Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 44 Motorin’ across Mizzou

Union Pacific locomotive

Ride along with host Drew Halverson, Kent Johnson (KJ), and Allan Dahncke (Sherpa Al), as they motor across the middle of Missouri to a bustling BNSF transcontinental railroad route. In the final day of their Show-Me State Summer trek, the guys managed to find epic railfanning locations to capture BNSF, UP, NS, and Amtrak trains […]

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Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 44 Motorin’ across Mizzou

Union Pacific locomotive

Ride along with host Drew Halverson, Kent Johnson (KJ), and Allan Dahncke (Sherpa Al), as they motor across the middle of Missouri to a bustling BNSF transcontinental railroad route. In the final day of their Show-Me State Summer trek, the guys managed to find epic railfanning locations to capture BNSF, UP, NS, and Amtrak trains […]

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Little Mogul on the prairie

Wabash 2-6-0 573 in Carthage, Illinois

Wabash 2-6-0 573 heads a train on the road’s Keokuk (Iowa) branch just west of Carthage, Ill., on October 18, 1953. Although the road had announced it was 100 percent dieselized, it kept three Moguls to work this line, which included a bridge over the Illinois River that could not even support SW1 diesels. Photo […]

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Metra, Amtrak inform STB of remaining issues in Chicago Union Station dispute

Lobby of a train station

WASHINGTON — A total of 16 issues, some major (the procedure for adding trains to Metra’s schedule), some less so (whether Metra is entitled to any station parking), remain to be settled by the Surface Transportation Board in the long-running dispute between Metra and Amtrak over the commuter railroad’s lease at Chicago Union Station. That’s […]

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A light in the dark

Farwell, Lafayette, Irving, & Prospect

Name: William Sakalaucks Railroad Name: Farwell, Lafayette, Irving, & Prospect Location: Milwaukee, WI Scale: 1:29 Theme: Tourist/Short Line Description: As we enter the time of longer nights, the FLIP Rwy sometimes needs to bring out the searchlight car for work to be done, or to find the missing connector! […]

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Digest: Michigan City moves on land acquisition for South Shore project

A silver passenger train operates in the middle of a street.

Michigan City OKs eminent domain to acquire land for South Shore project The city council of Michigan City, Ind., is moving forward on eminent domain proceedings to complete the land acquisition needed for the South Shore Line’s Double Track project, which will drastically remake the single-track street running in the community that is a unique […]

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Minnesota Commercial Railway owner John Gohmann dies

Balding caucasian man wearing eyeglasses and brown coat.

John Gohmann, owner of the Minnesota Commercial Railroad — a notable early success story in the shortline industry that developed in the wake of Staggers Act deregulation — has died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Libertyville, Ill. He was 73. Gohmann began his railroad career as a yard clerk for the Chicago & […]

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HO scale Midwest Lines

HO scale Midwest Lines

The layout at a glance Name: Midwest Lines Layout owner: Rolf Plachter Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 33 x 52 feet Prototype: freelanced, inspired by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Rock Island; and Union Pacific Locale: Denver to Milwaukee Era: mid-1960s Style: around-the-walls Mainline run: 400 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 2 […]

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