The HO scale Penn Central layout

A model railroad trackplan

Facts & features Name: Penn Central at Bellefonte, Pa.Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 9’-8″ x 11’-6″Prototype: Penn CentralLocale: Bellefonte, Pa.Mainline run: 36 feetMinimum radius: 24″ (main), 18″ (siding)Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: 4%     Download a PDF of this trackplan! Buy the December 2023 issue of Model Railroader! […]

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The HO scale Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum layout

A model railroad layout trackplan

Facts & features Name: Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad MuseumScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 40 x 100 feetPrototype: Baltimore & Ohio and freelancedLocale: Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cumberland, Md.Era: 1953Style: walkaroundMainline run: Mon Valley, 443 feet; B&O, 357 feetMinimum radius: 36″ (main)Minimum turnout: No. 8 (main), No. 6 (branch lines and yards), No. 4 (industrial)Maximum grade: 2%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: Mon […]

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California High-Speed Rail Authority, unions sign agreement

California High Speed Rail Authority logo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High-Speed Rail Authority and 13 unions have announced an agreement to use union labor to operate the state’s high speed rail system. The Memorandum of Understanding announced today (Friday, Nov. 17) will cover an estimated 3,000 workers to operate the full system between the Bay Area and Southern California; about […]

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NS train hits CSX train at Atlanta yard, leading to derailment and small fire (updated)

Fire between locomotive and derailed freight cars

  ATLANTA — A collision between Norfolk Southern and CSX trains led to a derailment and fire this morning at CSX’s Howells Yard in northwest Atlanta. CSX said in a statement that at 6:28 a.m. ET, “a Norfolk Southern train came in contact with a CSX train at an interchange point in Howells Yard .. […]

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T-TRAK Project part 1: Back in the game again

Bare wood laser-cut plywood parts arranged in two rows of rectangles.

T-TRAK Project part 1: Back in the game again: Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy begin a series of projects build a small modular T-TRAK N scale layout. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses small foot-wide boxes to build tabletop layouts. They are designed to click together using Kato […]

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The oddest of oddball locomotives

A vintage black and white photo shows a tractor engine atop a former steam locomotive frame and wheels

In seeking the oddest of oddball locomotives, today we will follow our compass to California’s Ludlow & Southern, one of many, many railroads past and present with the name of a city or a state and the addition of a compass direction. Think Kansas City Southern, Colorado & Southern, Arizona Central, Missouri Pacific, and Texas […]

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CTA Yellow Line service still suspended after collision

People in safety gear at site of crash between rapid-transit train and maintenance equipment

CHICAGO — Service on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Yellow Line remains suspended today (Friday, Nov. 17) after the Thursday collision between a two-car Yellow Line train and a piece of maintenance equipment that injured 38 people, 23 of whom were sent to hospitals for treatment. The train reportedly rear-ended a snow plow, according to a […]

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News photos: NJ Transit wraps locomotive to honor model railroading company

Red, white, and black locomotive with lettering for model railroad company

KEARNY, N.J. — NJ Transit, which has previously wrapped or painted locomotives to honor its railroading predecessors, has now wrapped a locomotive to honor a New Jersey-based model railroading-firm: Atlas Model Railroad Co. of Hillside, N.J., which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024. The special wrap has been applied to Bombardier ALP-45DP dual-mode diesel-electric […]

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Amtrak train derails in Michigan after grade-crossing collision; 11 minor injuries reported

Derailed locomotive at night

NEW BUFFALO, Mich. —  Eleven people reportedly suffered minor injuries when Amtrak Wolverine train No. 355 bound for Chicago struck vehicles at a grade crossing and derailed in New Buffalo Township, Mich., about 10 p.m. Thursday night, WZZM-TV reports. At least eight trains scheduled for today have been cancelled while derailment cleanup takes place. The […]

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Competition from CPKC makes the rail industry better, CEO Keith Creel says

KCS3947Laredo

NEW YORK — Canadian Pacific Kansas City CEO Keith Creel is not the least bit surprised at how rival Class I railroads have responded to the CP-KCS merger by launching new and faster cross-border intermodal service. “We’re creating competition and this industry is getting stronger as a result,” Creel told the RailTrends conference on Thursday. […]

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First Tier 4 locomotive enters service for Napa Valley Wine Train

Maroon, gold, and green locomotives in golden-hour lighting

NAPA, Calif. – The Napa Valley Wine Train has placed the first of two Tier 4 compliant switcher units into service as the tourist railroad’s new regular motive power. Napa Valley Railroad NZE15B No. 1864 arrived on Oct. 30, 2023. The 1,560-hp unit was rebuilt by Knoxville Locomotive Works from a National Railway Equipment Co. […]

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Preservation group, BNSF return to North Dakota Supreme Court over Bismarck bridge

Steam-powered passenger train on large truss bridge over water

BISMARCK, N.D. — The fight over the future of BNSF Railway’s Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge over the Missouri River was back in front of the North Dakota Supreme Court on Thursday, as the court heard arguments on a preservation group’s effort to overturn state permits allowing construction of a new bridge to proceed. The group Friends […]

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