Side by side

Eastbound Providence & Worcester train NH-1 with B39-8 No. 3909 and B30-7A No. 3007 waits in the siding at Triebel interlocking at Guilford, Conn., for an eastbound Amtrak train to get by on June 15, 2009. Photo by Thomas Mik […]

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Video Review: 20th Century Limited

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20th Century Limited Kalmbach Publishing, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. 56 minutes kalmbachhobbystore.com Just under 50 years ago, a famous train ended a 65-year run as the premier conveyance linking New York and Chicago. Operated by the New York Central Railroad, the 20th Century Limited was launched in 1902 during the “the age of […]

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Blue bearing caps

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Two blue end caps for bearings made by Amsted Rail’s Brenco Inc. appear on a freight car truck at the Union Pacific’s Butler Yard in Wisconsin. Steve Sweeney Q What is the significance of the blue paint that I see on the rotating bearing caps on freight car wheelsets? – Tito Porfiri, Olney, Md. A […]

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Early Amtrak trains in color

FULL SCREEN John F. Bjorklund, Collection of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art In its early days, Amtrak relied solely on equipment provided by its member railroads. The passenger carrier is barely two months old in this Independence Day view from Chicago in 1971, where train No. 18, the eastbound Super Chief-El Capitan, still […]

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Looking at you

Metra No. 108 with a loaded afternoon commuter train bears down on the photographer alongside the right-of-way near the Western Avenue depot in Chicago in September 2013. Photo by Steve Sweeney […]

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Build a raised railroad outdoors

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1. In Jacques Verdier and Nancy Lagomarsino’s 1950s-era Verdi Railroad, SP’s Daylight snakes around three peninsulas in the front for lots of viewing and access pleasure. They have fitted 250′ of 0-gauge Lionel track in their relatively small yard. A friend visited in his wheelchair and vetted pathway widths and roadbed height. Every 6′, Ficus […]

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