Build a large-scale shipping container for your garden railroad

Scratchbuilt large-scale container car load

Intermodal container cars are a staple of modern railroads. Anyone who models the current era on their garden railroad will want a number of these, both on the rails and waiting for shipment. While several commercial models are available, I found a less expensive way to make them. Standardized shipping containers are essentially rectangular boxes, […]

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Digest: Delays add $300 million to cost of Gateway project

Amtrak train coming out of tunnel

Delays in start of Gateway project push cost to $11.6 billion Ongoing delays in beginning the Gateway tunnel project on the Northeast Corridor have pushed the estimated cost of tunnels under the Hudson river to $11.6 billion, a $300 million increase over the previous estimate. NJ.com reports Frank Sacr, interim executive director of the Gateway […]

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Amtrak revives Northeast Corridor sleeping cars

Attendant on platform outside train at night in snow

WASHINGTON — Passengers opting to take the train between Boston and Washington, D.C., will have a long-overdue alternative to the 7-hour daytime journey aboard Acela, Amtrak’s fastest train. Overnight northbound train No. 66 and southbound No. 67 (No. 65 on Friday and Saturday nights) are scheduled at 9 to 10 hours depending on the direction […]

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Toy train locomotive, freight car, passenger car, and vehicle announcements for February 25, 2021

Metropolitan Division of the Train Collectors Association Entenmann’s NE5 caboose no. 102268

Club offerings   Entenmann’s Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive and NE5 caboose. Lionel O gauge models custom-decorated for the Metropolitan Division of the Train Collectors Association (METCA). Locomotive features LionChief+2.0 (dual motors, electro-couplers, smoke, and die-cast metal trucks). Caboose has light-emitting-diode interior lights, die-cast metal trucks, and operating couplers. Limited-run models offered on first come, […]

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New large-scale products for the week of February 25, 2021

PIKO America large scale Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe boxcar no. 11527

Large scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesel locomotives. Amtrak (F7A in two road numbers, F7B in one number). F7A units have ball-bearing Bühler motors; traction tires; built-in mfx/Digital Command Control decoder with various light and sound functions; and separate, factory-applied details. F7B is unpowered and has built-in speaker that can be powered from […]

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Uncovering a desirable Lionel N5c Pennsy caboose

Lionel O gauge porthole postwar caboose

Lionel porthole caboose origins Lionel’s designers and marketers took significant steps in 1953 to expand and upgrade its roster of O gauge rolling stock. They introduced near-scale freight cars, notably larger and more realistic boxcars and a flatcar. They brought out for the first time a triple-dome tank car. And they distinguished the line with […]

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Pullman: America’s Hotel on Wheels – DVD Preview

Black and white image of craftsmen wearing ties and in a woodshop.

In the golden age of long-distance train travel, Pullman trains offered impeccable overnight services that were second to none. In this Classic Trains special preview video, learn more about America’s Hotel on Wheels through first-person recollections, detailed explanation of car routing, and examination of the various Pullman car types. Enjoy, and then order the full-length […]

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Toy train locomotive, freight car, structure, detail, and decal announcements for February 18, 2021

TCA Western Division Menards O gauge flatcar with Divco milk vans

CDs and DVDs Lionel Trains: A History in Advertising, 1946-1959. CD-ROM contains images of more than 100 vintage ads from the postwar era featuring Lionel trains and accessories. $14.95 plus shipping and handling. Archives of Advertising series. McBride/Publisher, thejumpingfrog.com O Gauge Train Maintenance You Can Do, Part 1. All-new series has how-to segments wiring postwar […]

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News & Products for the week of February 11, 2021

Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers O gauge Long Island Rail Road maintenance-of-way cars

O scale structures Richmond Packing Co. Kit has laser-cut tempered hardboard walls; basswood freight dock, doors, windows, and stairs; and peel-and-stick shingles. Building measures 8-5/8” x 11” without dock, 10-1/8” x 12-1/2” with. $149.95 plus shipping. Frank Ellison Tribute Series. Brennan’s Model Railroading, 816-252-4605, brennansmodelrr.com Tools Replacement needle scribers. Contains three each coarse and fine […]

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Washington project rebuilding GN caboose from the frame up

Gray wooden caboose under restoration

TENINO, Wash. — Over the last year, the residents of the small western Washington town of Tenino have become accustomed to the sounds of saws and hammers coming from 1920s-era Great Northern caboose X549. The caboose restoration is a joint venture between the town of Tenino and the Tenino Historical Depot. The caboose was purchased […]

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Digest: SEPTA to restore service on Chestnut Hill West line in March

SEPTA logo

Additional Friday morning rail news: SEPTA to bring back service on Chestnut Hill West line in March The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will resume operation on its Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail line in March with a “restricted service schedule.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the service — suspended last spring when Regional Rail operations were reduced because […]

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