Late era railroad dining car meals

Advertising picture for railroad dining car meals served in a snack bar car

  In the past, railroad dining car meals were something to write home about, positively. A notable summary of this can be found in the lyrics of the popular song Chattanooga Choo-Choo, with its assertion that “dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer.”   As private-railroad passenger service declined in the 1960s, however, this […]

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Illinois Central’s EMD SD40A diesel locomotive

Two-tone EMD SD40A diesel locomotive in profile

The Illinois Central’s EMD SD40A diesel locomotive resulted from the railroad’s desire to increase fuel capacity. “Customer modifications to production units aren’t all that unusual, don’t usually result in more than minor engineering and construction revisions, and seldom are dignified by a separate builder’s class,” wrote former Trains Managing Editor Wally Abbey in the January […]

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American Flyer No. 647 Northern Pacific refrigerator car

Flyer No. 647 Northern Pacific refrigerator car

Glancing at the catalogs put out by the A.C. Gilbert Co. and the Lionel Corp. from 1952 or ’55 or ’58, you notice how similar the product lines were. Both Gilbert, which developed the American Flyer line of S gauge trains, and its rival marketed train sets at various price points to entice households with […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler

Photo of HO scale steam engine with title bar in lower corner of image.

The Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler recently paid a visit to our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. The model, part of the company’s Icons of Canadian Steam line, is based on a Canadian Pacific class D10 prototype. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he talks about the features on the 4-6-0 and demonstrates […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler

Photo of HO scale steam engine with title bar in lower corner of image.

The Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler recently paid a visit to our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. The model, part of the company’s Icons of Canadian Steam line, is based on a Canadian Pacific class D10 prototype. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he talks about the features on the 4-6-0 and demonstrates […]

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Troop train Pullman porter

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At Fort George G. Meade, Md., the porter assigned to the rear Pullman of a troop train watches as supplies are loaded aboard the kitchen car of another train. It’s May 1953 — two months before the end of the Korean War. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Super C on Cajon Pass

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Santa Fe train 100, the Los Angeles–Chicago Super C, climbs the west side of Cajon Pass with four Flexi-Van containers and four trailers trailing an SD45 and F45 on January 26, 1970. Joe McMillan photo […]

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Menards Sooty’s Coal Tipple

model of coal tipple

Menards fictional city of Cripple Creek has expanded to include Sooty’s Coal Tipple (275-9271). Historically, coal tipples were located near mines. Small loads of coal would be brought up from the mines and dumped into a larger hopper car. Coal would be carried up into the tipple via a conveyor belt. Many tipples had a […]

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Spot of trouble for a 4-4-0

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In May 1952, Chicago & Illinois Midland 4-4-0 500 simmers at Oakford, Ill., as crewmen investigate a problem with one of the engine truck’s journal boxes. The problem was soon remedied, and the American type resumed its run with Springfield–Peoria train 6. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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Friendship and gratitude: Europe’s Merci Train

Gray, four-wheel boxcar from France’s Merci train gift to the U.S.

France’s 1949 Merci Train left a legacy of European rail equipment displays throughout the U.S.     During the period around World War I and II a number of European railroads utilized a small boxcar — small by American standards. The cars rode on four wheels and carried all of 20 tons. In France, such […]

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Athearn HO scale EMD SW1500

Title screen of Athearn HO scale EMD SW1500 Product Review video

The Athearn HO scale EMD SW1500 pays a visit to the Jones Island section of our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno discusses the features on the end-cab switcher, which is being offered with light-emitting-diode lighting and a SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder for the first time. In addition, he […]

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