KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The CSX Santa Train distributed more than 15,000 toys, 6,000 train safety books, and 5,700 backpacks filled with gifts, gloves, and hats on Saturday (Nov. 22) as part of part of its 83rd trip on a 110-mile route through Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. “The CSX Santa Train embodies the best of what […]
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KINGSPORT, Tenn. — A detailed schedule has now been released for the 83rd CSX Santa Train, the Appalachian holiday tradition launched by the predecessor Clinchfield Railroad that makes its annual run from Shelbiana, Ky., to Kingsport, Tenn., on Saturday (Nov. 22, 2025). CSX employees, along with volunteers from partner organizations such as Appalachian Power, Food […]
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has received a $100,000 grant from the State of Tennessee. The grant, administered by the Tennessee State Museum, is for capital maintenance and improvement projects. The museum will use the funds for additional improvements to its Grand Junction depot area. Specifically, the museum will fund three projects […]
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Horneman Enterprises, an engineering firm specializing in rail equipment restoration, has rebuilt 4-4-0 Harrisburg, Lincoln & Lancaster Railroad No. 331 — formerly No. 63 Leviathan — from a completely torn down to the boiler, to operational in 5 weeks. The rebuild completed the locomotive’s FRA 1,472 day inspection, which was accomplished over the course of […]
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The Chesapeake & Ohio and Clinchfield met end-to-end at this yard at Elkhorn City, Ky. In this misty 1973 scene, a C&O train is ready to head north with a string of hopper cars from the Clinchfield. Tony Koester photo […]
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Facts and features Name: Chesapeake & Ohio New River Subdivision Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 19 x 24 feet Prototype: C&O New River Gorge and coal mine area Locale: Thurmond, W.Va. Era: 1957 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 102 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (24″ in Waynes-burg Mine wye) Minimum turnout: No. 6 Maximum grade: 1∕8″ per foot […]
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KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The annual CSX Santa Train trip is set for Saturday, Nov. 22, the railroad has announced. The 83rd running of the train, a tradition dating to 1943, will again feature a 110-mile trip from Shelbiana, Ky., to Kingsport, distributing more than 15 tons of toys, gifts, and winter apparel to thousands of […]
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Tour the Pennsylvania & Western RR, Bob Bartizek’s impressive O scale (1:48, 3-rail) model railroad representing a fictional subdivision of the Pennsylvania RR in western Pennsylvania between 1949 and 1953. Though it uses 3-rail power and GarGraves Phantom-line O gauge track with a black center rail, the locomotives and rolling stock are all built to […]
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Follow Model Railroader Editor Eric White on a journey into the thick of operations on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Panhandle Division, as replicated on Bill Neale’s HO scale (1:87.1) model railroad! As feature in Great Model Railroads 2010, Bill’s 200-foot multi-level layout captures a vital stretch of mainline serving the coal and steel country of western Pennsylvania […]
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Conrail 6070, a former Erie Lackawanna SD45, assists a westbound freight up Pennsylvania’s Horseshoe Curve on July 25, 1981, just a few months after removal of one of the Curve’s four tracks. Photo by Robert S. McGonigal […]
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Facts and features Name: Pennsylvania RR Panhandle Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 41 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia panhandle Era: late 1940s and early 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 24″ (branch) Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 5 (branch) Maximum […]
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Embark on an epic journey back to the late 1940s and early ’50s, as depicted on Curt LaRue’s HO scale (1:87.1) Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Division! Originally presented in the October 2025 issue of Model Railroader magazine, this stunning layout comes to life as cameras capture various modeled rural and industrial sites along the multi-track mainline […]
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