Sunshine no more

  Even the Sunshine State sees the occasional rainstorm, which has caught southbound Florida East Coast train No. 101 on Jan. 12, 2015, just north of St. Augustine. Photo by Brian Schmidt […]

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Blue bearing caps

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Two blue end caps for bearings made by Amsted Rail’s Brenco Inc. appear on a freight car truck at the Union Pacific’s Butler Yard in Wisconsin. Steve Sweeney Q What is the significance of the blue paint that I see on the rotating bearing caps on freight car wheelsets? – Tito Porfiri, Olney, Md. A […]

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Homefront supply line

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Railroads were the primary means of moving men and materiel within the United States during World War II. Here a freight conductor walks beside flatcars loaded with M3 Lee tanks at an unknown location. U.S. Army Signal Corps photo […]

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The big picture

  A westbound Union Pacific manifest freight works its way toward Los Angeles in October 2013 in the “Blue Cut” section of California’s famed Cajon Pass. With the lead locomotives a mile away in the distance, you gain a better perspective of magnitude of the San Gabriel Mountains and the challenges railroads overcame more than […]

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Coal trains on the rise in southwest Virginia NEWSWIRE

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BIG STONE GAP, Va. — Within a year of mothballing a section of its former Clinchfield line between Frisco, Tenn., and McClure, Va., CSX Transportation has witnessed a notable upswing in coal traffic over the past two weeks. Newly-formed Contura Energy LLC is now leading the way to increased rail traffic out of southwestern Virginia. […]

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Winston-Salem Southbound Series: Weathering freight cars, Part 1

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Now that we’ve marshaled the locomotive and rolling stock for our HO scale Winston-Salem layout, it’s time to make them look like they’ve been busy haulin’ freight! In this initial video, David Popp shows how to apply realistic weathering effects to composite freight […]

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