Side by side at Albany, N.Y., the southbound Adirondack prepares to head to New York City, while in the background the Lake Shore Limited boards passengers for Boston in September 2007 Bob Johnston In terms of high speed rail, the Northeast has been ahead of the rest of the United States for decades. Acela Express […]
Robert Wegner This Map of the Month appeared in the December 2004 issue of Trains magazine. Although the idea of branding passenger-train fleets did not begin with the streamliner, it flourished in that era. Innovations such as stainless steel found widespread use in an age captivated by design. Suddenly, appearance mattered. Trains with colorful paint […]
Rapido Trains Inc. HO scale steam generator car Featuring wisps of simulated steam escaping from under the carbody, this new HO steam generator car from Rapido Trains accurately models a prototype that kept passengers warm on Canadian railroads. Prior to the diesel era, passenger trains were heated by piping in steam from a locomotive’s boiler. […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak will replace modified café cars on its Chicago-New York/Boston Lake Shore Limited with “Heritage” dining cars, beginning with westbound train No. 49 today, Dec. 14. The cars, operating to and from New York, feature booth-style seating, large picture windows, and modern cooking equipment, and an expanded menu will result. “Putting dining […]
At Martinez, Calif., an Amtrak passenger rolls her wheelchair onto a built-in lift on one of the California-owned passenger cars used by Amtrak’s Bay Area corridor trains (San Joaquin and the Capitol Corridor). Bob Johnston In the January 2010 issue of Trains Magazine, Bob Johnston reports on Amtrak’s efforts to improve accessibility at train stations […]
The 20-mile, L-shaped Phoenix Valley Metro light rail line serves about 33,000 passengers per day. Commuters use the service to get to U.S. Airways Center, which is home to the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury basketball teams, Chase Field, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, among other places. In the January 2010 “City Rail” column in […]
Walthers HO scale New York Central observation car Price: $69.98 ManufacturerWm. K. WalthersP.O. Box 3039Milwaukee, WI 53201www.walthers.com Era: 1948 to 1967 Comments: A five-bedroom buffet-lounge-observation car completes Walthers HO scale 1948 New York Central 20th Century Limited. The plastic model has many separately applied parts, including rooftop vents and antenna and many underbody details. The […]
16mm scale, gauge 0/1, Welshpool & Llanfair 3rd-class coachAccucraft Trains33268 Central Ave.Union City CA 94587Price: $610 for 2-car setWeb site: www.accucraft.com Mostly plastic model of a W&L “Pickering” 3rd-class coach; complete interior; truck-mounted chopper couplers; die-cast trucks; supplied with blackened, gauge-0 and gauge-1 wheelsets. Dimensions: Length over end beams, 22″; width, 41/8″; height, 63/8″. In […]
Train No., Name — To-From — Accommodation WESTERN TOURSAtchison, Topeka & Santa Fe19, The Chief — Chicago-Williams, Ariz. — Roomette17, El Capitan — Williams-Los Angeles — Coach74-77, San Diegans — Los Angeles-San Diego round trips — Coach123, Grand Canyon Limited — Chicago-Grand Canyon-Riverside, Calif. — Coach63, Golden Gate — Bakersfield-Merced-Richmond, Calif. — Coach1, San Francisco […]
The Grand Canyon was a stop on several of the tours I conducted in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Our groups would ride Santa Fe Railway trains to Williams, Ariz., then chartered motor coaches to the Canyon. After dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon, the passengers and luggage were aboard […]
Rapido N scale Canadian National lightweight passenger cars Price: $47.95 each ManufacturerRapido Trains Inc. 140 Applewood Crescent, Unit A Concord, Ont., Canada L4K 4E2 www.rapidotrains.com Era: 1952 to present day Comments: These new N scale lightweight passenger cars from Rapido Trains are some of the best-detailed commercial models I’ve seen. Each plastic car comes assembled […]
Q How do railroads figure how much power is necessary for a train?– Richard Panarese, Mesa, Ariz.A Railroads determine power needed for a train based on the route, and the train’s weight and priority. BNSF, for instance, considers the “horsepower per ton” required based on what officials call the train’s “transportation service plan.” The transportation […]
