Scheduling freight trains

CSXK944Q145OpelikaAlabama

Northbound CSX Transportation aggregates train K944 is seen meeting intermodal train Q145 at Opelika, Ala., in 2010. Class I railroads use different kinds of schedules to keep their networks fluid and profitable, even on single-track lines. Frank Orona What time will the train depart? When will it arrive? While most people associate schedules with passenger […]

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Inconveniently frozen truth

NSMNorthShoreMiningSD40651

Northshore Mining SD40 No. 651 leads a quartet of locomotives and iron ore near Toimi, Minn., in December 2010. Cold temperatures that make metal contract and ice expand are just the start of problems in winter railroading. Max Medlin “People and metal do not like cold weather,” says Mike Smith, vice president of network operations […]

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Kato N scale Operation North Pole set

Kato N scale Operation North Pole set

Kato N scale Operation North Pole set The basic Operation North Pole set includes the top three cars, the bottom two make up the add-on set. Allstate Arena and Donald E. Stephens are cab cars. The cab cars have switches to turn the headlights and marker lights on or off. Kato F40PH with shell removed […]

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WM local from Elkins

Western Maryland Railroad local train on the Potomac River

Pacific 203 leads Western Maryland’s Elkins, W.Va.–Cumberland, Md., local train along the North Branch of the Potomac River near Westernport, Md., in June 1952. H. F. Houck photo […]

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MRVP Insider: Modelers in a Minivan along the Main Line

Modelers in a minivan along the main line

Combine a world-renowned modeler (Pelle Søeborg), a guy that’s great at photographing trains (Drew Halverson), another who’s pretty darn good at both (Cody Grivno), and a sunny day spent trackside, and you get Modelers In A Minivan Along The Main Line! Join their jaunt across the Wisconsin countryside, and you’ll see just what inspires this […]

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Foggy day on the D&NE

Duluth and Northeastern Railroad at Cloquet, Minnesota

Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 is at Cloquet, Minn., bound for Saginaw with empty log flats in August 1962. The 11-mile line was all-steam until 1964. A sister to this engine, D&NE 28, was recently reactivated by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Russ Porter photo […]

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