Tom Knapp’s workshop now sports this N scale standard and narrow gauge model railroad test track that folds up. With the safety bolt retracted, Tom can lift the table out of its hangers and tip it up against the door. The test track folds flat against the door, where it’s held by a magnetic latch […]
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Fun with MTH accessories
Name: Robert Mayer Forum User Name: Robert Mayer Railroad Name: bobntrains Location: Tucson Scale: 3 Rail O Theme: 1950s Description: Ever wanted to shrink yourself down to the size of the model layout you’re watching? Now you can. […]
‘Human error’ likely cause of MBTA collision, derailment
BOSTON — “Human error” is being blamed for Tuesday’s collision of two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains near Boston’s South Station, which resulted in the derailment of one train and cancellation of commuter trains on the MBTA’s Fairmount Line for part of Wednesday. The accident occurred about 8 p.m. Tuesday, when a Fairmount Line train […]
Fun with MTH accessories
Name: Robert Mayer Forum User Name: Robert Mayer Railroad Name: bobntrains Location: Tucson Scale: 3 Rail O Theme: 1950s Description: Ever wanted to shrink yourself down to the size of the model layout you’re watching? Now you can. […]
Lionel Trains a look at 1954: Lionel’s finest year; the second of three parts
Absolutely stunning is the best way to describe Lionel’s classic no. 1520W Texas Special passenger set from 1954. [Missed Part 1? Click here to read the first installment] Middle of the O-27 line First in the catalog, with a designated listing of $39.95, came the no. 1503WS. Familiar? Yes, because Lionel had shown that outfit […]
A map of the original route of the Transcontinental Railroad as it appears today
CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE MAP California to Nevada Nevada to Utah Utah to Wyoming Wyoming to Nebraska Nebraska to Iowa The first Transcontinental Railroad was a monumental undertaking by the time workers finished it in 1869. Today, tourists and enterprising photographers can visit much of what American ancestors left behind 150 years […]
A map of the Union Pacific today — that includes the original route of the Transcontinental Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad as of 2019 The original Transcontinental Railroad route was the combined efforts of two railroads: the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. By 2019, 150 years after joining their rails at Promontory Summit, Utah, only the Union Pacific remains. Union Pacific operates along much of the original Transcontinental Railroad route between Sacramento, […]
A map of the Union Pacific’s major challenge in building the Transcontinental Railroad: Sherman Hill
Map of Sherman Hill on Union Pacific: one of the Transcontinental Railroad’s challenging obstacles Sherman Hill is one of the imposing physical challenges from the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad that remains a challenge today. In this map, see what Sherman Hill is like from an operations point-of-view for Union Pacific. Only from Trains! […]
What’s in the Transcontinental Railroad’s most famous photograph?
1.) Samuel S. Montague, Central Pacific chief engineer 2.) Grenville M. Dodge, Union Pacific chief engineer 3.) James H. Strobridge, CP construction superintendent 4.) Unknown UP officials 5.) CP Jupiter engineer George Booth 6.) Beverages, possibly champagne 7.) UP No. 119 engineer Sam Bradford 8.) Funnel or “Yankee” stack for a wood burning locomotive 9.) Coal oil or […]
Glenview, Ill., budgets more money to fight expansion of Hiawatha service
GLENVIEW, Ill. — The Glenview Village Board has voted to budget another $36,000 for its fight against efforts to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee, running the community’s total tab for the effort to more than $541,000. The Chicago Tribune reports that of the newly budgeted funds, $30,000 will go to a state […]
All aboard the Easter “Eggspress”
Name: Scott Plunkett Railroad name: Easter Eggspress Location: Milwaukee WI Scale: S gauge Description: I’ve always had a Christmas layout. Why not have an Easter layout? When I had first received this Civil War 1959 American Flyer S-Gauge train set, for Christmas of 1963, I was 9 years old. As you can see, I still […]
Ask Trains: How do train crews earn their pay?
A Union Pacific local train passes through suburban areas near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in October 2017. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney Question: How do trains crews earn their money? — Lee Martens, Rifle, Colo. Answer: In short, it is complicated. There are differences between how most Class I railroaders are paid and their short line colleagues — […]