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Cereal transporter
Type of Train: Diesel Locomotives
Broadway Limited Imports HO EMD GP30
In our latest Product Review video, we’ll head down to the quarry on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to see the Broadway Limited Imports HO EMD GP30 in action. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe No. 2710; points out the […]
Broadway Limited Imports HO EMD GP30
In our latest Product Review video, we’ll head down to the quarry on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to see the Broadway Limited Imports HO EMD GP30 in action. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe No. 2710; points out the […]
Classic Trains Film Archive | Snowy Chicagoland, J. David Ingles Reel 123
Classic Trains Film Archive | Snowy Chicagoland, J. David Ingles Reel 123 – In vintage color footage captured by J. David Ingles, you’ll see that winter’s wrath has arrived in the Windy City! But in the City of Broad Shoulders, a few feet of fresh snow isn’t enough to detour the determined folks from moving […]
Dynamic braking 101
The dynamics of dynamic braking A half-century ago, when diesel locomotives were replacing steam engines, a revolutionary breakthrough — dynamic braking — was making freight operations safer and more efficient. Dynamic braking is the method of train braking whereby the kinetic energy of a moving train is used to generate electric current at the locomotive […]
Diesel locomotive builders explored
Diesel locomotive builders 1. American Locomotive Company For many years after World War II, Alco — the American Locomotive Company — was the second place diesel builder in the United States. The company’s history as a steam locomotive manufacturer dates from 1901. The Schenectady, N.Y.,-based firm began producing its first diesels in conjunction with suppliers […]
F is for freight
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Thoughts on the Lionel 2024 Big Book catalog
The Lionel 2024 Big Book catalog is here! At 228 pages, there’s a lot of products to sort through. I’ve given it a good luck and have thoughts and observations. Maybe you do too. If so, leave a comment or send an email to editor@classictoytrains.com Roger Carp explained the history of when Lionel releases catalogs […]
Minnesota identity crisis
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News photo: New paint for an Amtrak veteran
Amtrak is beginning to give its General Electric locomotive fleet a look in keeping with its newer units. Fresh from an overhaul at the Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility, Amtrak P42 No. 174, manufactured in 2001, sports a variation of the paint scheme the company uses on its new Siemens Charger locomotives as it leads the […]
Understanding brake horsepower in diesel locomotives
An EMD AR20 alternator from CSX SD70MAC 4549 at the railroad’s Huntington, W.Va., shop. Chris Guss Understanding brake horsepower: Diesel engines, like all engines, are built to perform a specific function. In a locomotive, that role is to provide power to move freight cars from one place to another. When buying locomotives, one thing management […]
Illinois Central’s EMD SD40A diesel locomotive
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 […]
