LGB Norfolk Southern Rescue Train now available

Photo of large scale locomotive, tank car, and boxcar painted red, white, yellow, and black with various safety and first responder graphics.

LGB Norfolk Southern Rescue Train Scale: 1:22.5 Price: $2,000 Manufacturer: LGB (Märklin, Inc.), 800-321-8811, lgb.com Features: Three-piece set includes diesel locomotive, tank car, and boxcar. Locomotive includes an mfx/Digital Command Control decoder with various light and sound functions and two Bühler motors. Running sounds also work in analog. Tank car can be filled with water […]

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R&LHS announces 2023 scholarship awards

Railway & Locomotive Historical Society logo

Five students have received Railway & Locomotive Historical Society scholarships for 2023, the organization has announced. The awards to graduate and undergraduate students are each worth $3,000. This year’s recipients are: — Harun Celik of Ames, Iowa (Edward Myers Scholarship), an international student pursuing a Ph.D.in history at Iowa State University. He is writing a […]

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BART to retire last original cars on Sept. 11

Black and white photo of rapid-transit equipment in underground station

OAKLAND, Calif. — The last original Bay Area Rapid Transit cars are set to be retired next month, public broadcaster KQED reports. With some 560 of the next-generation “Fleet of the Future” now in service, BART plans to retire its legacy equipment as of Sept. 11, 51 years after the system opened. The transit operator’s […]

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SMART-TD president named to STB’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council

Head shot of man with goatee

WASHINGTON — Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), has been named to the Surface Transportation Board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. Ferguson, who joins the RSTAC as an at-large member, has nearly 30 years in the rail industry, having begun his career as a conductor. […]

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Fred Frailey tries something new: a novel

Asked who my main influence has been as a writer, my reflexive answer is always “David P. Morgan.” The great editor’s inspiring use of language is what, in my opinion, made Trains magazine so important to generations of readers. And although I’d never be foolish enough to compare anything I write to that of D.P.M., […]

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MBTA plans 16-day shutdown of some Red Line service

Orange and white PCC trolley car on double track

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will shut down a 5-mile, 11-station segment of Red Line rail service for 16 days in October to address track maintenance, the agency announced today. The shutdown from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29 will affect the Ashmont Branch between the JFK/UMass and Ashmont stations, as well as the […]

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Amtrak long-distance equipment shortage, mechanical challenges continue

People standing on station platform as train approaches

CHICAGO —  “Unforeseen mechanical issues” resulted in the cancellation of Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal out of New York on Wednesday, Aug. 23, despite the fact that the triweekly train’s equipment had arrived at the Big Apple’s Sunnyside Yard late Sunday. As has been recent custom, this resulted in the cancellation of its eastbound counterpart from Chicago […]

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Roadbed for main lines and spurs

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Roadbed for main lines and spurs: Lots of modelers in all scales take measures to differentiate mainline track from spurs and sidings. Spurs are dead-end tracks leading to industries, loading ramps, and sometimes stations. Sidings are tracks usually parallel to mainline tracks and are double-ended so a train can take the siding, stop, and wait […]

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3D printed structures in N scale

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3D printed structures in N scale: In the heart of Tehachapi, Calif., near the Union Pacific’s double-track main line, stands a steam-era Southern Pacific 65,000-gallon water tank. It was brought to the town from another location on the railroad after a major earthquake destroyed its predecessor on April 21, 1952. Without it, Tehachapi had a […]

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