News Wire Digest Second Section for Saturday, April 4 NEWSWIRE

BMLP_Hopper

Set up to be transported like a trailer, a donated Black Mesa & Lake Powell hopper car prepares to leave the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Ariz., for its trip to the Arizona Railroad Heritage Park and Museum. Arizona State Railroad Museum Foundation More Saturday morning rail news: — Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee has […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Friday, April 3 NEWSWIRE

Trinity_Ind_Logo

More Friday morning rail news: — The driver of the train was killed and three others were injured Thursday night when a freight train collided with a portion of a bridge that had fallen onto the tracks at a construction site in Augen, Germany. Railfreight.com reports the train operated by the Swiss company BLS was […]

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How to maintain Lionel toy train operating cars

The operating mechanism of a Lionel milk car without the shell and several callouts together with an inset photo showing the assembled milk car, stand, and milk cans. Inset text: Lionel’s postwar operating milk car added fun and excitement to the simplest loop of track. CTT expert Ray L. Plummer offers some tips to keep this and other operarting cars rolling into the future.; Can inserted with bottom toward camera; Cans roll down chute; Line from power pickup roller; Worker “ejects” cans; Cans ejected on this side

The Lionel operating milk car’s chute is made so that the milk barrels can only be put in the correct way. However, once inside the chute, the barrels can become jammed if the car tips over. Here are some tips for keeping this car in service. Classic Toy Trains file A version of this article […]

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New model trains for the week of April 2, 2020

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD24 and SD26 diesel locomotives

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD24 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD24 and SD26 diesel locomotives. New paint schemes. SD24 (low short hood unless otherwise noted): Burlington Northern (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy patchout with high short hood), Southern Pacific (scarlet and gray, three road numbers), and Union Pacific (Armour Yellow […]

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News Wire Digest Third Section for Friday, March 27 NEWSWIRE

NTSB

Friday afternoon rail news: — The National Transportation Safety Board will make the performance of DOT-111A, DOT-117, and DOT-117R tank cars one of the focal points in its investigation of a Feb. 13 derailment of a CSX train in Draffin, Ky. The preliminary report on the accident, released Thursday, also indicates the agency will look […]

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How to use Z scale couplers to make N scale equipment more realistic

A comparison of two N scale boxcars, one with a Z scale coupler, another with an N scale coupler

In N scale, oversized, truck-mounted couplers are still a de facto standard, but body-mounted scale-sized couplers aren’t exclusive to larger scales. Micro-Trains Line sells N scale freight cars with pads and mounting holes for easy installation of body-mounted couplers. For an even more in-scale appearance, I install Z scale couplers instead of N scale couplers. […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Wednesday, March 25 (updated) NEWSWIRE

Bombardier

More Wednesday morning rail news: — Bombardier is suspending production at its Canadian rail and aircraft plants, sending 12,400 workers home on unpaid leave, the Canadian Press reports. The shutdown was to begin Tuesday evening and last through April 24. The Montreal-based company will idle 9,000 workers in Quebec, with the rest in Ontario, and […]

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New model trains for the week of March 26, 2020

Tangent Scale Models HO scale General American 4,180-cubic-foot-capacity Airslide covered hopper

HO scale freight cars American Car & Foundry two-bay Center Flow covered hopper. New paint schemes: BNSF Ry. (gray with black circle-cross herald, five road numbers) and Cemex Mexico (gray with reporting marks only). New road numbers: Burlington Northern (Cascade Green with large herald), Chicago & North Western (yellow), CSX (tan), Norfolk & Western (gray), […]

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Truck’s Toy Trains: Episode 9 Lionel Flatcar Loads

Classic Toy Trains Senior Editor Roger Carp rejoins show host John Truckenbrod to inspect Lionel Corporation flatcar loads, namely Allis-Chalmers bulldozers and earth scrapers. For even more coverage of this topic, be sure to read the May 2020 issue of CTT! […]

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Walthers 40-foot HO single-sheathed boxcar

MRRPR0520_08

Walthers 40-foot HO single-sheathed boxcar Modelers of mid-20th century railroading have a new piece of rolling stock to add to their fleets in the Walthers Mainline 40-foot American Railroad Association (ARA) standard single-sheathed boxcar. This ready-to-run car is modernized with AB brakes and has metal ends and doors. An adaptable standard. The 1923 ARA XM-1 […]

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