We ran the 1935 Twin Cities Hiawatha on our Milwaukee, Racine, and Troy club layout. This HO scale model from Fox Valley Models includes the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road) locomotive and passenger cars. We installed a Train Control Systems DP5 Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder in the locomotive. You can read […]
Type of Train: Passenger/Transit
Domeliners in the United States and Canada
Santa Fe’s premier train, the Chicago-Los Angeles Super Chief, was the first to get dome cars. Santa Fe called them “Pleasure Domes.” Santa Fe Railway Milwaukee Road’s upper-level domes stretched almost the full length of the car, earning the name “Super Dome.” Milwaukee Road Workers service a full-length Milwaukee Road Super Dome from the Olympian […]
Rebuilding RDCs for a new generation
Sign over car shop. Employee notifications are posted in English and French. Bob Johnston This unusual RDC4 originally built for Canadian Pacific will be refurbished for VIA’s Sudbury-White River, Ont., train. Bob Johnston A welder works on an RDC. Bob Johnston The new RDC engineer’s cab includes a computer display to monitor train performance. Bob […]
Fox Valley Models HO scale Hiawatha passenger train
Fox Valley Models HO scale Hiawatha passenger train It’s hard not to smile when watching this HO scale 1935 Hiawatha. The model is of a streamlined train that was an icon of railroading and the Art Deco age. In fact, models of the train have been offered almost as far back as the real train’s […]
Army-Navy game train ‘Liberty Limited’ returns to the rails NEWSWIRE
The Philadelphia-bound Liberty Limited passes Bowie, Md., with 19 cars enroute to the Army-Navy game. Alex Mayes WASHINGTON — Wounded veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars rode a classic passenger train to the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia Saturday. The “Liberty Limited” operated this year following a year off owing to a death in […]
Trinity Railway Express receives upgraded F59PHs NEWSWIRE
IRVING, Texas — The Trinity Railway Express fleet of F59PHs has begun returning to the Dallas-area commuter agency following upgrades at shops in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The units, jointly owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, are being overhauled to meet Environmental Protection Agency Tier 2 standards. The entire seven-unit […]
North Star in waiting
A North Star commuter train waits at the end of the line, Big Lake, Minn, before its return trip to Minneapolis on April 10, 2010. Photo by Rick Johnson […]
Rapido Trains HO scale Osgood Bradley coach
Rapido Trains HO scale Osgood Bradley coach The distinct paired-window, early lightweight Pullman Standard/Osgood Bradley streamlined coaches have long been sought-after by New Haven and Boston & Maine fans. Highly detailed models of these cars in accurate era-specific configurations are now available in plastic in HO scale from Rapido Trains in multiple road numbers. Rapido’s Osgood […]
Ohio Governor-elect: “That train is dead” NEWSWIRE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In his first news conference as governor-elect, John Kasich shot down the proposed passenger train corridor linking Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Kasich told reporters: “That train is dead. I said it during the campaign. It is dead. Passenger rail is not in Ohio’s future.” Kasich went on to say that he supports […]
Illinois city celebrates station upgrades NEWSWIRE
MATTOON, Ill. – A four-year, $3 million project to stabilize and then improve the three-story former railroad office building and passenger station in Mattoon was celebrated last week by Amtrak and Illinois DOT. Six daily Amtrak trains use the station, which is sited about 130 miles northeast of St. Louis. The Coles County Historical Society […]
Rolling through the Rocks
Led by a new MP36PH-3C, a MARC commuter trains curves past the historic depot at Point of Rocks, Md., on its afternoon run from Washington, D.C., to Brunswick, Md., June 10, 2010. Photo by Alex Mayes […]
Renting cars at train stations: inside tips and information
Enterprise is among the tenants at Amtrak’s Fort Worth, Texas, station, one of just 19 train stations in the U.S. and Canada with rental car counters. Even at these locations, most counter hours are limited and advance reservations are required. Bob Johnston If you need to rent a car as part of your next Amtrak […]
