Heritage Park Historical Village profile

Heritage Park Historical Village logo

Discover what life was like in the Canadian West between 1864 and 1914 by visiting this re-created village framed by the Rockies. More than 150 exhibits, including many buildings transplanted from Calgary and other locations throughout Alberta, bring the past to the present. Choices The park includes a roundhouse and turntable with 30 locomotives and […]

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Hawaiian Railway Society profile

Diesel pulling passenger train next to the Pacific coast.

The Hawaiian Railway Society operates the only active train on the island of Oahu. It offers regularly scheduled 90-minute, fully narrated rides over 6.5 miles of track. Along the way, you’ll pass a variety of interesting and historical sites, including Fort Barrette. The train stops at Kahe Point, so you can take in the extraordinary […]

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Norfolk Southern and unions team up to focus on safety improvements

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern and the 12 unions that represent the railroad’s employees have agreed to work more closely together to improve safety. “Today, national labor leaders and Norfolk Southern management are committing to work together to enhance rail safety for our people and the communities we serve,” they announced in a letter to employees […]

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Railroad Archaeology 101: Digging up dirt on abandoned routes

black and white photo of abandoned line in Colorado

Abandoned routes It can be disheartening to study a railroad atlas and come across abandoned routes. Nobody wants to realize a line is gone, especially if we had previously witnessed it as an active transportation entity. Well, let’s take a pen and cross off that line. No! It’s rare that the remnants of an abandoned […]

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Work in progress to upgrade BNSF’s old Sandpoint bridge

Train on bridge, with work in progress on adjacent bridge

SANDPOINT, Idaho — With BNSF Railway  and Montana Rail Link trains now using the new 4,873-foot long Lake Pend Oreille bridge opened in late November 2022 outside Sandpoint, Idaho, the adjacent bridge opened by Northern Pacific in 1904 is undergoing reconstruction. BNSF says the work involves “replacing all 59 of the remaining original 1904 bridge […]

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What’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine?

An image of a black-painted modern diesel locomotive leading a long string of tank cars

Railroaders, and railfans, are always talking about engines: How many engines were on that train? Don’t those new engines look good (or bad)? Did you get the number of that engine? So, what’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine? We use both terms to describe the most compelling element of railroading: the machines […]

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About B-B and C-C

An image of a large, black and white freight diesel locomotive at a roadway crossing

Diesel locomotives today generally have either two- or three-axle trucks, a wheel arrangement called B-B and C-C. The B-B wheel arrangement indicates a two-axle truck with both axles powered, while C-C means a truck with three powered axles. This naming convention uses letters for powered axles and numerals for non-powered “idler” axles — found on older […]

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AEI data tags and readers

Image of a gray TransCore AEI (Automatic equipment identification) tag mounted on the side of a red railcar

AEI data tags and readers enable rail cars to be tracked as they move across the North American rail system. The AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) system consists of passive tags mounted on each side of rolling stock and active trackside readers. The system uses radio frequency and replaces an unsuccessful older optically-based car tracking system […]

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Norfolk & Western No. 611 debuts for 2023

Two steam locomotives sitting side by side.

STRASBURG, Pa. — Norfolk & Western steam locomotive No. 611 debuted for its 2023 operating season last weekend with a series of events and excursions on the Strasburg Rail Road. The J-class 4-8-4 returned to the tourist railroad earlier this month after spending the beginning of the year as an exhibit at the next-door Railroad […]

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News & Products for the week of May 22nd 2023

An image of a model caboose

News & Products for the week of May 22nd 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 22nd 2023. […]

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Returning a postwar Lionel GP7 to the rails

Lionel prewar GP7 in Burlington silver paint scheme

It’s not hard to give a postwar Lionel GP7 a new lease on life. Unless they’ve really been abused, these workhorses can be returned to service with some cleaning, adjustment, and maybe a little lubrication. This particular model had been stored for years in a dry climate. Additionally, the previous owner had removed the D-cell […]

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