Fiery CPKC train rolls through London, Ontario

Night fire scene along railroad tracks. Fiery CPKC train rolls through London, Ontario

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board is investigating a bizarre fire aboard a Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway freight train in a London, Ontario residential neighborhood around 10:49 p.m., April 21, according to reports from numerous news agencies and the London Fire Department. Witnesses reported seeing the CPKC train moving through the city as flames shot […]

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Guardian Award honors Union Pacific dispatchers

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

Omaha, Neb. — Recognizing the vital role played by its train dispatchers when it comes to safe operations, the Union Pacific Railroad has presented its Guardian Award to nearly 300 dispatchers for their work in 2023. The honored dispatchers work in three locations – Omaha, Neb., San Bernardino, Calif., and Spring, Texas. UP train dispatchers, […]

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Kitbashing a lawn maintenance business

front of model structure on grass

My middle son owns a landscaping business under the name of PLM (Professional Lawn Maintenance). I decided to kitbash a structure on my garden railway based on his business. I had found a rather beat up PIKO America stone building. The walls were unattached and it was missing a roof. It also had glue residue […]

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Colebrookdale Railroad’s rebirth

A dark blue diesel locomotive next to a yellow depot with brick buildings beyond

The Colebrookdale Railroad’s rebirth as a successful tourist railroad breathes new life into a former Reading Company branch in southeastern Pennsylvania. The revival was sparked by a determined man named Nathaniel Guest and a supportive community. Guest, a Pottstown native, learned the railroad was going to be officially abandoned. Believing the line’s history made it […]

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A yard office you can model

Color photo of yard office building near manufacturing plant.

Little did I think when I visited Milbank, S.D., for the first time in 2019 I would find a yard office you can model. But there, on the corner of North Main Street and East Railway Avenue, was a BNSF Ry. structure that looked ideal for a model railroad. It had a small footprint; could […]

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Atlas N scale Thrall covered hopper

Color photo of N scale covered hopper painted red and white.

Price: $24.95 (undecorated, $17.95) Manufacturer Atlas Model Railroad Co. 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 shop.atlasrr.com Road names: New paint schemes — Transportation Corp. of America; Burlington Northern (with FRA-224 stripes); CATX; David J. Joseph Transportation; Midwest Railcar; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; and Rail Logistics. New road numbers — Canadian National and Peavey. Three numbers […]

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Great Railfan Roads | U.S. Route 30 in Nebraska

The Union Pacific main through Nebraska is one of the best train-watching spots in America, with a plethora of trains operating over double track and sometimes triple track mainline.  U.S. Route 30 closely parallels the railroad, making this stretch of the Union Pacific a great place to see trains.  Let’s follow the route from Cheyenne, […]

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Railfan Road: Nebraska’s U.S. Route 30

A train rolls by a sunset sky

Nebraska’s U.S. Route 30 LOCATION: Trains Columnist Don Phillips prescribed driving Nebraska’s U.S. Route 30 along the Union Pacific main line as an antidote for the 1970s railroad blues (“Solace on Highway 30,” October 1978). For all that has changed in 45 years, the railroad is still Union Pacific and it always puts on a […]

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Atlas O Spring 2024 Premier catalog

Cover of product catalog with steam engine and passenger cars.

The Atlas O Spring 2024 Premier catalog was recently published on the manufacturer’s website. Highlights include three locomotives, assorted 60-foot heavyweight passenger cars, four freight cars, a snow plow, pedestrian walkways, and an upgraded 24”-diameter turntable. All of the models are scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2024. Steam and diesel locomotives The […]

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When Ringling Bros. rode the rails

For 146 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train criss-crossed the nation as America’s longest passenger train.  With a mile-long train of passenger cars and container flats and housing about 300 performers and crew, the circus train was a regular sight on American railroads. The Ringling Bros. shut down operations in 2017 […]

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T-TRAK Project Part 6: Roads, rails, and housepaint

Small black and gold artist paintbrush painting white plaster model train scenery tan.

Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy continue the scenery process on their T-TRAK modules in an attempt to make them look more like the prairies of Colorado. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses foot-wide boxes plugged together to build tabletop layouts. In this sixth installment, the three modelers explain […]

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In Memoriam: Kirk Reddie

Color photo of man with moustache standing in front of model railroad layout.

Kirk Reddie, Editor and Publisher of N Scale Railroading magazine, passed away on April 8, 2024. Kirk grew up and resided in Shoreline, Wash. When he was 4 years old, he received an American Flyer train set. His modeling focus shifted to HO scale when he was in eighth grade. In 1975 Kirk switched to […]

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