventually making way for stronger and more economically viable locomotives. The model pictured above is an exact replica of the original #801 locomotive commissioned by Northern Pacific, and actually used to feature the #156 road names before each would be re-numbered with a new ‘800’ road number. It’s my favorite out of all the 2-Rail locomotives, but to those who want something different, we have plenty of 2-rail locomotives to choose from on our website at Trainz.com.

That’s a Wrap

So that’s another week of selections down, and I’ll have to be honest, this one was fun. I don’t typically get to showcase a ton of 2-Rail so this was extra special. Now that I’ve had my fill, I’m going to go and track down that NYC boxcar, you know, the one with that “Jade Green” paint scheme. I HAVE to have it! Assuming somebody else doesn’t beat me to it. But for now that’s a wrap. If you’ve fallen in love with 2-Rail like I have, then check out all of our 2-rail products over at Trainz.com.

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