Lionel Legacy Boston & Maine No. 801 SW8 locomotive

Lionel SW8 switcher locomotive

Lionel Legacy SW8 locomotive Lionel has released an SW8 switcher locomotive in its Legacy line. Classic Toy Trains editor Hal Miller gives you a first look at this engine, which is loaded with extra details like a fan-driven smoke unit, operating couplers, unique number boards, a bell, a single smokestack, two horns, and so much […]

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Menards O gauge Valley Motors car dealership building

Menards O gauge car dealership structure

Menards has released a new O gauge auto dealership building called Valley Motors. It features lighting, die-cast vehicles, figures, and lots of detail. It would be at home on a layout set in the 1940s to today. The structure harkens back to an era where American cars and trucks were heavy – probably made of […]

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Trailing spikemoss

Trailing spikemoss with miniature scooter

  Common name: Trailing spikemoss, golden clubmoss 

Latin name: Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’ Plant type: Groundcover 

Plant size: Moist, acidic soil; part or full shade USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-9 Cultural needs: Mounding as high as 6″, spreading to 24″ Spikemoss, with its seaweed-like jointed stems, has an other-world appearance, as do the liverworts, when you get […]

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Kentucky Steam, Pueblo Railway Foundation swap parts for steam locomotive restorations

Steam locomotive at museum

RAVENNA, Ky. — Part of a Santa Fe engine is heading East to help return a locomotive to operating condition, thanks to a creative collaboration between two unlikely preservation partners. Two non-profit organizations, the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. and the Pueblo (Colo.) Railway Foundation, will swap locomotive components, bringing one 78-year-old locomotive’s restoration closer to […]

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CEO of Texas transit agency resigns

Smiling man in white shirt and blue coat

LEWISVILLE, Texas — Denton County Transportation Authority CEO Raymond Suarez has resigned, effective March 31. The Denton Record-Chronicle reports the authority board of directors unanimously accepted the resignation after two hours in closed session and named Paul Cristina, currently deputy CEO, as interim CEO. Suarez did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. Suarez […]

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Cleanup continues after Union Pacific derailment in Texas

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

PITTSBURG, Texas — Cleanup continues after at least 20 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Sunday afternoon in Pittburg, Texas. KLTV reports Pittsburgh Mayor David Abernathy said a train of more than 13,000 feet was involved, with two different portions derailing. No injuries were reported. KXTW-TV reports the accident occurred about 1 p.m., and […]

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FTA announces $2.2 billion relief package for transit systems

Red and white Caltrain at station.

WASHINGTON — At an event with Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced that it will award $2.2 billion to 35 recipients in 18 states through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The funds will help public transportation agencies pay for day-to-day operations as they continue to provide […]

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Meet the Modeler: Jim Kelly

Locomotive on an N scale model train layout

What was your first train set (or locomotive)? When I was very young, I had several Marx wind-up trains. They would circle the loop of track several times and then run down. My first “real” train set was an S gauge American Flyer with an Atlantic type steam locomotive and several cars. I was probably […]

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