This track plan originally appeared in Great Model Railroads 2020. Click on the link below to download a PDF copy of this track plan. Name: Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Layout owner: Lou Sassi Scale: On30 (1:48, 30″ track gauge) Size: 7 x 16 feet Prototype: Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Locale: north-central Maine Era: […]
Era: 1920 - 1945
Video: On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Contributing editor Lou Sassi models north-central Maine in the 1930s on his 7 x 16-foot On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes model train layout. Featured in Great Model Railroads 2020, the layout features superdetailed scenes and equipment. […]
Video: On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Contributing editor Lou Sassi models north-central Maine in the 1930s on his 7 x 16-foot On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes model train layout. Featured in Great Model Railroads 2020, the layout features superdetailed scenes and equipment. […]
Man power
In the 1910s, automobiles were shipped as “knock-downs,” with the bodies removed from the chassis and then loaded in boxcars. This is Ford’s Highland Park, Mich., plant in 1915. Ford Motor Co. photo […]
Fn3 scale Rio Grande Southern, Western Division
Click on the image to download a PDF copy of this track plan. Name: Rio Grande Southern, Western Division Layout owner: Roy Allan Scale: Fn3 (1:20.3, 36″ gauge) Size: 26′-6″ x 36′-3″ Prototype: Rio Grande Southern Locale: southwestern Colorado Era: 1937 to 1942 Style: island Mainline run: 200 feet Minimum radius: 60″ (main), 51″ (sidings) […]
Semi-streamlined
St. Louis-San Francisco semi-streamlined 4-8-2 No. 1503 works at Kirkwood, Mo., in 1942. The railroad, best known simply as the Frisco, had 30 such locomotives built by Baldwin from 1923 to 1926. William Barham photo, Don Wirth collection […]
Portage Flyer
Huntsville & Lake of Bays Transportation Co. engines Nos. 1 and 2, which often doubleheaded together, are serviced at the South Portage water tank. Antiques even in the 1940s, both 0-4-0T’s still carry their shield-shaped H. K. Porter builder’s plates from 1888: No. 1 was construction number 911; No. 2 was c/n 912. Robert Holden […]
Necessary travel
Travelers during World War II swarm the New York Central ticket windows in Grand Central Terminal. Signs above the windows caution against “unnecessary travel” during wartime. New York Central photo […]
ASK TRAINS: How do you operate two steam locomotives together?
On West Virginia’s Cass Scenic Railroad, engine crews with three Shay locomotives signal each other with whistles for moves and stops. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney Q: When you have two steam engines together, how does the second engineer know how much throttle to give? — Dennis E. Schardt, Sr., Summerdale, Pa. A: We get asked this […]
Railroads at war
Stuart tanks and crated loads on flatcars tell of the herculean effort of American industries, including railroads, to bring victory in World War II. Classic Trains collection […]
20th Century Limited
Streamlined Hudson-type No. 5448 leads New York Central’s 20th Century Limited at LaSalle Street Station in Chicago in the late 1930s. Nos. 5445-5454, known as the J-3a subclass, wore the Henry Dreyfuss-styled streamlining. Alexander Maxwell photo […]
West Virginia coal
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-8-4 No. 7609 carries a coal train to the summit at Altamont, W.Va., in June 1945. The locomotive is one of 30 EM1-class engines built by Baldwin. H.W. Pontin photo […]