News & Products for the week of July 10th 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of July 10th 2023. […]
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Meet Tom Piccirillo
Tom Piccirillo started building scale models at age 12 after discovering a copy of the April 1964 issue of Model Railroader magazine at a local corner store. After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering in 1974, he pursued a management career in well-known industries, such as Burroughs Corp. and Ohaus Scale, and holds patents on […]
Three steam engine terminal track plans
If you run steam locomotives on your model railroad, you need a steam engine terminal. Even if you don’t have room to model one, your model locomotives must get serviced somewhere off layout. But there are a lot of good reasons to model a steam engine terminal. First of all, and most important to some, […]
CPKC-CSX deal over Meridian & Bigbee shortcut finally realizes Mike Haverty’s vision: Analysis
The agreement Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX Transportation reached last month to create a new corridor linking the Southeast with Texas and Mexico via Meridian, Miss., is not a new idea: More than two decades ago Kansas City Southern CEO Mike Haverty sought to tie his cross-border railroad to CSX by having the companies […]
Siemens to build new light rail equipment for Cleveland’s Red Line
CLEVELAND — Siemens Mobility will build 24 light rail vehicles to replace the equipment currently operationg on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Red Line, the manufacturer announced today (July 10). The GCRTA board had previously given preliminary approval to the Siemens proposal but needed to complete funding before finalizing the order [see “Cleveland RTA […]
Building a train schedule
Did you ever wonder how a railroad goes about building a train schedule? It’s more complex than you may think. Train schedules have intrigued me since my father returned from a 1966 business trip with a present of current public timetables from 13 railroads. To 11-year-old me the timetables were like windows to a new […]
Short steam era passenger cars
What is the largest radius curve on your layout? If you said anything less than 24”, you won’t be running 85-foot passenger cars any time soon. Even then, a 24” curve is extremely tight for those cars to navigate. Fear not, I have the solution for your long passenger car dilemma: short steam era passenger […]
Flooding halts Amtrak, Metro-North, CSX operations in Hudson Valley
CROTON-HARMON, N.Y. — Flooding in New York’s Hudson River Valley has disrupted Amtrak, Metro-North, and CSX Transportation operations today (Monday, July 10). An alert on the Amtrak website says service between New York and Albany is suspended for at least the remainder of today as the Metro-North Railroad repairs tracks damaged by flooding. The New […]
Finger Lakes Railway launches excursions for 2023
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Central New York’s Finger Lakes Railway resumed its public excursion program on July 8, offering trips between Canandaigua and Clifton Springs, N.Y., using Budd RDC-1 AEAX 2012. Two round trips operated from Canandaigua, offering a 2½ layover in Clifton Springs; one round trip was also offered from Clifton Springs with a short […]
Kansas City streetcar shutdown to continue for up to three weeks
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s streetcar line will be shut down at least another two to three weeks after service was halted because of a track issue last week. KC Streetcar offered that timeline on Sunday as it continues to repair tracks on the Main Street Bridge over Interstate 670, reporting on Twitter that […]
Honolulu rail system well used during free trial, but numbers drop when fares begin
HONOLULU — Honolulu’s new rail transit system was heavily used during its introductory period of free ridership, but numbers dropped significantly when paid rides began, Hawaii News Now reports. Some 71,722 passengers rode the Skyline automated light rail system from its debut on June 30 through July 4, including 18,108 on Independence Day, according to […]
An engineer’s life: Mad Dog’s dinner train fiasco
The Washington Central Railroad’s Spirit of Washington dinner train started running in 1989. Originally, it operated for a few years along the Yakama River Canyon in Eastern Washington, before moving to the east side of Lake Washington to run on Burlington Northern’s Woodinville Subdivision. The 44-mile round trip to the Columbia Winery in Woodinville departed […]
