The height of freight cars can vary tremendously, but passenger car heights were very consistent in late steam/early diesel times. Most heavyweight cars, including the Pullman Co.’s standardized sleepers, measured 14 feet from the rails to the top of the roof. It’s important to me to know that Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe heavyweights were […]
Many model railroaders base their first layouts on 4 x 8 sheets of plywood, for obvious reasons. A flat tabletop is a lot easier to build than L-girder benchwork, and almost any home has room for a 4 x 8 table at one side of a bedroom or den. Great things have been done on […]
A water level is a low-tech but precise way of measuring relative elevation in your yard. By using a water level, you can either find out how much elevation there is from one point to another or, if you are trying to make your railway level, it will tell you when you are there if […]
It is both the best of times and worst of times for transportation infrastructure in the United States, according to the just-released 2021 report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Rail infrastructure, which for the ASCE’s report includes Class I, II, and III railroads, and Amtrak, gets a B. That’s the best grade […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways will have a significant impact on employment levels at Pan Am Southern, the joint venture it will share with Norfolk Southern. Genesee & Wyoming, which has been designated the neutral operator of Pan Am Southern, estimates that it can run the railroad […]
This 35 x 56-foot layout features postwar and modern Lionel power pulling impressive trains made up of Atlas O, Golden Gate Depot, Lionel, and MTH cars. It’s constructed with GarGraves track and Ross Custom Switches controlled by Circuitron and NJ International machines. Scenic highlights include a number of bridges and tunnels, a roundhouse, yard, coal […]
This 35 x 56-foot layout features postwar and modern Lionel power pulling impressive trains made up of Atlas O, Golden Gate Depot, Lionel, and MTH cars. It’s constructed with GarGraves track and Ross Custom Switches controlled by Circuitron and NJ International machines. Scenic highlights include a number of bridges and tunnels, a roundhouse, yard, coal […]
BNSF derailment leads to spill of denatured alcohol Some 25 to 35 cars of a BNSF train derailed Wednesday near the remote San Bernardino County, Calif., community of Ludlow, spilling “several thousand gallons” of denatured alcohol from a leaking tank car, according to a county fire department spokesman. The Victor Valley Daily Press reports the […]
Additional Thursday morning rail news: Environmental assessment released for Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel project The environmental assessment for Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel project says the work to rebuild the CSX Transportation tunnel to handle double-stack intermodal traffic would decrease emissions and fuel usage by moving traffic to and from the Port of Baltimore from road […]
DOT nominee Trottenberg says she’ll work to advance Gateway project The nominee for the No. 2 position at the U.S. Department of Transportation told a confirmation hearing that she would work to make the Northeast Corridor’s Gateway Tunnel project a priority if she is confirmed. Bloomberg reports Deputy Secretary of Transportation nominee Polly Trottenberg, formerly […]
LONDON — One stubborn cat kept a British high speed train in the station Tuesday — after almost taking a ride on the train’s roof. The BBC reports that a half-hour before an Avanti West Coast train was scheduled to depart London’s Euston Station for Manchester, a cat was spotted atop the train’s cab — […]
North Carolina to add third ‘Piedmont’ round trip The North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division will restore a third round trip of Piedmont service between Charlotte and Raleigh as of April 5, according to schedules on the NC By Train website. Southbound train No. 77 will depart Raleigh at 3 p.m., arriving at Charlotte […]
