Locomotive profile: SD40/-2 series type of diesel electric locomotive

Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SD40/-2 series •YEARS BUILT: 1966-1988 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I freight railroads in North America •NAMES: SD40, 40-2, Snoot (for extended nose versions), Tunnel Motor (for SD40T-2), High Hood (for SR and N&W), Wide Nose (for CN), Fast Forties (on UP) •QUANTITY: […]

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Locomotive profile: Sharknose diesel electric locomotive

New York Central Sharknose RF16 type diesel electric locomotives at West Detroit, Michigan, in 1961.

Sharknose •YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953 •MANUFACTURER: Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern •NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15 •QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined •HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20 •KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive […]

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2020 Model Railroader Readers Choice Winners

MRR_readerschoice

We had another year of great model railroading products for this year’s Readers Choice Awards. From locomotives and rolling stock to scenery and structures to track and electronics and more, there were many worthy entries nominated by model manufacturers, but ultimately chosen by you, our readers. The only real limitation we put on the choices […]

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SoundTraxx celebrates 30th anniversary

SoundTraxx30

SoundTraxx, a well-known manufacturer of sound decoders and HOn3 narrow gauge trains marketed under the Blackstone Models label, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The company is based in Durango, Colo. SoundTraxx was founded in 1989 as the Throttle Up! Corp. in Pocasset, Mass., producing the Hyperlight lighting system. In the 1990s the company […]

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“Most dangerous task I ever performed”

GTW8090

The little door below the headlight on an Alco switcher like Grand Trunk Western S4 No. 8090 led to a veritable chamber of horrors for a young roundhouse worker. J. David Ingles I know there are many dangerous occupations. My wife’s ancestors were coal miners in Pennsylvania after coming to America, having mined coal in […]

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New model railroad products for the week of March 5, 2020

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive. Southern Pacific (as delivered); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; British Columbia Ry. (red, white, and blue “lightning stripe”); Conrail (as delivered, CSX patched numbers, and Norfolk Southern patched numbers); CSX (blue, yellow, and gray); Minnesota Commercial; Seaboard System […]

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Donations pour in to steam the last Baldwin

BaldwinPlate

CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Trains Magazine led fund-raising effort to contribute $100,000 toward the restoration of the last Baldwin steam locomotive made for domestic use — Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 — is off to a good start. With the appeal to readers still in its first month, more than $41,000 — including one […]

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B&O 195 box cab lives again

Model locomotive on layout

Today we find B&O # 195 box cab delivering two tank cars to the Criswell Oil Company and picking up the empties. Model is a Roundhouse from which the internal mechanisms and trucks have been removed. They are replaced with Stanton power and non-powered trucks from North West Short Line. Added features include an ESU […]

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B&O 195 box cab lives again

Model locomotive on layout

Today we find B&O # 195 box cab delivering two tank cars to the Criswell Oil Company and picking up the empties. Model is a Roundhouse from which the internal mechanisms and trucks have been removed. They are replaced with Stanton power and non-powered trucks from North West Short Line. Added features include an ESU […]

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Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad

Southbound manifest train 26, three F unit diesels, pauses by the Borden Textile Mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, in March 1967 to add a three-unit rear-end pusher for the 42-mile climb to Erwin.

Southbound manifest train 26, three F unit diesels, pauses by the Borden Textile Mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, in March 1967 to add a three-unit rear-end pusher for the 42-mile climb to Erwin. C. K. Marsh Jr. History and major events of the Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield was different. It was conceived by men who had […]

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Easy project: Swapping loads on flatcar models

Model railroad flatcar false floor 1

Roger Kujawa and Bruce Brantner came up with the idea of using false floors to secure heavy equipment and other loads on their HO flatcars. This allows them to run properly loaded or empty flatcars during operating sessions on Roger’s Atlantic & Great Western RR. Jim Forbes Roger used the wood deck as a template […]

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