Pacing GN’s Empire Builder westward through the Cascades and the City of Everett in Western Washington State, circa Spring of 1950 on Lee Marsh’s HO scale layout. […]
Pacing the Empire Builder
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Willow Creek Railroad – Operations: Local freights
This video is part of a planned series that highlights operations on the Willow Creek Railroad, an HO-scale 400-square-foot layout set in the early 1950s. This video describes and demonstrates the operations of Local Freight trains on the layout as we follow the work of the River Job Turn. Video by Rod Vance. […]
Yellowstone National Park railroad
On Sept. 25, 2007, a Montana Rail Link local in Livingston, Mont., heads onto an old branch line that once went to Gardiner, Mont., and the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The GP35s are taking four wood chip cars and a caboose (for the return back-up move) to a lumber mill about a mile […]
The mystery of vertical split rims
Vertical split rims affect the outer edge of the wheels and are caused by pent-up pressures and stresses in the wheel material. Two photos, Transportation Safety Board of Canada A rare wheel defect is posing a mystery for researchers. The problem is called a vertical split rim, but why it happens and how to prevent […]
Video Review: Chicago, America’s Railroad Capital
Chicago-America’s Railroad Capital Kalmbach Publishing, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Approx. 60 minutes kalmbachhobbystore.com Generations of railfans have been impressed at the magnitude of railroad operations in and around the Windy City. Currently, the Chicago area sees 25 percent of US rail traffic and almost half of the nation’s intermodal shipments. Chicagoland, of course, […]
Broken rails: an unexpected pain
The manufacture and maintenance of rail is as old as railroading — and so are broken rails. Though today’s rail is much harder, stronger, and of higher quality than rail made even 40 years ago, railroads and metallurgists have just recently begun to understand why rails still are breaking. As railroads installed new rail in […]
The fine science of friction control
Hydraulic flange greasers are activated when a wheel rolls over an actuator, as shown on CSX’s Indianapolis Line Subdivision. Two photos, Eric Powell Forgive the pun, but it’s a slippery slope that railroads have to deal with, in terms of rail and flange lubrication. Too much or too little grease on the track can cause […]
Another N scale micro layout
Here is a time-lapse video of the construction of my latest N scale micro-layout project. The layout is a bit less than 24″ in diameter and features a track radius that averages around 9″. The track is ballasted and weathered Kato Unitrack, and the overall layout construction is foam insulation board on top of a […]
Another N scale micro layout
Here is a time-lapse video of the construction of my latest N scale micro-layout project. The layout is a bit less than 24″ in diameter and features a track radius that averages around 9″. The track is ballasted and weathered Kato Unitrack, and the overall layout construction is foam insulation board on top of a […]
Grupo Mexico to acquire FEC
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – GMéxico Transportes S.A. de C.V., the transportation business unit of Grupo México, and the Florida East Coast Railway Holdings Corp. have entered into a purchase agreement to acquire FEC in an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed value. FEC President and CEO Jim Hertwig says, “The FEC team looks forward to working with […]
Computer desktop wallpaper from the May 2017 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download the computer desktop wallpaper. A Union Pacific freight rolls past a Midwestern cornfield on contributing editor Pelle Søeborg’s new HO scale Daneburg Subdivision model railroad. Click on the links below to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. Download the 1600 x 900 image Download […]
New model trains for the week of March 23, 2017
Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive HO scale locomotives Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive. NJ Transit. Four road numbers. Illuminated, directional light-emitting-diode headlights, ditch lights, and red marker lights; positionable non-functioning pantograph; factory-applied railings, air horn, and antenna; modeler-installed grab irons with drilling template; and Kadee couplers. Direct-current model with 8-pin […]
