News photos: Reading & Northern excursion travels rare mileage

Rail Diesel Cars pass builing

READING, Pa. — In a trip featuring the first appearance by a passenger train in Tremont, Pa., in at least 30 years, the Reading & Northern hosted the National Museum of Industrial History’s Anthracite Railroad Ramble on Friday, July 29. The trip, featuring Reading & Northern’s Budd Rail Diesel Cars, originated at the Reading Outer Station, […]

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Big Boy draws big crowds

Large steam locomotive pulling a passenger train around a curve. More of the Big Boy story.

DENVER—In what will most likely be its sole trip of 2022, Union Pacific No. 4014 — Big Boy — is attracting large crowds during a three-day excursion between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Denver. The proceeds from Sunday’s ticketed excursion will support the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Leading a 12-car train, including an […]

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Host railroads tell regulators modeling clearly shows Amtrak Gulf Coast service would cause unreasonable freight impairment

Passenger train approaches curve with freight train on adjacent track

WASHINGTON — The launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service without infrastructure improvements would cause “immediate and future impairment to freight service that is unreasonable under any definition,” CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern argue in their latest filing with the Surface Transportation Board. This is the exact opposite of the contention Amtrak makes in its latest […]

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In Memoriam: Jerome (Jerry) A. Braet

Jerry Braet, whose HO scale Granger, Denrock & Southern layout was twice featured in Model Railroader, passed away on February 19 in East Moline, Ill. He was 82 years old. Jerry started work on his model railroad, which was inspired by John Allen’s Gorre & Daphetid, in 1973. The layout was first featured in MR […]

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Tangent Scale Models unveils new HO scale freight car

Photo of orange HO scale boxcar on white background

Gunderson Bros. HO scale freight car Tangent Scale Models unveiled a Gunderson Bros. 50-foot 6,089-cubic-foot capacity high-cube double-plug-door boxcar at the St. Louis Railroad Prototype Modelers meet in Collinsville, Ill., on Friday, July 29. This is Tangent’s second new freight car release in 2022. The model, in stock now, is decorated for Denver & Rio […]

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In Memoriam: Gilbert (Gil) A. Freitag

a picture of a man by his layout

Gil Freitag, builder of the HO scale Stoney Creek & Western, died May 22 in Houston, Texas. He was 86 years old. Gil’s wife, Virginia, passed away on April 19, 2022. Gil’s layout was featured many times in the hobby press, including the July 1982, August 1995, and April 2003 issues of Model Railroader, as […]

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Amtrak again argues Gulf Coast service will cause ‘no unreasonable impairment’ to freight traffic

Blue and yellow locomotive waiting on siding, as seen from train on main line

WASHINGTON — Amtrak says its additional analysis shows its proposed Gulf Coast passenger service will cause “no unreasonable impairment” on the proposed route between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., and argues that the case for such impairment by host railroads CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern “has failed.” Those contentions are included in the passenger railroad’s […]

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Gulf, Mobile and Ohio locomotives remembered

Streamlined diesel locomotive seen from low angle

Please enjoy this photo gallery of Gulf, Mobile and Ohio locomotives selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was one of the first major railroads to completely dieselize, with the last steam locomotive dropping its fire in October 1949. The GM&O was an early Alco customer, operating a […]

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Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad freight trains remembered

Red and white diesel locomotives with freight train

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad freight trains remembered: All through July 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit, panache, and charm that was the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. As part of the celebration, please enjoy this freight train photo gallery as the perfect accompaniment. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have showcase one “Fallen Flag” railroad — one […]

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