The Lionel 2023 Volume 2 catalog is here! Sometimes Christmas does come twice a year, in the world of toy trains this celebration is typically associated with a catalog drop. For Lionel, that takes place in January and July. I typically can find something in each catalog that gets me excited for what’s to come. […]
OSCEOLA, Wis. — Trains Magazine has announced an exclusive photo charter to be held Sept. 11-12 at the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway featuring three historic diesels. The tentative schedule for the two-day event includes a Sept. 11 passenger train with freshly painted Great Northern SDP40 No. 325 and Great Northern […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Railcar pooling company TTX will move its headquarters to Charlotte, the City of Charlotte announced Tuesday. TTX, currently based in Chicago, will invest at least $13.8 million and create 150 jobs in Charlotte’s central business district. “We believe Charlotte presents a unique opportunity for TTX that provides for strategic partnerships to strengthen […]
TORONTO — VIA Rail Canada has broken ground on a new maintenance facility for its fleet of Quebec City-Windsor corridor trains. Groundbreaking for new facilities at VIA’s Toronto Maintenance Centre was held Monday. The project involves demolition of part of an existing structure; construction of a new state-of-the-art facility; infrastructure improvements throughout the maintenance yard; […]
Rail preservation efforts often can come full circle. For 29-year-old Aaron Farmer, his career has circled back to the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) in Owosso, Mich. From the beginning as a young volunteer to now being employed as the Master Mechanic of Rolling Stock for the non-profit organization, his journey involves understanding the value of […]
SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) continues to make progress on several projects at its former Rock Island shop in Silvis. The group is planning to return to service former Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985, 2-10-2 No. 5511, and “Centennial” DDA40X diesel No. 6936. National Railway Equipment, which shares the Silvis shop complex […]
CLEVELAND — Siemens Mobility will build 24 light rail vehicles to replace the equipment currently operationg on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Red Line, the manufacturer announced today (July 10). The GCRTA board had previously given preliminary approval to the Siemens proposal but needed to complete funding before finalizing the order [see “Cleveland RTA […]
What is the largest radius curve on your layout? If you said anything less than 24”, you won’t be running 85-foot passenger cars any time soon. Even then, a 24” curve is extremely tight for those cars to navigate. Fear not, I have the solution for your long passenger car dilemma: short steam era passenger […]
ALTOONA, Pa. — Work to construct a new $425,000 firebox for Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s steam locomotive No. 1361 (PRR Juniata Shops, 1918) is moving along rapidly, with the inner wrapper sheets scheduled to be assembled late next month or in early September. The locomotive is in the midst of a $2.6 million restoration to […]
How to keep N scale piggybacks on track: My N scale Tehachapi Pass layout is set in 1985. Intermodal railroading was well established, but on nothing like the scale we see today. Most intermodal traffic in the pass was TOFC (trailer-on-flatcar), more commonly called “pigs,” short for piggybacks. For my money there’s nothing much less […]
When I got into model railroading as a kid in the 1980s, factory-decorated HO scale freight car kits were the industry norm. I remember staring in awe at the shelves at McGiffin’s in Grand Forks, N.D., and Bader’s in Moorhead, Minn., two of the larger shops near my hometown, which were lined high and wide […]
In recent months, I have dug deep into the archives to find the shortest Amtrak trains of each decade. Since most of us modelers have limited layout space, if we still want to model prototypical passenger consists, these short trains are a perfect fit. Join me on a tour of Amtrak eras, this time exploring […]
