The Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield Mass., remains one of the largest annual model railroad events in the nation. Held January 24-25, 2026, at the Eastern States Exposition Center, this year’s show drew a record 18,432 attendees on Saturday, with strong turnout on Sunday despite a snowstorm that blanketed the region with more than two feet of snow during the day. Even so, the train show delivered an extraordinary volume of new product announcements from manufacturers large and small. Here is just a fraction of what we saw. – HKW
General Electric U50Cs from ScaleTrains
HO – On Saturday morning, ScaleTrains debuted two all-new locomotives and an all-new freight car at Amherst. Positioned at the pinnacle of their product offerings is ScaleTrains’ Museum Quality HO scale General Electric U50C. Unlike the eight-axle U50 that predated the U50C, the six-axle U50C delivers the same 5,000 horsepower, but is shorter in overall length. Between 1969 and 1971, 40 U50Cs were built for the Union Pacific Railroad, all of which rode on three-axle trucks from retired 8,500hp. gas turbines. ScaleTrains’ DC/DCC-ready silent U50Cs will retail for $309.99 each while DC+DCC+Sound U50Cs equipped with ESU Loksound 5 decoders will be $424.99 MSRP each.
Wabtec CSX CM44AC and UP C44ACMs
HO – Modelers of the present era can look forward to all-new highly-detailed CSX CM44AC and Union Pacific C44ACM locomotives joining ScaleTrains’ Rivet Counter brand. For the past several years, Wabtec has been rebuilding GE AC4400CWs from the ground up with new cabs, upgraded components and new control systems to increase both efficiency and reliability to these proven locomotives. ScaleTrains’ DC/DCC-ready silent Wabtecs will retail for $219.99 each while DC+DCC+Sound versions equipped with ESU Loksound 5 decoders will be $329.99 MSRP each.
ScaleTrains Trinity RD-6 Coal Hoppers
HO – Also announced from ScaleTrains are all-new Rivet Counter Trinity RD-6 coal hoppers. With its prototypes entering service as early as 2003, thousands of these cars continue to serve today moving coal in unit trains to power plants across North America. Liveries will include BNSF Heritage III, Georgia Power/GALX, Norfolk Southern/H66-class, Scherer Electric/RWSX, South Carolina Public Service/SCWX and Trinity Leasing/TILX. $49.99 MSRP each.
ScaleTrains, 4901 Old Tasso Rd NE, Cleveland, TN 37312; 844-987-2467; www.scaletrains.com
Six-Axle GE U-Boats from Rapido
HO – The highly competitive horsepower race between diesel locomotive manufacturers reached a crescendo during the early 1970s. General Electric quickly offered a series of ever more powerful Universal-series locomotives during this period. Reflecting this exciting era, Rapido Trains announced an armada of six-axle C-C General Electric Universal-series locomotives at Amherst with the 3,300hp GE U33C, the commuter-hauling dual-service U34CH and 3,600hp U36C. Each of these highly detailed locomotives will feature a plethora of road- and era-specific details appropriate for each road name, multiple long hood and cab variations, numerous LED lighting features, Rapido’s Mo-Power capacitor system, and more. Liveries for Rapido U33Cs include Burlington Northern, Delaware & Hudson, Erie Lackawanna, Illinois Central, Northern Pacific, Penn Central, Southern Pacific and Southern Railway (high-nosed). U34CH schemes include NJDOT Bluebird, NJ Transit (Bluebird or Disco), and Conrail Bicentennial. U36C road names include Clinchfield, Santa Fe and Nacionales de México (N de M).DC/DCC-ready silent locos will retail for $249.95 each while DC+DCC+Sound versions equipped with ESU Loksound 5 decoders will be $359.95 MSRP each.
Rapido Trains Santa Fe U30CGs
HO – Another surprise at Amherst was Rapido’s announcement for Santa Fe’s unique cowl-bodied General Electric U30CG locomotives. At the special request of Santa Fe, General Electric delivered a steam generator-equipped U30C with the custom addition of a streamlined carbody featuring stainless fluting to match Santa Fe’s large passenger fleet. After a short career leading passenger trains, these units hauled freight until the 1980s. Liveries include Santa Fe’s Red Warbonnet, Bookend/Pinstripes, Yellow Warbonnet and weathered Yellow Warbonnet. DC/DCC-ready silent U30CGs will retail for $269.95 each while DC+DCC+Sound versions equipped with ESU Loksound 5 decoders will be $379.95 MSRP each.
Trinity Plastic Pellet Hoppers
HO – Also making its debut at the Rapido booth were HO Trinity 6221/6241 Plastic Pellet Hoppers to be offered in two carbody designs with multiple roof hatch styles and outlet gates specific to each prototype. Since 1997, tens of thousands of these high-cube, high capacity hoppers have been constructed, and the design is still in production today. Reporting marks include ARSX, DOWX, GPLX, TILX, GACX, XOMX and others. Multiple road numbers per reporting mark. MSRP $64.95 each.
Additional Releases
HO, N – Preproduction samples of Rapido’s latest run of GE U25Bs were also on display with improved details, including all new late-production U25Bs with a two-piece windshield. Other factory-painted samples also included GE E44 Electrics, Chessie/CSX GP39s. SWMT slugs, M60A1 Main Battle Tanks, MTA Budd M3/M3A EMUs, and tooling samples of SP B-100-32/34 40’ boxcars and CTA Rapid Transit Cars. Lastly, HO and N scalers can both look forward to magnetically secured modular packaged lumber loads for Rapido’s 73’ Centerbeam flatcars.
