BNSF’s Network Operations Center

Q How does BNSF’s Network Operations Center in Fort Worth, Texas, control BNSF trains when they share tracks with another railroad, such as the route over the Tehachapi Pass? Union Pacific owns the trackage and allows BNSF trackage rights. On average, BNSF sends three trains over the pass to UP’s one. Does the BNSF Operations […]

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The railroads behind today’s U.S. rail trails

Steve Glischinski Match the initials below to the Map of the Month in the May 2011 issue of Trains Magazine. The three-page foldout map will show you which recreational trails 10 miles or longer in the United States were fashioned from abandoned railroad lines. We mapped 415 trails in all (strung together, they would stretch […]

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ExactRail HO scale deck plate girder bridge

ExactRail HO scale deck plate girder bridge Price: $44.95 (late version), $36.95 (early version and kits) ManufacturerExactRail LLC1053 South 1675 WestOrem, Utah 84058www.exactrail.com Era: 1920s to present Comments: This assembled plastic model from ExactRail makes it easy to add a highly detailed deck plate girder bridge to an HO scale layout. The bridge is 72 […]

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One day in March

With the empty SP track to the right, SP&S RS3 78 trundles past with a short freight at Albany, Ore., on March 18, 1967. David Lustig Where were you on March 18, 1967? I was in Albany, Ore., a teenager waiting patiently for a southbound Southern Pacific freight train that I knew in my bones […]

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News & Products for February 17, 2011

HO scale locomotives  U.S. Military RR General Haupt 4-4-0 steam locomotive. Faulhaber-type coreless motor, operating headlight and firebox light, and electrical pickups on all tender wheels. Price to be announced. Late 2011. Ready-to-run. Eight-Wheeler Models, eightwheelermodels.com ExactRail LLC HO scale 48-foot depressed-center flatcar HO scale freight cars 48-foot depressed-center flatcar. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; […]

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Kato USA Inc. N scale GE ES44AC diesel locomotive

Kato USA Inc. N scale GE ES44AC diesel locomotive Now is a great time to model a modern-era main line in N scale. Manufacturers are producing well-detailed N scale models of Electro-Motive and General Electric six-axle locomotives, including this GE ES44AC from Kato USA. The model runs well on a DC layout and can be […]

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News & Products for February 10, 2011

HO scale locomotives  Alco RS-3 diesel locomotive. Boston & Maine, Denver & Rio Grande Western, New York Central, Pennsylvania RR, Southern Ry., and Western Maryland. Dual-mode Digital Command Control motor decoder, all-wheel drive, and die-cast metal chassis. $99. Ready-to-run. Bachmann, 215-533-1600, www.bachmanntrains.comHO scale freight cars 34-foot two-bay hopper with exterior posts. New paint schemes and road […]

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Texas draw

An eastbound Union Pacific freight smokes it up leaving Taylor, Texas, on a December 1995 day. On the point is a leased unit, Motive Power Industries, SD40M-2 No. 9037. The unit started out as Louisville & Nashville, SD40-2 No. 1237. J. Parker Lamb photo […]

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The light at the end of the tunnel

Union Pacific “Heritage” SD70ACe No. 1989 emerges from the tunnel at Newcastle, Calif., on July 31, 2010. The engine is leading UP’s high-priority Chicago-Lathrop, Calif., intermodal train, and it’s on the home stretch to the Roseville, Calif., yard. Jake Millie photo […]

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Atlas Model Railroad Co. NRE Genset diesel switcher

Its basic lines may look like just another switcher, but this new Atlas HO scale model is of a 21st century locomotive with a unique, environmentally friendly design. The National Railway Equipment 3GS21B Genset switcher is in service on today’s railroads. The direct-current Atlas Genset has an eight-pin plug for a Digital Command Control (DCC) […]

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News & Products for December 23, 2010

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP39-2 diesel locomotive. New paint schemes: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (“Kodachrome” scheme); Boston & Maine (Guilford scheme); CSX; and Delaware & Hudson. Two road numbers each; also available undecorated. Five-pole skew-wound armature motor with flywheels, separately applied details, and Accumate magnetic knuckle couplers. $102.95 (undecorated, $97.95). May 2011. Ready-to-run. […]

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Domeliners in the United States and Canada

Santa Fe’s premier train, the Chicago-Los Angeles Super Chief, was the first to get dome cars. Santa Fe called them “Pleasure Domes.” Santa Fe Railway Milwaukee Road’s upper-level domes stretched almost the full length of the car, earning the name “Super Dome.” Milwaukee Road Workers service a full-length Milwaukee Road Super Dome from the Olympian […]

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