Q In March Trains, an article on the demise of semaphore signals on the former Monon [Page 14] mentioned that CSX was doing away with lineside pole lines and their maintenance. It said the new system will use Electro Code, a system where signal communications run through the rails. How is this done?– Richard K. […]
Train Topic: Beginners
Why does my American Flyer rolling stock have white residue?
Q: Can you suggest how to safely remove the white residue that builds up on the bottom of my American Flyer rolling stock? – Bruce K. Davis, Youngwood, PA A: We receive this question several times a year. For some reason this white residue problem is more common with American Flyer S gauge trains of […]
Storing trains
Q: I have Marx and Lionel trains and accessories, both old and new. How do I store them so that my daughters and I can enjoy them when we move to a new home with more space? My house has just two levels and three bedrooms. We live in Maryland and the temperature and humidity […]
“A garden railroad you can build” trackplan
Marc Horovitz Download a track plan of the Middleboro project railroad, the subject of our new booklet, “A garden railroad you can build.” Click here to download a PDF version of the Middleboro track plan. […]
Broken belt on a postwar Lionel No. 364 log loader
Q: I have a Lionel No. 364 conveyor belt log loader which was received as a gift in the 1940s or early 1950s. The red conveyor belt has disintegrated over time and I would like to know how to service the accessory to get it back into operation. Also, I would appreciate knowing the approximate […]
Defect detectors
An Amtrak train en route from Milwaukee to Chicago on Canadian Pacific’s double-track main line hurtles by a metal cabin and some trackside apparatus. Over the radio, a stilted voice intones “CP detector, milepost five seven point six. Main track: two. Total axles: one six. No defects. Temperature: five three degrees. Detector out.” A moment […]
Freight car classifications
The Association of American Railroads has 11 basic classification of freight cars. Most of the major classes have subclasses, and you’ll find them by clicking on the links below. The following was taken from the July 2002 Official Railway Equipment Register, published by Commonwealth Business Media. The National Model Railroad Association also offers reprints of […]
Freight car markings
Conrail. Milwaukee Road. Santa Fe. Rail Box. Anyone who watches freight trains is familiar with these and other names blazoned across the sides of freight cars. But that’s just advertising, which some companies omit for economy’s sake. And if a car changes hands, its new owner may not even bother to paint out the old […]
Freight car trucks and carbodies
Car trucks and carbodies Do you remember running boards and full-height ladders on box cars? They are known in the railway supply trade as freight-car components, and while running boards and full-height ladders have followed the telegraph key and the steam locomotive into railroad technological history, other components remain as key elements of the freight […]
Introducing the horn section
Leslie and Nathan may sound like a dull couple from the ‘burbs, but they’re actually the first chairs in railroading’s horn section. The diesel locomotive horn section, that is. Many of today’s train-watchers recognize a railroad by the sound of its diesels’ horns. It’s only natural since sound is a strong memory-jogging sense, second only […]
Locomotive classification lights
Locomotive classification lights Locomotive classification lights — colored flags by day, lights by night — were once used throughout North American railroading. U.S. railroads used a single light and outer lens, with colored lenses in between that could be changed as needed. Canadian roads used three separate lights; on diesels these were often located near […]
Trackage and haulage rights
Because shippers’ distribution patterns are rarely congruent with any one rail carrier, railroads have developed two traditional methods of extending their reach over each others’ lines. The first is the joint rate and route. Two railroads, by agreement, establish one rate from an origin on the first to a destination on the second. One of […]
