Tips for Body-mounted couplers on auto racks: When N scale got its start in Europe in the 1960s, its originators conceived it in the tradition of toy trains, with truck-mounted couplers that could negotiate sharp-radius curves. Some N-scalers began switching to body-mounts after Kadee introduced its N scale knuckle coupler in the early 1960s. (Kadee […]
Fixing diesel locomotives Fixing diesel locomotives: The clang of tools, the whir of grinders, and the smell of diesel exhaust greets you as you walk in the door of an engine shop. People move to and from with equipment both large and small, with the ever-present cadence of idling locomotives just outside the door. This […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic members of the Washington state congressional delegation have written Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to lobby for federal funding to support development of a high speed rail route in the Pacific Northwest. The Cascadia High Speed Rail proposal calls for developing a route from Vancouver, British Columbia through Seattle to Portland, Ore. […]
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road has announced its first discount ticket developed for passengers using a specific station, announcing the launch of the Far Rockaway Ticket on Aug. 20. The ticket expands the discounts of the CityTicket, which covers commuter rail travel within the city of New York, to cover the Far […]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The transportation agency for Santa Cruz County has now fully funded a preliminary study of a much-debated rail transit plan for a former Southern Pacific branch line. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has ordered the study, known as a project concept report, for its […]
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The New York Transit Museum’s vintage subway equipment will be featured in the 2023 “Parade of Trains” operation Sept. 9-10 on the New York City Transit B/Q lines — the former BMT Brighton line. Trains will operate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., operating between the Brighton Beach B/Q platform and the […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway has become the title sponsor of the Montreal Canadiens’ training facility in suburban Brossard, which will now be known as the CN Sports Complex, the National Hockey League team has announced. “We are proud to welcome CN as a partner of the Montreal Canadiens,” France Margaret Bélanger, president, sports and […]
WASHINGTON – OmniTRAX will take over operations of the South Branch Valley Railroad, a 52.4-mile state-owned short line in West Virginia, on or after Sept. 13, the shortline holding company said in a regulatory filing this week. The former Baltimore & Ohio line is currently owned and operated by the West Virginia State Rail Authority. […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has asked federal regulators to toss out a complaint that Canadian Pacific Kansas City filed this month that would allow it to route grain trains to the ports of Houston and Galveston using trackage rights over UP south of Beaumont, Texas. CPKC told the Surface Transportation Board that UP is blocking […]
NEW YORK — The departure of two key operations executives this year won’t affect CSX’s service, Chief Financial Officer Sean Pelkey said at an investor conference today. “We’re six years into the scheduled railroading journey. It’s in our DNA. And you’ve got a team of leaders across the operations group who understand what that plan […]
Q: I’m planning a small layout based on The Bay Line (BAYL), a north Florida short line, focusing on the Cottondale diamond crossing and CSX interchange. I found a fascinating picture of the diamond near the interchange in 1989, which shows a grade crossing-type gate across the railroad track just before the diamond. What would the […]
Q: I’ve been given several HO scale locomotives that unfortunately came without boxes or information about whether they were DCC equipped or not. Most are very nice, higher end models, not entry-level. Is there any way to safely find out if each locomotive is DC or DCC without taking off the shells? Even if I do remove […]
