Nearly five decades have passed since General Motors debuted two new EMD electric freight locomotives. There were two models: the 6,000-hp GM6C, which operated on two six-wheel trucks, and the 10,000-horsepower GM10B, which operated on three four-wheel trucks. The GM6C began testing in 1975, the GM10B in 1976. The only practical choice for evaluation at […]
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Frisco steam to diesel transition: The mid-20th century was a time of great change for U.S. railroads. They were in the midst of a great steam to diesel transition that would revolutionize the industry for generations to come. An example of how the diesel changed part of one railroad may be found on the rolling […]
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Department of Defense intermodal containers Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Combo pack (one each 20-foot conex, tricon, and quadcon), $49.95; 20-foot container three-pack (one each brown, Marine Gray, and patched brown), $24.95 Era: present Manufacturer: Spring Mills Depot, P.O. Box 1616, Spring Mills, MD 21158, springmillsdepot.com Department of Defense intermodal container features: Injection-molded plastic construction Separate, […]
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View from a boxcar door Name: Ray Wheeler Railroad Name: Jericho & Mt. Zion Railway Location: Lynnwood, WA Scale: G scale Theme: Tourist railroad with freight operations in the modern era Description: “From A Boxcar Door” – Safety Film – Riding in an open boxcar on a J&MtZ extra freight train. (An unsafe practice!) Music […]
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Department of Defense 68-foot heavy-duty flatcars Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $64.95 Era: 1981 to present (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Spring Mills Depot, P.O. Box 1616, Spring Mills, MD 21158, springmillsdepot.com Department of Defense (DODX) 68-foot heavy-duty flatcar features: Die-cast metal underframe Factory-painted metal wheelsets Wire grab irons Metal wheels Kadee couplers Road-number-specific lettering […]
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Enjoy these two vintage N scale track plans, taken from the 1969 Kalmbach Media book N Scale Model Railroad Track Plans. These two layouts were in a chapter called “Permanent Railroads.” Download the PDF containing both track plans. The Dapperling Railroad This line serves Cassville, Browntown, a mine, and a logging operation. During the […]
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ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Out of service for 66 years, East Broad Top narrow-gauge 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive No. 16 is getting close to operating again. Built for EBT by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916, it’s one of six surviving BLW Mikados on the roster of the iconic short-line railroad in central Pennsylvania, which has […]
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WASHINGTON — Amtrak is proposing that, in extreme examples of routes with poor on-time performance, it would be allowed to take over dispatching from host railroad Canadian National as part of a new operating agreement with CN. In asking the Surface Transportation Board to set terms of a new agreement with CN, the passenger railroad […]
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ALEXANDER, W.Va. — West Virginia’s coal history is a cyclical tale of boom-and-bust periods driven by the world’s appetite for the state’s most abundant fossil fuel. Agility and resiliency have carried coal and its closely linked partner, railroading, through periods of prosperity and dispersity. Today in one of the state’s most rural dwellings is a […]
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Their debut delayed by installation and testing of Positive Train Control equipment, Rocky Mountaineer’s GP40-3 locomotives last week finally began replacing leased Union Pacific power on the “Rockies to Red Rocks” excursions to Glenwood Springs, Colo., and Moab, Utah. On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, they head west from Denver at Arvada, Colo., at milepost 9.75 […]
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HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — All of the cars that went into a creek as a result of a Thursday derailment of a Norfolk Southern train were removed from the water as of Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Two locomotives and 17 cars of the train derailed after the train hit a dump truck loaded with […]
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WASHINGTON — More Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement, or CRISI, grants from the Federail Railroad Administration have been announced by members of Congress whose areas will receive the funding. Among the latest announcements: California grants worth more than $46 million U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.) announced awards of more than […]
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