Locomotive profile: PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive

Nickel Plate Road PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive No. 190 called the Oregon Rail Heritage Center home.

Nickel Plate Road PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive No. 190 called the Oregon Rail Heritage Center home. Jim Wrinn PA-1 •YEARS BUILT: 1946-1950 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Erie; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Lehigh Valley; Missouri-Kansas-Texas; Missouri Pacific; New Haven; Nickel Plate; New York Central; Pennsylvania; Cotton Belt; Southern […]

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Locomotive profile: SD40/-2 series type of diesel electric locomotive

Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SD40/-2 series •YEARS BUILT: 1966-1988 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I freight railroads in North America •NAMES: SD40, 40-2, Snoot (for extended nose versions), Tunnel Motor (for SD40T-2), High Hood (for SR and N&W), Wide Nose (for CN), Fast Forties (on UP) •QUANTITY: […]

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Locomotive profile: Sharknose diesel electric locomotive

New York Central Sharknose RF16 type diesel electric locomotives at West Detroit, Michigan, in 1961.

Sharknose •YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953 •MANUFACTURER: Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern •NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15 •QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined •HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20 •KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive […]

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2020 Model Railroader Readers Choice Winners

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We had another year of great model railroading products for this year’s Readers Choice Awards. From locomotives and rolling stock to scenery and structures to track and electronics and more, there were many worthy entries nominated by model manufacturers, but ultimately chosen by you, our readers. The only real limitation we put on the choices […]

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SoundTraxx celebrates 30th anniversary

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SoundTraxx, a well-known manufacturer of sound decoders and HOn3 narrow gauge trains marketed under the Blackstone Models label, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The company is based in Durango, Colo. SoundTraxx was founded in 1989 as the Throttle Up! Corp. in Pocasset, Mass., producing the Hyperlight lighting system. In the 1990s the company […]

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“Most dangerous task I ever performed”

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The little door below the headlight on an Alco switcher like Grand Trunk Western S4 No. 8090 led to a veritable chamber of horrors for a young roundhouse worker. J. David Ingles I know there are many dangerous occupations. My wife’s ancestors were coal miners in Pennsylvania after coming to America, having mined coal in […]

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New model railroad products for the week of March 5, 2020

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive. Southern Pacific (as delivered); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; British Columbia Ry. (red, white, and blue “lightning stripe”); Conrail (as delivered, CSX patched numbers, and Norfolk Southern patched numbers); CSX (blue, yellow, and gray); Minnesota Commercial; Seaboard System […]

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Metrolink F125 locomotives poised for full operation by summer

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LOS ANGELES – There’s a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for Metrolink’s new Tier 4 F125 locomotive fleet. At a Saturday public meeting between railroad officials and residents of neighborhoods surrounding the carrier’s Central Maintenance Facility, Metrolink’s Neil Brown said that 32 of the new F125 locomotives are in service, 28 of […]

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New model trains for the week of February 27, 2020

Bachmann HO scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive

Bachmann HO scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive HO scale locomotives 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Erie; St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco, with doghouse); Western Pacific; and painted black but unlettered. Dual-mode TCS WOWSound decoder; Keep-Alive capacitor; Chuffinity technology; cog V-belt flywheel drive; metal motor bearings; separately applied stack, domes, cab, […]

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Premier power

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Santa Fe FT No. 100 was not only the railroad’s first mainline freight diesel, but part of the first order for mainline freight diesel power by any U.S. railroad. Eventually, the railroad would use 320 of the Electro-Motive products to dieselize its transcontinental main line. Santa Fe photo […]

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Seaboard Century

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Seaboard Coast Line Alco C628 No. 2201 leads a mixed consist of locomotives at Colliers Yard near Petersburg, Pa., waiting for a cut of cars. The six-axle Alco was built in 1963 for the Atlantic Coast Line. Walter Gay photo […]

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