Broadside steam

  Former Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 on the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad passes under the BNSF Railway “Race Track” at LaGrange, Ill., on June 10, 2016, en route to the 2016 Franklin Park Railroad Days. Photo by Benjamin J. Muciek […]

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Two ways: Chicago to Galesburg, Ill.

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Learn about BNSF Railway’s amazing main lines between Chicago and Galesburg, Ill., with our three-page foldout map! See today’s track arrangement, find what abandoned lines one ran in the area, and understand the rich history of railroading in Northern Illinois. […]

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NS ‘barcode’ unit

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SD70ACe No. 1111 Randy Olson Q I recently saw a Norfolk Southern locomotive passing through Vermillion, Ohio, with only four vertical stripes on the cab where a unit number should be. Can you explain what this designation is? — Joseph McCormick, Oberlin, Ohio A The stripes are really four “1s” for NS’s SD70ACe No. 1111. […]

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Soundtraxx Econami decoder

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Kevin Strong 4-amp DCC motor/sound decoder  ECO-400 Soundtraxx “Econami” Soundtraxx 210 Rock Point Drive Durango CO 81301 Price: $149.95 Website: www.soundtraxx.com Size: 2 3/4″ x 13/16″ x 5/8″ Pros: Excellent motor control; choice of sounds allows for a good degree of customization; good sound quality; plenty of volume Cons: No external trigger for synchronized chuff—must […]

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New model trains for the week of June 23, 2016

Summit USA HO small modern Amtrak station

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Diesel SD70ACe diesel locomotive. Canadian National (SD70ACe demonstrator patchout), Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern (Lackawanna, New York Central, and Wabash heritage units in one number each and horsehead silhouette), Union Pacific (George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and Chicago & North Western, Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Southern Pacific […]

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