Welcome aboard the Trains–Special Interest Tours 2024 Alaska by Rail outing. Please join us as we travel on the Alaska Railroad for 9 days from Sept. 8 to 17, heading south from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska. No train travel today, just our bus Pendleton with driver John for a 45 minute run from Girdwood back […]
WASHINGTON – The first day of the Surface Transportation Board’s unprecedented hearing focusing on growth in the rail industry – or, more precisely, the lack of it – allowed the Class I railroads to tout their successes. But the rail executives had to wait for an analyst panel that outlined the breadth and depth of […]
News & Products for the week of September 16th 2024 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of September 16th […]
Class I railroads’ intermodal volumes have been strong this year, but the growing threat of an East Coast ports work stoppage risks upending supply chains just as the freight industry was normalizing. East Coast Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern are keeping an eye on the potential for a widespread strike at […]
When Canadian National reported disappointing second quarter results in July – partly due to congestion related to trackwork in the Directional Running Zone it shares with Canadian Pacific Kansas City in British Columbia – executives were vague on why some of the maintenance of way work in the country’s most important corridor was unplanned. At […]
Four decades later, I still chuckle when I think about the grouchy old farmer who jumped on my locomotive at a central Iowa grade crossing, cast iron fry pan in hand, and cussed me out like he was a drunken sailor! It was summer 1979. I had been a qualified Chicago & North Western Railway […]
NORTH GRAFTON, Mass. — The Grafton & Upton paint scheme has been yellow and black ever since its first diesels – two General Electric 44-tonners – arrived on the property in 1946. Those colors carried over to an Alco S4 switcher, and earlier in this century on an eclectic roster of older EMD road-switchers […]
Welcome aboard the Trains–Special Interest Tours 2024 Alaska by Rail adventure. Please join us as we travel on the Alaska Railroad for 9 days from Sept. 8 to 17, heading south from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska. There was a beautiful sunrise in southern Alaska this morning — and we got to see it! Yes, after […]
If you’re like me and enjoy riding Amtrak, but also enjoy model railroading, you’ve likely asked yourself “can I take Amtrak to see a model railroad?” The answer is yes! Four model railroads call Amtrak stations their home Durand Union Station Model Railroad Engineers Inc. Durand Union Station 200 Railroad Street Durand, Mich. 48429 […]
Wanting to expand the structures in my railway’s yard, I decided to build a sanding house and tower. I was inspired by the Tyco HO sand house and the large-scale Pola sand house. As with most of my builds, I made it primarily from repurposed parts. I used a Pola Wells Fargo building and a […]
Editor’s note: I’ve found a number of unpublished manuscripts in our file cabinets. This one dates from around 1999. Does it still apply today? Do you think that simplifying or finding a new aspect of the hobby can re-invigorate your love of toy trains? Leave a comment and let us know. As railroad enthusiasts go, […]
Common name: Watercress Latin name: Nasturtium officinale, N. microphyllum Plant type: Water plant Plant size: 4″ high and spreading rapidly USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-10 Cultural needs: Moist soil or floating on water, sun or shade Watercress is a plant for many purposes in a garden railway. To quickly green up your pond, watercress, with its bright, […]
