3rd Rail & GGD Delivery & Reservation Closing Updates - February 2026
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Operations & Customer Service Update
We’re excited to officially share that Shani has fully onboarded with us from the former 3rd Rail warehouse and is now handling customer service operations here at Third & Townsend Models. Many of you already know Shani, and we’re thrilled to have her experience and familiarity supporting our growing customer base.
As part of this transition, please note our updated contact information:
📞 Office: 720-786-3602
📧 Customer Service: cs@thirdandtownsendmodels.com
If you have questions regarding reservations, payment windows, shipping, or project updates, please reach out using the new contact information above.
Community Appearances & Media
On February 22nd, we had a great time joining the O Scale Central Monthly Zoom — thank you to everyone who tuned in and asked questions. We’re looking forward to making more appearances there in the coming months.
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@oscalecentral1757
We also joined Joker’s Trains on 2/22 for another fun and engaging discussion about upcoming projects and what’s ahead for Sunset Models & Golden Gate Depot.
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@Jokers_Trains
We truly appreciate the support from the O Scale community, these conversations are important and we enjoy being transparent about where things stand and what’s coming next.
Next Factory Trip – China (May 2026)
Our next factory visit is scheduled for early May. These trips are critical for maintaining quality control, reviewing tooling, inspecting paint samples, and accelerating production timelines. We’ll share updates and behind-the-scenes content during the visit.
Upcoming Shows
O Scale March Meet – Chicago
📅 March 20–22
We will have a booth at the March Meet and are looking forward to seeing many of you in person. We will also be making a special project announcement at the show, so be sure to stop by. 👉 https://marchmeet.net/WP/
Rocky Mountain Train Show – Denver (Our Backyard!)
📅 April 11–12
We’re excited to be exhibiting locally at the Rocky Mountain Train Show. If you're in the area, come by and say hello.
👉 https://rockymountaintrainshow.com
Production Updates
O Scale – 1948 Broadway Limited & 1937 Santa Fe Super Chief
The aluminum cars for both trains are officially on the water and en route to Long Beach.
🛳 ETA Long Beach: March 7
From there, they will transfer to rail to Denver and then truck to our warehouse. We expect them to arrive shortly after the O Scale March Meet and they will begin shipping promptly upon arrival.
Thank you to everyone who made pre-payments and locked in pricing early — we’re excited to finally get these into your hands.
Track the Vessel Here 👉 https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9936630
HO Scale – 80’ Harriman Passenger Cars
Production is finishing up on the HO Harrimans. Paint refinements, a coupler delay, and Lunar New Year created a slight production delay, but things are now moving forward again.
Samples are expected to head our way in the coming weeks, and we anticipate shipment to us in March.
We appreciate everyone’s patience, these will be worth the wait.
O Scale E8 / E9 Locomotives
The E8/9 project is progressing well. We expect production samples in the coming weeks, just in time to show off at the March Meet.
Current projection:
Final production completion in approximately 30 days
Shipping expected late March (barring unforeseen delays)
These locomotives represent a major step forward for us in tooling and detail execution.
Upcoming Reservation Deadlines
1938/1940 New York Central 20th Century Limited &
1941/1956 Southern Pacific Lark
Reservations for both trains close in about one week for an estimated Late May / June delivery. If you’ve been considering either of these signature aluminum passenger trains, now is the time to finalize your reservations.
O Scale Allegheny (C&O / VGN)
The Virginian CAD is nearly complete, and the Allegheny project is about to begin production. We are running this concurrently with the O Scale N&W “Mollies.”
Allegheny ETA: June
Reservations Close: Late March
O Scale N&W “Mollies”
Production planning is underway and the payment portal will open within the next two weeks.
ETA: July / August
Reservations Close: Late March
O Scale EMD F7’s
The F7 project will begin immediately following the completion of the O Scale E8/9’s.
Reservations will close in late March for a projected June delivery.
We’ve added several late-run additions with new nose tooling (45 units required to be built spanning these three), including:
Norfolk Southern OCS F7’s
Aberdeen Carolina & Western
Reading & Northern
New Online Payment Portal Now Live
We’re excited to officially launch our new online payment portal.
This system allows customers to:
Make secure reservation payments online
Use their existing website login
Pay remaining balances when invoices are issued
Make partial payments toward upcoming deliveries
Receive immediate payment confirmations
The goal is simple: faster processing, improved tracking, and fewer delays when models arrive.
👉 https://paymentportal.thirdandtownsendmodels.com/login
As production timelines continue to tighten, especially with multiple projects landing close together, the payment portal will allow us to ship orders more efficiently once inventory hits our warehouse.
December Catalog Momentum & Modeler Feedback
Our December catalog continues to generate strong interest, and we want to sincerely thank everyone who has placed reservations so far.
The response has been encouraging across multiple projects, and it reinforces something we firmly believe:
Strong reservations and clear modeler feedback directly shape what we are able to produce next.
When reservations come in early and communication is active, it gives us the confidence to:
Commit to new tooling investments
Expand paint scheme offerings
Add late-run variations
Accelerate production schedules
Develop future catalogs with even greater ambition
We carefully track reservation trends, emails, show conversations, and online discussions. The more feedback we receive, whether it’s roadnames, eras, detail variations, or entirely new prototypes, the better we can align our next catalog with what serious modelers actually want.
Your participation makes a real difference.
The December catalog represents a major step forward in coordinated steam, diesel, and aluminum passenger production. With continued support at the reservation level, we can maintain this pace and continue producing the kinds of projects that define Sunset Models 3rd Rail and Golden Gate Depot.
If you haven’t reserved yet and something caught your eye, we encourage you to secure your spot, it truly helps drive what comes next.
If you’d like, I can also give you a slightly more visionary version that frames the catalog as part of a longer-term strategy for the brand.
Closing Thoughts
As we move into spring, there’s a lot happening, aluminum cars on the water, locomotives finishing production, new tooling coming online, and show season right around the corner. It’s a busy time, but it’s the kind of momentum that tells us we’re headed in the right direction.
We remain committed to doing this the right way: investing in tooling where it matters, maintaining quality standards at the factory level, communicating clearly, and showing up in person whenever we can. Whether it’s on a Zoom call, at a show booth, or through direct emails and phone calls, the connection with serious modelers is what drives this business.
We’re grateful for the trust you place in us with your reservations and long-term projects. That support allows us to take on ambitious prototypes and continue building a pipeline that keeps O Scale and HO exciting.
We look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago in March, and in Denver in April. Until then, thank you for your continued support, and as always, we’ll keep the projects moving forward.
- Jay
Since you're planning to do the Amtrak Pacific Parlour car anyway can you also offer it again in its Santa Fe scheme? Also, the projected Siemens passenger cars should be offered in the Amtrak scheme (both the Amtrak blue and Amtrak Cascades green) as Amtrak will be by far the biggest owner of these trains as their produced compared to Brightline and Via Rail.
What's the status of the HO-scale N&W Mollies?
What is the status of the O scale heavyweight sleepers?
First - thanks for doing the Harriman project. This is going to be a wonderful addtion to my modeling of SP and SP-RI trains. Second - my compliments on excellent communication on the project, you guys are doing an excellent job.
Hope the Harriman cars are in my hands by early April. Have the green boiler MT-4, GGD express (Got from Jay at San Leandro club) need the lounge and diner for circa 1925 Sunset Ltd.
Outstanding news about the HO Harriman Common Standard project. Appreciate the updates and so looking forward to adding these to my 1949 Shasta #327/#328 consist.
When can I start making payments towards the HO Harriman Common Standard head-end equipment? Thanks!