What’s on a locomotive cab roof?

White antenna housings cover the gray-painted roof of a modern diesel locomotive.

What’s on a locomotive cab roof? A cluttered battle for available space. But that wasn’t always the case. Decades ago, the roof of a locomotive cab was pretty bare. A majority of them had little more than an air horn and a single radio antenna mounted on it. The antenna was connected to the voice […]

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Menards Track Inspection Set

two trucks, a black remote, and 8 sections of track

Menards has started offering starter sets, and their Track Inspection Set is one of the newcomers to that area. But instead of a locomotive and pieces of rolling stock in the box, you’ll find something a little different. This set includes a track maintenance truck and a track inspection vehicle, and no locomotives. Both vehicles […]

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Amtrak Acela adventure along the Northeast Corridor

Join Trains.com staffers Kent Johnson and Ben Lake, as they explore Business Class and First Class experience aboard Amtrak’s Acela high-speed passenger service! From South Station (BOS) to Union Station (NHV), follow the duo as they take the train to work between Boston, Mass. to New Haven, Conn. in Business Class. Then watch as their […]

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Friends of East Broad Top picks up pace

Freight train with black steam locomotive in front of train station. Friends of East Broad Top update.

Part two of a two-part update on the East Broad Top Railroad ROBERTSDALE, Pa. – Building on the 2020 rebirth of the historic narrow gauge East Broad Top Railroad, the Friends of the East Broad Top nonprofit auxiliary group is beefing up volunteer work, raising unprecedented amounts of cash, and penciling more projects onto its […]

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EBT No. 16 rolls onto newly reopened track

Black steam locomotive pulling passenger train in picnic grove. East Broad Top Railroad update

Part one of a two-part update on the East Broad Top Railroad ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — For the first time since 1956, the narrow-gauge East Broad Top Railroad ran a steam locomotive over a newly restored portion of main line south of this town, signaling the railroad’s intent to reopen all of its 20-mile route […]

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13 tips for storing your trains

blue engine and car with boxes

13 tips for storing your trains 1. Modern trains go in their boxes. Be sure you store them out of direct sunlight and fluorescent lighting in a cupboard, drawer, or other dark, dry area. A packet or two of silica gel inside the box helps keep moisture and humidity low so your boxes won’t get […]

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Connecticut museum plans to restore 2-6-2

Black steam engine running along green field. Railroad Museum of New England to restore 2-6-2.

THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England is launching a fundraising campaign to restore Sumter & Choctaw Railway 2-6-2 No. 103 to service. No. 103 has been part of the RMNE collection since 1986 and was one of the first heritage steam locomotives to operate in the Northeast, from 1962 to 1975. No. 103 […]

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New Golden Spike Monument en route to Utah

Golden spike monument in a park. Transcontinental Railroad Golden Spike.

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, at the Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, a crane gently lifted a gold spike measuring 43.3 feet long and weighing just under 7,000 pounds, onto a decorated semitrailer. The spike, commissioned by Utah’s Golden Spike Foundation, is a new memorial commemorating the workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Starting […]

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Cumbres & Toltec Scenic names new general manager

Colorful railroad logo. Steve Butler Cumbres & Toltec Scenic.

CHAMA, N.M. and ANTONITO, COLO. — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has named Steven Butler as its new general manager. Butler takes over from Scott Gibbs, one of the railroad’s Colorado commissioners, who had temporarily stepped in to run day-to-day operations. A life-long rail enthusiast, Butler’s family owned a tourist railroad in the Midwest. […]

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