One piece of rolling stock I can bet almost every model railroader owns is a caboose. These cars are a staple in both real life and the model form, to the point where many people who don’t know much about trains at all know what a caboose is. Along with the existence of the word […]
I recently wrote “Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs” featuring five Electro-Motive Division diesels, including unique paint schemes, rebuilds, and test subjects. This time, I dug through my negative collection and found eight Burlington Northern freight car one-offs. Most of the photos are from family travels throughout northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota between the early 1980s […]
Model an enginehouse scene. Last year, I wrote about an old 40-foot insulated boxcar being used as a storage shed on the Sisseton Milbank RR (SMRR) in Milbank, S.D. I thought it would be fun to take another look at the 38-mile line, a subsidiary of the Twin Cities & Western RR, this time focusing […]
Five modeling ideas from a General Electric Dash 9-44CW: In late June 2022, my wife, kids, and I visited my brother- and mother-in-law in Milbank, S.D. The parsonage they live in conveniently overlooks the BNSF Railway Appleton Subdivision, which runs between its namesake in Minnesota and Aberdeen, S.D. When I woke up on the morning […]
Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs. Burlington Northern (BN) had more than 2,000 diesel locomotives on its roster. With a fleet of that size, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there were more than a few Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs. Paint scheme variations, wreck rebuilds, and test subjects were among the examples I found when searching […]
Why I love the Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 Many modelers have a locomotive that they are fond of, probably one of their first models that they received as a kid. My first engine was an O gauge F7, a far cry from the locomotive that I love, the Electro-Motive Division SD40-2. In fact, nine years later […]
Fourteen states on Amtrak I’ve been riding on trains since I was 2 years old. Although those trips were short and on scenic railroads, my love for trains increased as I got older. From watching high-speed Acela and Northeast Regional trainsets fly by while visiting the Northeast Corridor to watching videos of the stunning views […]
Meeting the Electro-Motive Division SW1 The time-tested Electro-Motive Division SW1 has long been one of my favorite diesel locomotives. My fascination with the 600hp end-cab switcher didn’t start when the locomotives were earning their keep on the big railroads. Instead, my introduction came at the Crookston (Minn.) Farmers Co-op Elevator, less than a block from […]
Exploring the Illinois Central Gulf Sioux Falls District. In the August 2022 issue of Model Railroader, I shared how I built an American Model Builders HO scale Illinois Central Type A depot kit. In the story, I noted that the Illinois Central Gulf (ICG) Sioux Falls District is my latest modeling interest. The 96-mile line […]
Berkshire 2-8-4 locomotive: When I was a kid, my dad once showed me his childhood Lionel set. He had a Lionel no. 726RR Berkshire set with a few extra pieces stored in a metal crate. I never got to see it set up or operate, unfortunately. I had no idea what a Berkshire was back […]
Pennsylvania RR GG1 electric locomotive My favorite locomotive has long been the Pennsylvania RR GG1 electric. This goes back to my childhood when I would visit my maternal grandparents in Aberdeen, Md., along what’s now known as the Northeast Corridor. After dinner at grandma and grandpa’s, we’d walk a few blocks to the grade crossing […]
I hope the main picture here demonstrating non railroad freight car uses is sufficiently absurd to indicate why I selected this for an article. In case it is not: A former Missouri Pacific hopper, shorn of trucks and belly gear, modified with sheet metal or plate steel, no doubt, and masquerading as a semi-truck trailer […]
