On May 1st, 1971, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak, was formed. On this 52nd anniversary, I thought we should take a look at small Amtrak trains from the start. If you want to learn about how to model modern short Amtrak consists, check out my previous article. Instead of focusing on two individual […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Transportation Museum is moving ahead with plans to repaint several pieces of passenger equipment at its Jackson Street Roundhouse Museum in St. Paul. If plans come to fruition, MTM will achieve a long-time goal of assembling a Great Northern streamliner in Omaha orange and Pullman green. MTM operates the […]
CHICAGO — With horns blaring while track crews working in the tunnel at the scene of Sunday afternoon’s derailment stepped safely out of the way, the westbound Empire Builder emerged from the north side of Chicago Union Station this afternoon (Monday, May 8) with an extra coach and two additional sleeping cars compared to its […]
DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. – A rare anthracite-region steel heavyweight office car has been rescued by the Everett Railroad, which intends to restore it for first-class service on its excursion trains. The only known surviving passenger car from the Lehigh & New England Railroad, car No. 100 was built by American Car & Foundry Co. in September […]
WASHINGTON — Six rail transit systems will receive more than $700 million in grants to replace aging railcars under grants announced Friday by the Federal Transit Administration as part of the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program. “Every day, millions of Americans rely on subways, commuter rail, and light rail to get to work or school, buy […]
Bay Area Rapid Transit has unveiled a new track geometry car, which it is calling its Rail Inspection Vehicle or RIV, which can develop a track profile while operating at speeds up to 70 mph. In a press release, the transit system said the RIV can measure track position, curvature, smoothness, alignment, as well as […]
During an epic battle to reopen Cumbres Pass after a late December 1951 storm, a worker uses a shovel to clear the discharge chute of Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge rotary OM of heavy, wet snow. John Norwood photo […]
For most of my 70 plus years I have been interested in trains. Wherever I lived, I built a number of layouts in basements and attics. It was not until I became interested in the life of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad that I thought it would be a railroad to model. It could not […]
KINGSTON, N.Y. — A railcar from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has joined the collection of the Trolley Museum of New York, arriving at the museum on Tuesday, April 25. Car No. 510, built in 1981 by Société Franco-Belge, will be on display when the museum opens for the 2023 season on Saturday, May […]
QUEBEC CITY — Alstom will build and 34 light rail trainsets for Quebec City’s tramway project and provide maintenance for 30 years under a C$1.34 billion contract announced today (Tuesday, April 25) by the manufacturer. The contract also includes an option for construction and maintenance of five additional trainsets. The equipment will be versions […]
A clerk tosses two mail delivery pouches out the door of his speeding Railway Post Office car while simultaneously keeping the catcher arm raised in preparation for snagging outbound mail. This is on the Boston & Maine in the late 1940s. Edward J. Howard Jr. photo […]
TREGO, Wis. – A former Great Northern Railway ranch car that was once part of the storied Empire Builder streamliner has been purchased and moved to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad in Trego. The ranch car, No. 1244, named White Pines Lake, was purchased from a former conference center operation in Columbus, Ohio, in January […]
