September 2024

The September 2024 cover of Trains magazine

In every issue News, p. 6 Michigan Central Station celebrates revival; NTSB sets final report on East Palestine derailment Bill Stephens, p. 10 Named passenger trains connect past and present Preservation, p. 44 Flooding on the Big Sioux River has inundated the Sioux City, Iowa, Railroad Museum Brian Solomon, p. 46 Traveling the Main Line […]

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Rebuilding the S-Line | Amtrak in North Carolina and Virginia

Rebuilding the S-Line | As detailed in the November 2024 issue of Trains magazine, the neighboring states of North Carolina and Virginia are up to something big! They are cooperating, collaborating, and even co-funding to create a 110-mph interstate passenger-train speedway dubbed, the “S-Line”. Watch this video to see some of the existing Amtrak trains […]

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Ken Smith’s South Durham Ry.

Title screen showing black-and-white road diesel pulling a freight on Ken Smith's HO scale South Durham Ry. model railroad.

Ken Smith’s South Durham Ry. is an HO scale shelf layout that fills a 9′-6″ x 11′-0″ spare room. The freelanced model railroad depicts a North Carolina bridge line connecting the Southern Ry. (SOU), Seaboard Coast Line (SCL), and Durham Southern in the 1970s. Second-generation diesel power moves grain, plastic pellets, perishable fruit, and other […]

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Olympia & Sand Creek, Episode 18 | Painting the backdrop – Part 1

In this episode, professional help is on the way! Jay Smith, former illustrator (ret.) for Kalmbach Media, heads for the basement to help make realistic mountains materialize on the backdrop of the On30 display layout. Guided by David’s practice painting, pretty pictures, and temporary placement of key structures, Jay shares his specific techniques for turning […]

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Milwaukee County Zoo Safari Train | Milwaukee, Wisc.

Ride with Trains.com, as staff members Lucas Iverson and Ben Lake, as they enjoy grand scale railroading (often associated with miniature, ride-on trains) at The Milwaukee County Zoo’s North Shore Bank Safari Train! Enjoy up-close views of their visit in July 2024, and then read more details about the 15-inch gauge railroad’s past, present and […]

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Spaces to Places VI | Fixing a wayward waterway, part 2

Host Gerry Leone left us with a bit of a cliffhanger in his quest to remake a wider, curved river for his Bona Vista HO scale double-deck model railroad. In this episode, he shares the plan and his efforts to move forward with the required deconstruction and reconstruction (…and even re-reconstruction — don’t ask, you’ll […]

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