Montreal’s Exo orders Charger locomotives to update fleet

Blue and silver locomotive with commuter train

MONTREAL — Commuter rail operator Exo has ordered 10 Siemens Charger locomotives to replace its older locomotives with more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly motive power. “We are excited to partner with Exo and look forward to working with them to modernize their fleet with the latest in sustainable and intelligent rail technology. Our industry leading […]

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ScaleTrains four-axle locomotive announcement at Amherst 2022

ScaleTrains gray, black, and white announcement ad.

ScaleTrains four-axle locomotive announcement is set for this weekend. Officials with ScaleTrains say they’ll unveil the new HO Scale model during the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, January 29. Attendees will be able to see the unveiling live at booth BLC No. 34A. More details will be available from […]

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Norfolk & Western Railway freight trains

Diesel locomotives with coal train on steel viaduct

Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Norfolk & Western Railway all through January 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Norfolk & Western freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Norfolk & Western was a coal-oriented road linking Cincinnati and Columbus with […]

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Lionel Legacy Genset locomotive is a winner

Lionel Legacy Genset locomotive seen from the side

The new Lionel Legacy Genset locomotive is a nice-looking O gauge model of an innovative and environmentally conscious prototype. The full-sized versions get the job done while saving fuel and producing lower emissions. Simply put, the units are equipped with multiple small diesel engine-generator combinations rather than one large one. The number of power sets […]

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When I cast my ballot for the RS3

NKPRS3s

Nickel Plate 535 and 555 make a persuasive case for the RS3 as they accelerate east at Malinta, Ohio, in 1960. J. David Ingles Many of us who cotton to such things probably can pinpoint the exact time, or place, where we realized we had a favorite locomotive type. For me, the locomotive was the […]

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Colorado Joint Line short train

A short train moving past cows in a cloud-covered prairie scene.

Modelers with small spaces, please consider the above Colorado Joint Line short train as one prototype you might want to model. Back in 2017, I was chasing trains from Denver south to Colorado Springs and Pueblo along Colorado’s famed Joint Line before a rail industry conference began. I was told something like “trains run like […]

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Bob’s Train Box Episode 77: 2021 in review

2021 in review with Bob and Hal

It’s 2021 in review as Bob and Hal look back at the big toy train news and products from The past 12 months, including the breakup (mostly) and sale of pieces of MTH Trains and how it has been a net gain for the company and the hobby. They also discuss structure and rolling stock […]

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Bob’s Train Box Episode 77: 2021 in review

2021 in review with Bob and Hal

It’s 2021 in review as Bob and Hal look back at the big toy train news and products from The past 12 months, including the breakup (mostly) and sale of pieces of MTH Trains and how it has been a net gain for the company and the hobby. They also discuss structure and rolling stock […]

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Historic diesel locomotives saved by the 2020s

Blue and gray locomotive with gold trim and lettering.

Historic diesel locomotives saved by the 2020s may be an odd lot of famous and barely memorable, but these units deserve our respect and attention just as much as the first batch. All of these, even the ones that proved to be technological dead ends, contributed in one way or another to the advancement and […]

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News photo: Locomotives head to Ventura County short line

Yellow diesel locomotives

OXNARD, Calif. — Two Sierra Northern genset locomotives near Oxnard, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 12, en route to their new home on the former Southern Pacific branch line that is now the Sierra Northern Ventura Division. The former Union Pacific locomotives were delivered dead-in-train by a Union Pacific local and were expected to be turned […]

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Alco C415 failure — Diesels that didn’t

Gray and white diesel locomotive with freight train

Alco C415 failure was not what the famed locomotive maker had in mind in the 1960s. At the time, Alco saw a need to revamp its switcher offerings and came up with the offset centercab configuration C415, which launched as a demonstrator in 1966. The arrangement separated the prime mover from the radiator on different […]

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A collectible Lionel Milwaukee Road freight set

Collectible Lionel Milwaukee Road Freight set

Here’s the story behind this magnificent O gauge no. 810/2273W Lionel Milwaukee Road freight set. It was one of the finest outfits cataloged by the company for 1956. Click here for a history of the Milwaukee Road. The brand-new no. 2378P and 2378C F3 A-B locomotive combination headed the train. The powered A and unpowered […]

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