Louisville & Nashville E7s 761 and 756 are ready to depart the road’s Canal Street Station, New Orleans, with the Humming Bird for Cincinnati sometime in the 1950s. L&NHS collection […]
L&N’s Humming Bird at New Orleans
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News photos: Metra unveils first SD70MACH (updated)
CHICAGO — Metra has provided a sneak peek at the first of its new SD70MACH locomotives, providing photos Tuesday on its social media channels of locomotive No. 500 being unwrapped by shop personnel. The locomotive will also wear the newest Metra heritage paint scheme, honoring the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Regional Transportation […]
Railcar couplers: Keeping cars together
Railcar couplers Railcar couplers have been an issue since the beginning of railroading. Keeping the cars together yet making them easy enough to separate was key in the design of the rail transportation system. For many years, railroads used the link and pin coupler system, which required a trainman to be stationed between the cars for […]
A small S gauge layout with big ideas
A small S gauge layout can give a lot of play value. For proof, check out John Mansueto’s layout in the November-December 2022 issue. It’s like many of the compact O and S gauge layouts spotlighted in Toy Train Layouts for Small Spaces, the 2021 special issue from Classic Toy Trains. Spare bedrooms, garage stalls, […]
A small S gauge layout with big ideas
A small S gauge layout can give a lot of play value. For proof, check out John Mansueto’s layout in the November-December 2022 issue. It’s like many of the compact O and S gauge layouts spotlighted in Toy Train Layouts for Small Spaces, the 2021 special issue from Classic Toy Trains. Spare bedrooms, garage stalls, […]
Lionel John Bull display set review
The Lionel John Bull display set is a historical piece from the 2021 Volume I catalog. The company cataloged this in three versions: the “Display Set” which features the engine and one coach on two flatcars; a Camden & Amboy set with three coaches; and a “What-if?” Uncle Sam (John Bull’s cartoon U.S. counterpart) set […]
City of San Francisco is the latest WalthersProto name train
City of San Francisco The City of San Francisco will be the next train in Walthers’ line of name trains. This offering will feature equipment from the various railroads that jointly operated this streamliner from Chicago to San Francisco, including Southern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific, and Texas & New Orleans. Electro-Motive Division E9A and […]
Five facts on freight car wheels that may surprise you
Freight car wheels As railroads have developed and embraced emerging technology, the design of railcar wheelsets has remained the same for the past century. The amount of engineering that has gone into the development of wheelsets ensures a high level of safety every day. Here are five interesting things that may surprise you about how […]
In Memoriam: Iain Rice
In Memoriam: Iain Rice. The hobby lost one of its most creative and prolific track planners with the passing of U.K.’s Iain Rice on October 8, 2022. Iain was a frequent contributor to Kalmbach Media’s Model Railroad Planning as well as to Model Railroader. He also wrote four books for Kalmbach: Small, Smart & Practical […]
News photos: Cleanup continues from Sandusky derailment
SANDUSKY, Ohio — Cleanup continues but Norfolk Southern’s main line has been reopened though Sandusky following a derailment that led to reroutes and cancellations for Amtrak service. The Sandusky Register reports that the Columbus Avenue underpass, where derailed tank cars of paraffin wax fell to the railway below, remained closed as of Monday, Oct. 10, […]
Waterloo Central operates steam for Canada’s Thanksgiving
ST. JACOBS, Ontario — Heritage operator Waterloo Central Railway operated its 0-6-0 locomotive No. 9 on Canada’s Thanksgiving weekend for the first time in two years, following a two-year retrofit and its 10-year boiler inspection from Ontario’s Technical Standards and Safety Authority. The locomotive, built in 1923 by the Montreal Locomotive Works for the Essex […]
EBT opens the door on south portion of main line
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa.—The East Broad Top Railroad notched another first during the Oct. 7-9 annual gathering of its friends auxiliary group, carrying passengers on a mile of narrow gauge main line that’s been out of service for 66 years. As part of the Fall Reunion of the 1,777-member nonprofit Friends of the East Broad Top, EBT […]
