The Rapido Trains HO scale Ten-Wheeler recently paid a visit to our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. The model, part of the company’s Icons of Canadian Steam line, is based on a Canadian Pacific class D10 prototype. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he talks about the features on the 4-6-0 and demonstrates […]
At Fort George G. Meade, Md., the porter assigned to the rear Pullman of a troop train watches as supplies are loaded aboard the kitchen car of another train. It’s May 1953 — two months before the end of the Korean War. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Santa Fe train 100, the Los Angeles–Chicago Super C, climbs the west side of Cajon Pass with four Flexi-Van containers and four trailers trailing an SD45 and F45 on January 26, 1970. Joe McMillan photo […]
Menards fictional city of Cripple Creek has expanded to include Sooty’s Coal Tipple (275-9271). Historically, coal tipples were located near mines. Small loads of coal would be brought up from the mines and dumped into a larger hopper car. Coal would be carried up into the tipple via a conveyor belt. Many tipples had a […]
In May 1952, Chicago & Illinois Midland 4-4-0 500 simmers at Oakford, Ill., as crewmen investigate a problem with one of the engine truck’s journal boxes. The problem was soon remedied, and the American type resumed its run with Springfield–Peoria train 6. Ed Theisinger photo […]
France’s 1949 Merci Train left a legacy of European rail equipment displays throughout the U.S. During the period around World War I and II a number of European railroads utilized a small boxcar — small by American standards. The cars rode on four wheels and carried all of 20 tons. In France, such […]
The Athearn HO scale EMD SW1500 pays a visit to the Jones Island section of our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno discusses the features on the end-cab switcher, which is being offered with light-emitting-diode lighting and a SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder for the first time. In addition, he […]
Transporting finished automobiles in boxcars was inefficient, causing railroads to lose business to highway carriers. Before the development of two- and three-level auto rack cars, railroads tried piggybacking highway trailers loaded with autos on flatcars. Here, a pair of carriers rides an 85-foot car in 1960. J. David Ingles collection […]
Beginning in 1964, the Rio Grande began attaching a car or two of piggyback trailers to the rear of the Salt Lake City–Denver Prospector in order to boost the train’s bottom line, as seen here at East Rocky, Colo., in April 1964. Nevertheless, the train was discontinued in 1967. Richard Steinheimer photo […]
Facts & features Name: Pacific Railway & Navigation Co.Scale: Proto:48 (O fine scale)Size: 4 x 38 feet (Palouse), 40 x 60 feet (entire layout) Prototype: Great Northern; Northern Pacific; PR&N; and Spokane, Portland & Seattle (elsewhere on layout)Era: mid-1950sLocale: Pacific NorthwestStyle: walk-in multi-deckMainline run: approx. 1,200 feetMinimum radius: 84″Minimum turnout: No. 7 (spurs), No. 8 […]
A Pacific Fruit Express mechanical car stands out among Santa Fe and PFE 40-foot ice-bunker cars in this early 1960s train. Mechanical cars were developed for frozen goods but began hauling more fresh produce by the 1960s, eventually pushing ice cars out of service in the 1970s. J. David Ingles collection […]
Facts & features Name: Pennsylvania RR, Central RegionScale: O (1:48)Size: 43 x 60 feetPrototype: Pennsylvania RRLocale: central PennsylvaniaEra: 1952Style: around-the-wallsMainline run: 355 feetMinimum radius: 60″ (main), 50″ (branch)Minimum turnout: No. 8 (main), No. 5 (secondary)Maximum grade: 2.2% (main), 3.5% (branch)Benchwork: open gridHeight: 47″ to 76″Roadbed: Homasote Track: code 148 and 125 flextrackScenery: plaster cloth and […]
