SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]
MIAMI — After four months of operation between Orlando and Miami, Brightline has dramatically increased patronage and revenue every month, especially for the component it designates as “long distance.” These are passengers who take the train to or from South Florida. A closer look at monthly data shows the company is actively managing the demand-influenced […]
Rotary snowplow Snow … There are few things that mother nature can throw at the unsuspecting railroader that can wreak such havoc on operations. Those pretty little white flakes can blanket a landscape under an impenetrable frozen glaze, jamming the network and shutting down the main line. Fortunately, there are some tools in the railroader’s […]
Meet Chris Esposito My first train set (or locomotive) was…? I started playing with my dad’s Lionel No. 2533W set (1959) when I was 2. My first official set was bought for my 10th birthday in 1988. My dad and I went to Madison Hardware in NYC (where we lived at the time) to purchase […]
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will build a wall to protect Surf Line tracks at the site of the landslide that has halted passenger rail operations since Jan. 24, OCTA and Metrolink announced on Friday. The decision comes a day after a state emergency declaration made $10 million in funding available […]
While commercial snow-covered trees are easy to come by during the holiday season, here’s an option for you to make your own. I was able to make a lot of snowy trees for our Polar Express layout quickly by using the method shown here. You need just three things: cheap hairspray, a bag or two […]
In the attic of Neal Mayer’s home, he has assembled a group of vignettes, each using trains and structures, vehicles and figures, and signs and lights to suggest life in his native New England during the postwar era. Visitors stroll from one scene to another and then to another, never in a rush, as they […]
General Electric’s U30C Up in the north woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sits the last serviceable U30C — LSI No. 3009, dead and drained outside Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s diesel shop in Eagle Mills. This locomotive and its cousin, LS&I C30-7 No. 3073, had been filling in on ore trains when not enough LS&I AC4400CWs […]
Looking to take your modeling techniques to new heights while adding a cool factor to your layout? How about the unique challenge of recreating a winter wonderland full of ice and, of course, snow. From railroading landmarks to end-to-end railroads, consider these 10 snowy places you could model. If you have another place in mind, […]
I became a railfan at age three, near the end of World War II. Awaiting the return of my naval officer father, I sat in our West Philadelphia kitchen window facing one of the busiest divisions of the Pennsylvania Railroad — the four-track electrified main line to Harrisburg. The parade of wartime tonnage, plus express […]
Although most model railroads are set in the verdant summer or colorful autumn, the snow-covered landscapes of a northern winter offer an unmatched visual drama. From paint to grout to powdered stone to commercial modeling products, there are many possible answers to the question of how to model snow on a model railroad layout. Modelers […]
Q: What is the rule of thumb for the transition from a grade back to level when laying track? — Carl Angdahl A: Gradual transitions between track grades, called vertical track easements, can help prevent problems on your model railroad. If a train suddenly goes from a steep grade to flat track or vice-versa, couplers […]
