What was your first byline in Trains? Kevin Gilliam: My first byline was what became a Trains Trackside (previously Trains Presents) five-minute video that was concurrent with the Norfolk Southern 21st Century Steam Program visit to Asheville, N.C., in April 2013. More of those short videos followed, eventually culminating in the first feature-length 611 In Steam […]
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Conrail Historical Society’s museum and archive center, housed in a retired 86-foot hi-cube auto parts boxcar, opened to the public with ceremonies on Saturday, April 1. The facility, located along the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail, is a collaboration of the society with the rail trail, Shippensburg University, Cumberland Area Economic Development […]
CHICAGO — The Historic Pullman Foundation will celebrate its 50th anniversary at its annual Rail Car Reception, set this year for Thursday, May 18, aboard three historic Pullman cars on the Track One platform at Chicago Union Station. The reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event is a prelude to the […]
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Rail Road has begun construction of a new container yard at its Senate Avenue Intermodal Terminal, the company announced Friday. The 6-acre facility connects directly to a recent terminal expansion completed in December 2022, and is built to support more than 1,000 empty containers and an equivalent number of chassis. “This […]
Still in use more than 180 years after they were built, the Keystone Arch Bridges of western Massachusetts stand as enduring monuments to the skill of their creators. An economic crisis Boston had a problem in the late 1830s. The newly completed Erie Canal was drawing more and more trade to the ports of New […]
PARADISE, Mont. — Another day, another derailment. Or so it seems. Some 25 cars of a Montana Rail Link train derailed west of the town of Paradise, with some of the cars entering the Clark Fork River, CNN reports. The derailment occurred about 9:20 a.m., with no injuries reported. Photographs suggest the train was a […]
CHICAGO — Midwest Amtrak service has resumed after a storm stretching from Arkansas to the East Coast disrupted routes with downed trees and power outages. Beginning Friday, March 31, many trains were held at stations while tracks and grade-crossing highway warning devices were cleared and inspected. Weather issues continued today (Sunday, April 2), when catenary […]
Kansas City Southern history is now appropriate to talk about since the seventh of seven Class I railroads in North America has been approved to merge with Canadian Pacific to make a larger No. 6 Class I railroad. Kansas City Southern history In 1889 Arthur Stilwell began building the Kansas City, Nevada & Fort Smith […]
My favorite caboose: The MR staff picks their favorite caboose model and explains why it’s their favorite. What’s your favorite caboose? Leave a comment and let us know! Mitch Horner International Car Co. I-18 steel bay window caboose I’ve been enamored recently by Tangent’s Chessie System “’73+ Repaint Version 2” International Car Co. I-18 […]
By Greg Privette Vacationing near the Olympic mountains of Washington state birthed a vision for my new HO scale layout. Logging was the industry and Shelton, Wash., was home to the last logging railroad in the United States. Old-growth timbers harvested near Camp 5 were delivered by the Simpson Railroad to Shelton starting around the […]
Q: I’m writing you to ask how to weather steam locomotives as well as my log cars, bobber cabooses, and other railroad cars. I would also like to weather some of my buildings. Can you give me some ideas on what to use in weathering my layout? – Russell C. Brenchley, Cottage Grove, Ore. A: […]
In last month’s “Sketching with Steve,” I explored a single-industry track plan by drawing a 4×8 paper mill layout. This month I’m doing it again, this time creating an ethanol plant track plan. If you’re looking for a modern industry that offers lots of business for your model railroad, an ethanol plant is for you. Jeff […]
