Ask Trains from December 2010

Q I’ve read that when some railroads sent their steam locomotives in for a complete overhaul, they changed the main drivers to a disc type. Why would they do this?— Alex Jamieson, Chatham, Ont. A Changing to disc-type drivers was done on a case-by-case basis. The older style spoke drivers had a tendency to break […]

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A sandwich on the house

To our family, the ultimate train was not the Broadway, the 20th Century, or the exalted Dominion that plied our home Canadian Pacific rails out of Toronto. For us, the train was CPR’s nameless workaday No. 25, leaving daily at 10:30 (reading as 9:30 in the days when timetables were printed in Standard Time regardless […]

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iHobby Expo 2010 preliminary show report

Athearn Trains HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe and SD70M-2 diesel locomotives HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe and SD70M-2 diesel locomotives. SD70ACe: Union Pacific (Western Pacific heritage scheme, one road number). SD70M-2: Canadian National, Florida East Coast, and Norfolk Southern. Four road numbers each unless noted. Direct-current models, $189.98. With Digital Command Control and SoundTraxx […]

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Thundering through Jasper

Canadian National coal train C77951 (Winniandy, Alta., to Vancover, B.C.) thunders through Jasper, Alta., on April 6, 2009. Both CN and competitor Canadian Pacific move high-grade metallurgical coal from western Canadian mines to the Vancover-area port of Roberts Bank for export. Tim Stevens photo […]

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Portage Flyer timetable and photos

Portage Flyer timetable This 9×17-inch document shows the 1942 summer schedule for the Huntsville & Lake of Bays Transportation Co. steamboat services east from Huntsville, Ont. Note that, although connections with Canadian National mainline trains at Huntsville are shown, there’s no mention of the “Portage Flyer” railway — just arrival and departure times for the […]

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Room Service? Can you send up a 6300?

A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter In modern-day Toronto, Ontario, I’m told the Skydome Hotel occupies what was once the site of Canadian National Railway’s Spadina Avenue engine terminal. Back on September 4, 1958, I spent part of a warm, late-summer night at Spadina, lugging cameras and a tripod and […]

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Diesel locomotive delight

In Historic Trains Today, David Lustig tells of seven cool diesels you can visit in museums today. Here are four more examples of neat historic locomotives you can see, and in some cases, ride behind. Wisconsin Central GP30 No. 713 rests between assignments at Waukesha, Wis., on May 3, 1989. The ex-Soo Line unit rides […]

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News & Products for May 20, 2010

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale General Electric Dash 8-40B, 8-40BW and 8-32BWH diesel locomotives HO scale locomotives General Electric Dash 8-40B, 8-40BW and 8-32BWH diesel locomotives. Dash 8-40B: New paint schemes: CSX (YN3 paint scheme) and Seminole Gulf; new road numbers: BC Rail (three road numbers) and Southern Pacific. Dash 8-40BW: New paint schemes: […]

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An uncelebrated steam finale

A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter Looking as proud as ever, CN 4-8-4 6205 rides the turntable at London, Ont., in July 1959, headed for the ash pit, the dead line, and oblivion. Ken Kraemer photo By spring 1959, steam locomotives were just about gone from regular service on most […]

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