Test twice, solder once

Jims simple test light has been around a long time and paid for itself many times

Test twice, solder once: It’s one of the best lessons I’ve learned in building layouts. In fact, it’s such a good lesson that I relearn it every once in while. My problem is patience. Testing takes a little time and slows my progress, or so I sometimes start to think. Actually, it can (and I […]

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Train de Charlevoix profile

Train de Charlevoix logo

Train de Charlevoix offers passengers 78 miles of scenery on this former Canadian National line along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and passing through two tunnels in the Charlevoix and Capitale-Nationale regions of Québec. Choices Trains to and from Montmorency Falls, about 10 miles east of Québec City, and La Malbaie meet […]

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News & Products for the week of March 13th 2023

News & Products for the week of March 13th 2023: an image of a model freight car

News & Products for the week of March 13th 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 March 13th 2023. […]

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BNSF reopens San Joaquin Valley route

BNSF Railway logo

WASCO, Calif. — BNSF has reopened its main line on the Bakersfield Subdivision in the San Joaquin Valley, the railroad reports in a service update to customers. The route, closed since approximately 1:30 p.m. PST on Saturday because of a washout, was reopened at 12:07 a.m. PDT today (Monday, March 13). There was no immediate […]

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Weather impacts continue to disrupt Amtrak trains (updated)

Train at station during snow

CHICAGO — Washouts in California, plus heavy snows there and along BNSF Railway’s Hi Line across North Dakota and Montana, are among obstacles thrown at Amtrak’s national network the last several days, precipitating cancellations, significant delays, and route truncations. A washout north of San Luis Obispo, Calif., caused the Coast Starlight to be cancelled in […]

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Union Pacific train derails in central Kansas

Union Pacific logo without slogan. UP Bailey Yard explosion appear to be accidental.

McPHERSON, Kan. — Thirteen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Sunday morning, starting a small grass fire and leading to a leak of denatured alcohol from two of the cars, KSN-TV reports. The derailment was reported about 9:40 a.m. McPherson Fire Chief TJ Wyssman told the station crews from Union Pacific, hazmat teams, and […]

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Start of expanded Altamont Corridor Express service pushed back

Map of expanded Altamont Corridor Express with service to Sacramento and communities south of Stockton

MODESTO, Calif. — Planned expansion of the Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail service into Stanislaus and Sacramento counties will be delayed by two years, with the first trains not running until 2026, the Modesto Bee reports. The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, which manages the service currently running between Stockton, Calif., and San Jose, attributes […]

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STB names two members to railroad-shipper advisory council

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has named Richard Erstad and James (Leggett) Kitchin to the board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council, the board announced Friday. Erstad, the vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Hawkins Inc., a chemical and ingredients company, joins the board representing small shippers. Kitchin, vice president for industrial products and coal […]

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The Coast Starlight play opens March 13

A woman in a coach seat on a stage.

Amtrak’s Coast Starlight runs daily from Los Angeles to Seattle, passing through some of the most beautiful scenery on the California coast and in the Pacific Northwest. Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight is a new play opening today, Monday, March 13, at New York’s Lincoln Center Theater that tracks the journey of six strangers on […]

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Bearberry

small bear figure sitting in evergreen patch of plants

Common name: Bearberry, kinnikinnick Latin name: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Plant type: Groundcover Plant size: 6″ high spreading to 3′ or more USDA Hardiness Zones: 2-7 Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, acidic soil; part shade or full sun Common bearberry is native to the US and Canada (as well as other continents) and is found in damp, […]

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BNSF line in California closed by washout

BNSF Railway logo

WASCO, Calif. — BNSF’s main line on the Bakersfield Subdivision in the San Joaquin Valley has been closed by a washout, the railroad informed customers in an advisory on Saturday. The washout was reported about 1:30 p.m. PST near Wasco, about 27 miles northwest of Bakersfield. BNSF’s initial estimate to reopen the route between Bakersfield […]

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