HARTFORD, Wis. — Trains magazine is excited to announce an exclusive photo charter with Soo Line 2-8-2 No. 1003 with a freight consist through scenic rural Wisconsin on Nov. 14. Enjoy multiple runbys, sweeping curves, and watching the Soo Line crew load coal! This photo charter is open to only 50 registered guests, so book […]
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SAN MATEO, Calif. — Discussions over the governance of Caltrain have broken down, reflecting concerns about a lawsuit between the agencies involved in operating the San Francisco Bay Area commuter railroad. The San Mateo Daily Journal reports board chair Dev Davis attended Friday’s Caltrain meeting but would not participate in discussion of the governance issue. […]
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The company that has proposed building a rail line connecting Alaska to the rest of the North American rail network has filed for bankruptcy protection and may be sold to pay debts. Bloomberg reports Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corp. — which promoted itself under the A2A label — received protection from a Canadian court after the […]
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BENNET, Neb. — Ten cars of a BNSF coal train derailed Friday evening on a recently reactivated line southeast of Lincoln, Neb. The Lincoln Journal Star reports portions of the train still on the tracks initially blocked traffic on Bennet Road, but crews were able to separate the train to allow traffic flow to resume. […]
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‘Broadway’ interrupted Pennsylvania Railroad K4s Pacific 5369 pauses with the eastbound Broadway Limited at Englewood Union Station on Chicago’s South Side in the late 1920s or ’30s. Singly and later doubleheaded, the K4 was standard power on PRR trains 28 and 29 for a quarter of a century. Andrew Hritz photo […]
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Q: The axles stick in the journal boxes of some of my rolling stock. I tried scraping them out and lubricating them. Any help would be appreciated. – Christopher Kramer, Chicago A: Depending on what tool you’re using, scraping them out might be making the bearing surfaces rougher, worsening your problem. And lubricating axle bearing […]
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When I was young, I had an American Flyer train and a set of American Plastic Bricks (interlocking toy bricks made in the 1960s). I liked running the train, but I was particularly drawn to the bricks. I could easily build something, tear it down, and build something else. Years later, I built an […]
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What was your first train set or locomotive? As a kid I had a Märklin train, but I never had a layout, just a circle of track I put on the floor when I wanted to play with my trains. When I became a teenager, I lost interest in my trains and sold them. I […]
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When I first moved to Wisconsin to start working for Model Railroader, my family and I were in a two-bedroom apartment. I had built a freelanced Pennsylvania RR layout in my apartment back in Pennsylvania that filled a 7 x 11-foot section of our long apartment living room. It was basically a donut, with a […]
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While Jacksonville Terminal Co. has up until now stuck to producing accurate scale models of prototypical intermodal equipment, the company is branching out into fantasy schemes with its new Visionary Series. The first three offerings in this series let N scale modelers simulate interchange with the well-known railroads of the fictional Appalachian Lines: W. Allen […]
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AMES, Iowa — Twenty-seven cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Thursday afternoon in Ames, briefly leaking propane from one car. KDSM-TV reports the derailment occurred about 1:30 p.m., with Ames Fire Chief Rich Higgins saying he did send an evacuation notice to nearby industrial plants after the propane leak was discovered. A Union Pacific […]
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Over the past 14 years, Tangent Scale Models has become well-known for its line of highly detailed HO and N scale models. That tradition continues with the company’s latest release, a newly tooled HO scale Pullman-Standard PS-1 40-foot combination-door boxcar. The model has railroad-specific details, Pullman-style ladders and bracket grab irons, and Kadee scale couplers. […]
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