Rio Grande tripleheader

20150112

Three locomotives – a 2-8-2, 2-8-8-2, and 4-8-4 – start the Rio Grande’s eastbound Royal Gorge out of Minturn, Colo., on Aug. 30, 1947. Ahead for the 18-car train: Tennessee Pass. C. L. Carson photo […]

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Guide to N scale metal wheelsets

Color photo of N scale wheelsets in packaging

Last month, I wrote about metal wheelsets offered in HO scale. In this guide to N scale metal wheelsets, I’ll cover the options available for those who model in 1:160 proportion. The case for metal wheelsets N scale wheelsets have come a long way since the 1960s and 1970s. For many years, Micro-Trains N scale […]

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Late era railroad dining car meals

Advertising picture for railroad dining car meals served in a snack bar car

  In the past, railroad dining car meals were something to write home about, positively. A notable summary of this can be found in the lyrics of the popular song Chattanooga Choo-Choo, with its assertion that “dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer.”   As private-railroad passenger service declined in the 1960s, however, this […]

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Illinois Central’s EMD SD40A diesel locomotive

Two-tone EMD SD40A diesel locomotive in profile

The Illinois Central’s EMD SD40A diesel locomotive resulted from the railroad’s desire to increase fuel capacity. “Customer modifications to production units aren’t all that unusual, don’t usually result in more than minor engineering and construction revisions, and seldom are dignified by a separate builder’s class,” wrote former Trains Managing Editor Wally Abbey in the January […]

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American Flyer No. 647 Northern Pacific refrigerator car

Flyer No. 647 Northern Pacific refrigerator car

Glancing at the catalogs put out by the A.C. Gilbert Co. and the Lionel Corp. from 1952 or ’55 or ’58, you notice how similar the product lines were. Both Gilbert, which developed the American Flyer line of S gauge trains, and its rival marketed train sets at various price points to entice households with […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler

Photo of HO scale steam engine with title bar in lower corner of image.

The Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler recently paid a visit to our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. The model, part of the company’s Icons of Canadian Steam line, is based on a Canadian Pacific class D10 prototype. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he talks about the features on the 4-6-0 and demonstrates […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler

Photo of HO scale steam engine with title bar in lower corner of image.

The Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler recently paid a visit to our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. The model, part of the company’s Icons of Canadian Steam line, is based on a Canadian Pacific class D10 prototype. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he talks about the features on the 4-6-0 and demonstrates […]

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Troop train Pullman porter

20190118

At Fort George G. Meade, Md., the porter assigned to the rear Pullman of a troop train watches as supplies are loaded aboard the kitchen car of another train. It’s May 1953 — two months before the end of the Korean War. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Super C on Cajon Pass

20190123

Santa Fe train 100, the Los Angeles–Chicago Super C, climbs the west side of Cajon Pass with four Flexi-Van containers and four trailers trailing an SD45 and F45 on January 26, 1970. Joe McMillan photo […]

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