America’s newest roundhouse

Former regional railroad owner Jerry Joe Jacobson built a private, 18-stall roundhouse he calls the “Age of Steam” in Sugarcreek, Ohio, to house his collection of a dozen locomotives. The complex includes a boiler wash track, offices, a backshop, machine shop, store house, water tank, and water column. Enjoy this short video, and be sure […]

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‘Foreigners’ at Bensenville . . . and beyond

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West of Huntington, Ind., on the Erie Lackawanna, in March 1976, an EL U25B and GP35 back down to an eastbound freight brought in from Chicago by Milwaukee Road F units. Mike Schafer When I started with the Milwaukee Road in 1971, in road service, the railroad was desperately short of motive power. To help […]

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Merger time in Warren

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Renumbered DL&W E8’s (top) roll into Warren with train 6 in 1962. Earlier that year, E8 833, its livery only slightly altered to reflect the 1960 EL merger, led an ex-DL&W E8 on No. 9. W. L. Gwyer The Erie Railroad served my hometown of Warren, Ohio. During my college years in the early 1960s, […]

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Give my regards to the Broadway

A Conrail executive locomotive, E8 No. 4022, leads the eastbound Broadway Limited, train No. 40, into Chicago Union Station on April 11, 1977. Amtrak is in the midst of a motive power shortage, caused by problems with its EMD SDP40F fleet, and is leasing extra locomotives wherever it can. Photo by Gary Dolzall […]

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Hurry up and wait

The railroaders’ mantra has always been “hurry up and wait” and this CSX crew at Glendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati is living up to their creed. This portion of the former Baltimore & Ohio Toledo to Cincinnati route is paired with the Norfolk Southern New Castle District in directional running; most trains passing Glendale are […]

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Finis for Philo

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A 1962 freight derailment spelled the end for the century-old Wabash depot at little Philo, Ill. Glen Brewer My clock-radio came on at the usual morning hour with the local news. The date was Wednesday, October 3, 1962. The announcer reported a train wreck in Philo, Ill., the previous evening, blocking the Wabash Railroad’s main […]

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Kato USA HO scale Metra equipment

Kato HO scale Metra equipment

Kato HO scale Metra equipment Instantly recognizable to Chicago-area railfans and commuters, the Metra paint scheme now adorns Kato’s HO scale Electro-Motive Division F40PH diesel-electric locomotive and Pullman-Standard bi-level coaches. The diesel is newly detailed to match the Metra prototype as it appeared in the 2000s. Model Railroader first reviewed the F40PH and Pullman bi-level […]

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More than a touch of class

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The Santa Fe was a class act, from its Warbonnet diesels to how it dealt with derailments. Gordon Glattenberg Back in 1955, when I was 22, I gained my first post-college newspaper reporting job with the Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock, Texas—not exactly the center of the railroad universe. Little did I know that within a few […]

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