Today, it’s easier than ever to railfan without leaving the comfort of your home. Kalmbach Media is one of several companies that offers DVDs on various prototype subjects. If you prefer seeing trains in real time, you can watch any number of railfan webcams, such as the one Trains magazine has at Rochelle, Ill. This […]
On May 1st, 1971, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak, was formed. On this 52nd anniversary, I thought we should take a look at small Amtrak trains from the start. If you want to learn about how to model modern short Amtrak consists, check out my previous article. Instead of focusing on two individual […]
Looking for interesting uses for cabooses? If you’re of a certain age (myself included), you remember when a caboose was on the end of almost every train. Then, in the 1990s, cabooses began to disappear. Instead of a friendly wave at the end of a train, you were greeted by a blinking red light on […]
If you love traveling around the country on the rails like I do, you probably want to know how to model modern Amtrak passenger train consists. Amtrak’s consists vary between regions and train-by-train. For instance, there is a height limit in the New York City area so any train going in or out of New […]
If you’re like me, you love riding Amtrak and modeling the trains you have ridden. But scale passenger equipment can get expensive, especially if you add lights and figures. The first two Amtrak cars that I got were Superliner coach and diner cars; I thought I needed to save up for a whole train. This […]
Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, the two railroads I was most familiar with were Burlington Northern and Soo Line. Sure, I would see Conrail freight cars now and then. Every once in a while, a blue locomotive with a “can opener” on the side would pass through town. But as I was going through my […]
Kitbashing is a facet of the hobby many model railroaders enjoy. Full-size railroads modify equipment, too. As I was combing through my photo collection and images in our David P. Morgan Memorial Library, I found five Burlington Northern kitbashes. Hopefully one or more of these cars will inspire your next modeling project. Want more Burlington […]
Locomotives short lines like to use: Shortline railroads have long fascinated me. Perhaps it’s because I had a front-row seat to the startup of one in my hometown in December 1996. Maybe it’s because some are real underdog stories. Seeing a railroad turn a line or lines plagued by years of deferred maintenance into a […]
What is Amtrak’s “rainbow” fleet? Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, and at the time had only one piece of equipment sporting Amtrak’s first logo, E8 No. 4316. This engine is currently offered by Rapido. All of the passenger equipment came from the railroads that joined to form Amtrak, including over 400 from the […]
Q: Has Model Railroader ever done a feature on modeling a cereal plant such as Kellogg’s or Post? I’m building a 12″ by 10′-6″ shelf layout which will be entirely that one industry. But I’m not sure how best to lay out the various structures and car spots for covered hoppers, boxcars, food-grade tank cars, […]
One piece of rolling stock I can bet almost every model railroader owns is a caboose. These cars are a staple in both real life and the model form, to the point where many people who don’t know much about trains at all know what a caboose is. Along with the existence of the word […]
I recently wrote “Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs” featuring five Electro-Motive Division diesels, including unique paint schemes, rebuilds, and test subjects. This time, I dug through my negative collection and found eight Burlington Northern freight car one-offs. Most of the photos are from family travels throughout northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota between the early 1980s […]
