Looking not unlike Miss Hazen’s train 719, an unidentified Bay Head local rockets out of South Amboy behind Pennsy K4 5428 circa 1940. Frank Quin Life can be funny sometimes. The first railroad tracks I ever saw were those of the New York & Long Branch at Manasquan, N.J., in the mid-1930’s. But I don’t […]
I don’t have a full layout yet (rental houses), so I have to get my kicks at Christmas. This year was the biggest so far. All the buildings are Lego. I films using an iPhone stuck between the milk containers on the milk car, and a Canon G11 flying overhead and edited in iMovie. Hopefully […]
Q How have traffic patterns changed on the former Illinois Central line just west of Hawthorne Yard in Cicero, Ill., since Canadian National took over? Also, what is the latest on its future east of the ex-Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (now CN)? How much freight will be diverted off the Iowa line onto that route? […]
Richard Benton (left) with a railroader in a traditional Eastern hat at Potomac Yard in the 1950s. Richardson D. Benton Ben Curtis’ father’s Eastern railroad hat (left) and the new version Kromer Cap will begin offering. Ben Curtis (left) Q My father wore this style train cap in the 1960s, purchased in the Boston area. […]
Q Is it gantlet or gauntlet? My dictionary describes the former as a type of railroad track and the latter as an armored glove. But now my railroad guru tells me that all railroads use “gauntlet” to describe the track. Which is it? – D.G. Townsend, Falls Village, Conn. A Always trust your dictionary. Gantlet […]
Q I just saw the preview for “Unstoppable.” How can a train with no air in the reserve tank and brake cylinders roll away? I thought once all the air is drained the brakes will automatically apply?— Andrew Marino, Lincoln Park, N.J. A Railroad air brake systems need air pressure to function, and it’s held […]
Union Pacific “Heritage” SD70ACe No. 1989 emerges from the tunnel at Newcastle, Calif., on July 31, 2010. The engine is leading UP’s high-priority Chicago-Lathrop, Calif., intermodal train, and it’s on the home stretch to the Roseville, Calif., yard. Jake Millie photo […]
The Bowser HO scale Baldwin VO1000 includes a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this locomotive run on the Model Railroader train layout. […]
The Bowser HO scale Baldwin VO1000 includes a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this locomotive run on the Model Railroader train layout. […]
Model railroad manufacturer Exactrail has announced a change at the top. Software entrepreneur John Pestana is taking charge of the company’s day-to-day operations as Exactrail’s president and chief executive officer. Previous company head Chris Clune is retiring and “will continue to be a continued source of inspiration and direction for Exactrail’s precision product development team,” […]
In addition to everything else the American Civil War might have been, it was also the first reliably documented major conflict. A combination of well-kept “Official Records” and preserved photographs give us a unique view into the first modern, industrialized, documented war. These images are only a sample of the rich documentary resources available from […]
TOWERING WIND TURBINE On a recent Amtrak journey through the hills of western Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, I was looking forward to seeing evidence of the coal mining operations in the region. Some call it a family vacation to Washington D.C., but for me it was also a trip to survey the landscape in […]
