General Electric’s U23B General Electric broke into the domestic road-switcher locomotive market over six decades ago with its U25B model in 1961. The U-series line would continue to evolve and grow, laying the foundation for the company’s ascent to becoming the No. 1 locomotive builder in North America in later decades. The U23B was essentially […]
Minneapolis & St. Louis GE 44-tonner 149 stands beside the weathered depot at Roland, Iowa, (population 700) in September 1950. William F. Armstrong photo […]
Illinois Terminal locomotives included steam, electric, and diesel over its existence. The Illinois Terminal was an electric interurban line serving western Illinois down to the St. Louis area. In the mid-1950s the railroad abandoned its electric operations, moving to all-diesel operation — the last steam ran in 1950, and dieselization had begun with […]
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Caltrain’s diesel-powered commuter rail trainsets will find a new life in Peru. The commuter rail operator announced that it has completed an agreement to send 19 locomotives and 90 gallery commuter cars to Lima, Peru, for some $6 million, a deal which also involved the U.S. State Department, Department of Commerce, […]
One of my favorite things to do while eating lunch is to pull out an old volume of Model Railroader magazine and page through it. Lately, I’ve been working my way through the decade of the 1960s, often posting things I’ve rediscovered to MR’s Facebook page under the heading of “Lunchtime Reading.” Editor Linn Westcott […]
The Norfolk Southern SD60E diesel locomotive is making its debut in the Atlas Model Railroad Co. N scale product lineup. Features on the Master Line model include a Scale Speed motor, operating front and rear ditch lights, and body-mounted Accumate couplers. Prototype history Norfolk Southern rebuilt 136 Electro-Motive Division SD60 diesel locomotives of various lineages […]
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis considered its 52 F3 and F7 units (32 cabs, 20 boosters) to be dual service locomotives, although only the B units had steam generators. Linn H. Westcott photo […]
News & Products for the week of November 11th 2024 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of November 11th […]
Amtrak Borealis Trains.com staffer Ben Lake, narrates his rides aboard Amtrak’s newest Midwest region trains, the #1333 (westbound) and #1340 (eastbound) Borealis! Since operations began in May 2024, the Borealis trains now provide a second daily connection between Downtown Chicago, Ill. (CHI), Milwaukee, Wis. (MKE), and St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn. (MSP)…and have already surpassed the 100,000 […]
CHICAGO — Metra has added to its fleet of specially painted locomotives with an F40PH-3 honoring veterans. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the unit, introduced last week at a luncheon to honor veterans who work at the commuter rail operator, will enter service on the Rock Island District, moving to the BNSF and Milwaukee District lines […]
Photographer John Crisanti John Crisanti is a railroader, photographer, and model railroader residing on Colorado’s Front Range. His creative use of light, weather, and wide-angle allows him to capture dramatic scenes of everyday freight. His interest in rail photography does extend beyond The Centennial State. Crisanti recently shared (with Trains) the story of going off-the-grid […]
An HO scale GP16 diesel locomotive is the latest offering from InterMountain Railway Co. The model, based on prototypes rebuilt by Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, features an injection-molded plastic body; a die-cast metal chassis; and a variety of separate, factory-applied detail parts. GP16 was the designation SCL gave […]
