Adirondack round trips to be extended to Saratoga Springs

Passenger train at station

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — With the Saratoga horse racing season having begun last Thursday, Amtrak has announced it will extend Adirondack operations 37 miles beyond Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., to Saratoga Springs starting Monday, July 24. The New York City-Montreal train was the last state-supported corridor to be restored following nationwide discontinuances in March 2020 as a […]

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News & Products for the week of July 17th 2023

News & Products for the week of July 17th 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 July 17th 2023. […]

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Thoughts on detailing N scale diesels

Kato SD45

Thoughts on detailing N scale diesels: I really enjoy modifying locomotives and adding or subtracting details to make them more closely represent specific prototypes. I’m most interested in my Santa Fe and Southern Pacific engines, but hope someday to also get to the engines from other lines that turn up on my N scale circa […]

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Troubleshooting a diesel locomotive

A photograph of two yellow and green SD40-2 diesel locomotives

In 1981, I was a locomotive engineer for the Chicago & North Western Railway based out of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and operating an interdivisional run to Sioux City, Iowa. I made this run many times, but one trip taught me a lesson about troubleshooting a diesel locomotive — and about railroading. Most of the trains […]

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Rare-mileage excursion celebrates Station Inn anniversary

Passenger train with bright red end-cab switch engine

SPROUL, Pa. — The first passenger train over a portion of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Bedford Branch in several decades ran from Hollidaysburg, Pa., to Sproul as a combined railfan charter and public excursion on Sunday, July 16, 2023. The 25-mile round trip capped a weekend-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Station Inn, […]

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Florida Gulf & Atlantic crew members vote to join BLET

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Train and engine service workers on the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad have voted to join the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the BLET announced Friday. Roughly 75% of employees at the railroad signed authorization cards in April indicating they would like to be represented by the BLET, leading the National […]

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