The story of Mad Dog and the volcano starts on March 20, 1980. At 3:47 p.m. on that day, Mount St. Helens rumbled to life with an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale. It was mostly unnoticed. Earthquakes often occur in Washington State, most are light enough not to be felt. Within a week […]
The EMD BL20-2 locomotive had to be an engineer’s brainchild to improve the company’s share of the locomotive market. Just look at the concept. It was brilliant. Perceived as a win-win for both the manufacturer and railroad, EMD would remanufacture older, high-mileage GP9s with new guts at a cost far less than paying […]
Facts & features Name: St. Paul & SouthernScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 24 x 28 feetPrototype: Chicago & North Western’s “Spine Line”Locale: Minnesota, Iowa, and MissouriEra: 1995Style: Walk-inMainline run: 200 feetMinimum radius: 36″Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: FlatBenchwork: Open gridHeight: 47″Roadbed: CorkTrack: Micro Engineering flextrackScenery: Extruded-foam insulation boardBackdrop: Painted tempered hardboardControl: Switchable between DC cab control and MRC Prodigy […]
Canada’s GMD1 diesel locomotive was the first to be completely designed by General Motors Diesel Ltd., Electro-Motive’s subsidiary at London, Ontario. GMD built 101 copies in two variants between 1958 and 1960. The locomotive was powered by a 12-cylinder, non-turbocharged 567 prime mover producing 1,200 hp. A news brief in Trains’ July 1959 issue called […]
The best-selling Dash-2 EMD diesel locomotives will come as no surprise to diesel locomotive fans. By the late 1960s, the horsepower race had quieted, with 3,000-hp locomotives becoming the norm for fast freight (EMD’s GP40 and SD40, GE’s U30B and U30C) and 2,000 for local service (EMD’s GP38). EMD had successfully introduced a new, […]
Throughout the past few months, I have shown you how different small Amtrak trains can be modeled with only a few pieces of equipment. If you’ve read those previous articles, you might have noticed a pattern. Amtrak trains that operate between a big city and a much smaller city or town, such as Chicago and […]
Do you need some industries for small spaces on your model railroad? If you ask modeler railroaders something they’d like to have more of, space will be a common answer. Everything in our hobby takes up space – benchwork, track, structures, and scenery, among other items. When I kick around layout plans for my basement, […]
Amtrak E44 electric locomotives are eight roster oddities that likely never turned a wheel in revenue service for the passenger carrier. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired 66 of the 5,000-hp, six-axle E44 electric locomotives from General Electric, Nos. 4400-4465. Built at Erie, Pa., between 1960 and 1963 the motors were 69-feet, 6-inches long and […]
When the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Great Northern; Northern Pacific; and Spokane, Portland & Seattle merged to create the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970, the new railroad had an interesting fleet of cabooses. While there were plenty of cars built by commercial builders, mainly International Car Co., BN’s fleet was also filled with cabooses […]
These eight forgotten Amtrak trains are largely unremembered by railfans today. The shortest duration lasted just short of 14 months. Black Hawk The Black Hawk began service on the Illinois Central Iowa Division main line between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 14, 1974. It operated at first with Budd Rail Diesel Cars […]
Soo Line diesel locomotives came from four builders and sported two distinctive paint schemes. The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie had long been known by its nickname, the Soo Line. The railroad adopted that name officially in 1961 when it merged the Wisconsin Central and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, both […]
Today, it’s easier than ever to railfan without leaving the comfort of your home. Kalmbach Media is one of several companies that offers DVDs on various prototype subjects. If you prefer seeing trains in real time, you can watch any number of railfan webcams, such as the one Trains magazine has at Rochelle, Ill. This […]
