A train in TRAINS’ driveway

Flagg Coal Co. No. 75 pays a visit to the offices of Kalmbach Publishing on August 16, 2011. The 0-4-0 tank engine was built by the Vulcan Iron Works in 1930. Now privately owned, it travels around the country to tourist railroads, and made a flag stop (ha ha) at Kalmbach, courtesy of owner John […]

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Build a table for a small model railroad

benchwork lead

Good plywood benchwork provides a solid foundation for a model railroad. There are many different ways to support your railroad, and they all fall under the general heading of “benchwork.” Benchwork can be just about anything. We’ve heard of one modeler who uses the top of his piano for his railroad so he can enjoy […]

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CP coming round the bend

Two high-horsepower GE locomotives approach Elm Grove, Wis., with eastbound Canadian Pacific coke train 852. The train is descending the subcontinental divide. (Water west of the divide flows into the Mississippi River, while water east of the divide flows into Lake Michigan.) Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]

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Roger Williams new employer

Amtrak inherited from Penn Central these self-propelled Rail Diesel Cars with distinctive front ends built for the New Haven Railroad’s Roger Williams. Budd Co. delivered six RDCs in an A-B-B-B-B-A formation to the New Haven in 1956. The slapped-on Amtrak logo from this February 1975 view would be replaced four years later with the company’s […]

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Streetcar Sundays

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Philadelphia Transportation Co. PCC car 2115 cruises east on a Route 56 run along Erie Avenue in 1955. Mert Leet My dad worked as a trolley operator for the Philadelphia Transportation Company. Stationed at the 10th and Luzerne carbarn, he was one of a legion of veterans who found work on the PTC after World […]

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“Silver Chalet” history

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The Silver Chalet, once part of the Western Pacific’s California Zephyr, rests outside Quad/Graphics’ Sussex, Wis., printing plant Nov. 24, 2004. Cody Grivno Q I saw a private car named “Silver Chalet” at Union Station in Washington, D.C. It had an odd-looking observation platform. Can you tell me its history and who owns it now?— […]

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