What was your first train set (or locomotive)? In the late in 1960s my dad worked for an auto parts store. Champion Spark Plug had a sales promotion that if you sold a certain number of spark plugs, you would receive a Lionel train set. Apparently my dad was a great salesmen, as he sold […]
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Q: I’ve heard about a freight train the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe operated in the early 1970s and earlier in California called the NCX. The few references I’ve seen indicate it was a hotshot intermodal train. This train sounds interesting, especially since it ran at the same time as the famous Santa Fe Super […]
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How did you get started in the hobby? Like so many of us, I was around five years old and woke up on Christmas morning to see a brand-new Lionel train running around the Christmas tree. I’ve been hooked ever since. What was your first large scale locomotive? It was a secondhand LGB European 0-4-0. […]
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Q: I’ve given up counting rivets; now I’m into what I call chronological accuracy. My layout is set in 1956. I’m OK with choosing appropriate vehicles and diesels for that era, and I learned that yellow stop signs were replaced by standardized red signs in the late 1950s, but other questions remain. When were roof walks […]
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As Canadian Pacific and Canadian National continue their duel for control of Kansas City Southern, one topic keeps coming up: Why don’t the Canadian railways jointly acquire KCS and split it up? With so much bad blood between CP and CN it’s not a likely scenario, as their war of words has escalated this week. […]
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WAUKESHA, Wis. — For only the second time in the 81-year history of Trains Magazine, the publication, website, and special events brand will sponsor a year-long fund-raising partnership with a non-profit to advance a landmark project in American railway preservation. The 2021-2022 Trains Magazine Preservation Partner is the Nashville Steam Preservation Society, home of the […]
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Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of CSX Transportation’s Massena Line linking the Syracuse, N.Y., area with Montreal remains in limbo, two weeks after the Surface Transportation Board refused to reconsider a condition it placed on the deal. The railroads have declined to comment and they have not updated U.S. regulators. The railroads previously said they would […]
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Structures are the easiest way to bring a scene to life. As with anything on the railroad, scale is the primary concern. You’ll want to find structures that match the scale of your trains. That’s not always as easy as just looking on the box. Even in commercial kits where a scale is designated, architectural […]
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Sure thing, Angela. Since the Baltimore & Ohio began hauling flour from Ellicott’s Mills to Baltimore in 1830 — grain, flour, and seeds have been an important part of railroading. Grain moved in boxcars for decades, but in the early 1960s, Southern Railway’s new, 100-ton — Big John — covered hopper revolutionized grain […]
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Sure thing, Angela. Since the Baltimore & Ohio began hauling flour from Ellicott’s Mills to Baltimore in 1830 — grain, flour, and seeds have been an important part of railroading. Grain moved in boxcars for decades, but in the early 1960s, Southern Railway’s new, 100-ton — Big John — covered hopper revolutionized grain […]
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O gauge Legacy 4-6-6T locomotive by Lionel Price: $1,099.99 Stock no.: 2031020 Features: O-31 operation, Lionel Legacy command system, Legacy and TrainMaster control, conventional or Bluetooth operation with the Lionel Universal Remote Controller or the LionChief App, can-style motor, directional lighting, rear remote-control coupler, three-speaker sound system, crew talk Low speed (Cmd): 2.11 smph Low […]
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Top executives from Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern last week touted the industry’s growth prospects and the ways they are working to make railroads better able to compete against trucks. Their remarks, made at the RailTrends 2020 conference, came a day after consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a survey that showed […]
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