Rapido Trains, 500 Alden Road, Unit 21 Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5, Canada;1-855-572-6917; www.rapidotrains.com
New from Athearn Trains
HO, N – A huge display of new products long under development was revealed at the Athearn booth at the 2026 Amherst Show. These items included factory painted HO scale preproduction samples of its long awaited Amtrak Surfliner and California Cars featuring highly detailed interiors and LED lighting, tooling samples of HO Gunderson Maxi-II articulated 5-unit intermodal well cars, HO and N scale UP CA-11 cabooses and HO scale North American USN/USAF T-28 Trojans in both airworthy and transport configurations. Product debuts from Athearn included a HO 40-foot ARLX Steel Reefer and several new HO 36-foot old-time steam era freight cars including an outside braced low sided coal car, an early tank car and a high-sided 36-foot gondola.
Athearn • 2904 Research Road • Champaign, Illinois 61822 • www.athearn.com
EPIC Atlas Announcement
HO – Atlas announced Johnstown America Articulated Bulk Carriers with waste containers at Amherst. Perhaps best known under the EPIC road name, these two-unit spine cars are designed to transport one to four waste containers in either single or double-stack configurations.
Also announced for production are highly detailed models of the TrinityRail Hourglass enclosed auto carriers. Each of these cars and containers will be offered in several road names with
pricing to follow.
Atlas Model Railroad Company, 378 Florence Avenue, Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; www.atlasrr.com
EMD SW1s from Bowser
HO – The SW1 was the first switch engine to be equipped with Electro-Motive Corporation’s legendary 567 series prime mover. With just six cylinders, this engine produced 600 horsepower, enough for most light to moderate switching assignments. Between December 1938 and November 1953, 661 SW1s were built for a multitude of operators. At Amherst, Bowser officially announced its first production of SW1s. These highly detailed models will cover Phase II and Phase III production SW1s which feature a single sloped transition between the top of the long hood to the face of the cab. Unlike earlier phases which featured large rounded-top cab windows, Phase III SW1s are identified by the rectangular cab windows over the top of the hood. Sixteen different liveries will be offered for this first run. DC/Analog SW1s will be $239.95, while DCC+Sound versions equipped with a Loksound 5 Nano decoder will be $339.95 MSRP. Both versions will come with a E24 format DCC plug and numerous LED lighting features. Also on display were 3D printed development models of Bowser’s EMD SW1001, Conrail/DeWitt EMD-repowered RS-3s and Alco C-424 locomotives.
Bowser Manufacturing Co., Inc, 1302 Jordan Ave., PO Box 322, Montoursville, PA 17754; bowser@bowser-trains.com; www.bowser-trains.com
New from Broadway Limited Imports
HO & N – At the booth for Broadway Limited, three major announcements were made. Responding to numerous requests from modern-era fans, Broadway Limited will be producing the Conrail Conrail #9/CSX W. Thomas Rice Theater Car for HO scale. This track inspection car is usually found at the end of executive office car specials touring the state of the railroad on Conrail, and today on the CSX. Like its other theatre cars for Union Pacific, Santa Fe/BNSF and C&NW, this car features era- and road-specific details and touch-activated lighting functionality. $129.99 MSRP each. Two all-new Brass-Hybrid Steam Locomotives will also be coming from Broadway Limited – a Santa Fe 2900-class 4-8-4 and a New Haven R3A 4-8-2. Each of these locomotives are offered in several different era-specific liveries and road numbers, equipped with either Paragon4 sound and DCC for $899.99 MSRP or silent/DCC-ready versions for $799.99 MSRP. Also coming soon is a new production of N scale USRA Heavy/Light Mikados, HO UP FEF-3 4-8-4s, and HO ARA 70-ton 4-bay hoppers with removable coal loads.
Broadway Limited Imports; 9 East Tower Circle, Ormond Beach, FL 32174; (386) 673-8900; Broadway-limited.com
New from ClassOneModelworks.com
HO – At Amherst, ClassOneModelWorks.com provided an advance look at its many all-new releases coming this year. First out of the gate is a five-unit NTTX articulated intermodal spine car. Designed to haul intermodal containers from 20’ to 48’ in length on corridors not yet able to accommodate doublestack intermodal well cars, these Bethlehem-built NTTX cars entered service in 1987. Class One’s highly detailed NTTX replica will feature a heavy diecast center sill with full brake rigging and etched metal end platforms. Also new from ClassOne are 20 and 40-foot CIMC-built intermodal containers to pair with these NTTX cars in a multitude of liveries. Tooling samples on display also included a PS-3000 2-bay covered hopper, a G47 gondola with distressed sides, an F39 flatcar and two different round-nosed vintage Fruehauf dry semitrailers.
Class One Model Works, ClassOneModelWorks.com
All-New Greenbrier 30500 gallon DOT 117 Tank Car from Kato USA
N – Kato USA will be producing an all-new contemporary 30,500 gallon DOT 117 compliant tank car replicating a Greenbrier-built prototype. Each car features blackened metal wheels, underframe piping and details, robust handrails, brakewheel and Kato magnetic knuckle couplers. These tank cars will be sold in 8-car sets for $160 MSRP/set with GBRX reporting marks and yellow conspicuity striping.
Kato USA, Inc., 100 Remington Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173; 847-781-9500; www.katousa.com
Maxson Scale Test Car
HO – World renowned in the three-rail world of O gauge trains, LIonel is reaching out to prototype modelers with an all-new highly detailed Maxson Scale Test car for HO scale. Replicating prototypes first built in 1974, this model will feature finely scaled details including etched metal end platforms, wire handrails, grab irons and coupler cut levers, fully plumbed brake rigging, metal knuckle couplers, metal wheels with rotating bearing caps and more. Roadnames will include Santa Fe, Chicago & North Western, Conrail, Burlington Northern, KCS, Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific. $54.99 MSRP each.
Lionel Trains, Concord, NC, Lionel.com
