Burlington’s other Zephyrs deserve a spotlight

Burlington Route Houston Zephyr

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly known as the Burlington Route, had many other Zephyrs. While not as prestigious as the Pioneer, Twin Cities, Mark Twain, Denver and California Zephyrs, these other streamlined trainsets and services, famously named after the Greek God of the West Wind, deserve a spotlight.   Sam Houston Zephyr Fort […]

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DC Metrorail retires 2000-series railcars

Subway train pulling into station

WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail has retired its 2000-series railcars, the oldest equipment in its fleet. The cars’ last day of service was Friday, May 10, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a press release. The cars, built by Italy’s Breda with final assembly in Beech Grove, Ind., debuted in 1983, arriving about two […]

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MR&T HO buffer car

Color photo of HO scale covered hopper painted gray with black and yellow graphics.

Price: $27.99 Manufacturer Produced by Accurail, available from Kalmbach Hobby Store KalmbachHobbyStore.com Era: 2015+ Comments: A Milwaukee, Racine & Troy (MR&T) HO buffer car is the latest addition to the Kalmbach Hobby Store. The injection-molded plastic kit, produced in the United States of America by Accurail Inc., uses the manufacturer’s 6500-series Pullman-Standard 4,750-cubic-foot capacity three-bay […]

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News & Products for the week of May 6th 2024

A collection of model passenger cars in various paint schemes

News & Products for the week of May 6th 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 6th […]

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Siemens to build high speed trainsets for Brightline West

Rendering of high speed passenger train

LAS VEGAS — Siemens Mobility has been selected as the “preferred bidder” to build the initial trainsets for the Brightline West high speed rail project, Brightline announced today (Wednesday, May 1). Siemens will build 10 “American Pioneer 220” trainsets and receive a 30-year contract for maintenance at a facility in Sloan, Nev., under the agreement. […]

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News & Products for the week of April 29th 2024

Two model locomotives in a yellow and gray paint scheme

News & Products for the week of April 29th 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 29th […]

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Built by Others: George Giacono’s Belvedere and Delaware layout

An in progress model railroad layout seen in a basement

Built by Others in an article series showing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its associated products. David Popp’s Naugatuck Valley RR has appeared in multiple issues of Model Railroader as well as the book Building a Model Railroad: Step by Step, Second Edition. George Giacono […]

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News & Products for the week of April 22nd 2024

A model tank car in a white paint scheme with black lettering

News & Products for the week of April 22nd 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 22nd […]

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Atlas N scale Thrall covered hopper

Color photo of N scale covered hopper painted red and white.

Price: $24.95 (undecorated, $17.95) Manufacturer Atlas Model Railroad Co. 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 shop.atlasrr.com Road names: New paint schemes — Transportation Corp. of America; Burlington Northern (with FRA-224 stripes); CATX; David J. Joseph Transportation; Midwest Railcar; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; and Rail Logistics. New road numbers — Canadian National and Peavey. Three numbers […]

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Rapido Trains UK Titfield Thunderbolt-inspired wagon 3-pack

Small British model train cars in dark green, bright blue, and light blue colors with black and white bold lettering on them sitting on a blank white background.

Available from rapidotrains.co.uk. List price £99.95 (approximately $121.50 as of this writing) Item no. 922004 Pluses Highly detailed models of standard British railroading wagons (freight cars) decorated for fictional privet-owner cars inspired by the 1953 Ealing Studios film, The Titfield Thunderbolt. Models feature NEM coupler pockets with hook and loop couplers, free-rolling metal wheels, separately […]

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What’s behind today’s intermodal equipment

Two red and light locomotive leading train of containers

Intermodal equipment If you’re trackside, odds are you’re going to see an intermodal train. Intermodal made up 49% of the 34 million units of freight carried by U.S. railroads last year, more than four times higher than coal, the next largest commodity. Odds are that intermodal train will mostly have railcars owned by TTX, a […]

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