ScaleTrains S wide-cupola caboose

Color photo of green and yellow caboose on white background.

An International Car Co. (ICC) wide-cupola caboose is the latest model to join the ScaleTrains S-Helper Service product range. The S scale model features an injection-molded plastic body and features wire handrails and grab irons, factory-installed and painted crew figures, and illuminated light-emitting-diode marker lights. Prototype history The sample we received is decorated as Reading […]

Read More…

Amtrak passenger train names: A legacy unfolds

long blue and white passenger train

Amtrak has honored past passenger trains over the years by inheriting their names. How many are in service today and how close — or far — do they follow the original routes? Auto Train Eugene K. Garfield’s Auto-Train carried passengers and their automobiles over the former Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac and Seaboard Coast Line railroads […]

Read More…

Updated Grafton & Upton paint scheme introduced

Black-and-orange diesel locomotive with freight train displays updated Grafton & Upton paint scheme

  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 […]

Read More…

Alaska by Rail Day 8 — Seeking sunshine, sea lions

Blue-and-yellow freight locomotives in passenger service

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 […]

Read More…

Take Amtrak to see a model railroad

A color photograph of the interior of a train station

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   […]

Read More…

Alaska by Rail tour Day 7 — Glaciers, ghosts, tunnels

A blue with yellow stripe diesel locomotive and short train next to a rain-soaked platform. Alaska by rail tour.

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. This morning Anchorage experienced a sunrise as colorful as last evening’s sunset. The colors lasted for only a short […]

Read More…

Alaska by Rail expedition Day 6 — An Alaskan sunset

Conductor next to blue and yellow diesel locomotive. Alaska by rail journey.

Welcome aboard the Trains–Special Interest Tours 2024 Alaska by Rail expedition. 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. Today we start with breaking Alaskan wilderness news! There has been a Denali sighting. The morning in Talkeetna began […]

Read More…

Montreal commuter rail lines threatened

Cab car leads train of blue-and-silver commuter coaches at station

  MONTREAL — There are Montreal commuter rail lines threatened with closure. A report by Autorité Régionale de Transport Métropolitain suggests that closing three commuter rail lines could save up to C$21 million annually, CBC News reports. Commuters would be served by bus connection to adjacent rail lines instead.   They are the three least-traveled EXO commuter […]

Read More…