Using forced perspective

HO scale scene with gondola in foreground, trees behind track, and N scale structures in the distance.

Visual trickery has been part of model railroading for many years. John Allen used mirrors on his HO scale Gorre & Daphetid to make scenes appear deeper than they really were. John also made inches appear like miles on his model railroad using structures and scenery to create the illusion of distance, a technique known […]

Read More…

Metra to receive $500 million American Rescue Plan grant

Metra logo

WASHINGTON – Chicago’s Metra will receive  a $513.6 million from the American Rescue Plan fund, announced U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The funds will help the commuter agency maintain service and keep workers on the payroll as it continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Public transportation has helped people reach their jobs […]

Read More…

Trackside Photos: A pleasant day in Pennsylvania, a fall day in Ontario, and a sunny summer in Washington

Three gray-and-maroon diesels lead a manifest freight through an S curve along a creek in the forest

Send us your photos Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact Senior Associate Editor Steven Otte at sotte@kalmbach.com. […]

Read More…

News photo: First revenue run for new Amtrak cars

Passenger train rounds curve

JOLIET, Ill. — More than a year after making their first test runs, the Siemens Venture equipment built for state-supported Amtrak service in the Midwest made their first revenue trip Tuesday morning on Lincoln Service train No. 303 from Chicago to St. Louis. The equipment is scheduled to return this evening on train No. 306, […]

Read More…

News photo: South Shore station falls in Michigan City

Commuter train running down middle of the street past fenced-off lot

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — The landmark but long-closed South Shore Line station on 11th Street in downtown Michigan City has been torn down, a casualty of the ongoing project to double-track the line between Gary, Ind., and Michigan City. That project will also see the end of the current street running in Michigan City. The […]

Read More…

How West Virginia’s lone Amtrak station agent was reinstated

Man with gloves at door of baggate car at night

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some may take the physical presence of a station agent for granted, especially in a world that has learned to do more with less interaction. But the story of how West Virginia regained its only agent back helps underpin the importance of humanizing the passenger railroad experience. In April 2018, before the […]

Read More…

Group forms to save Bakersfield, Calif., station

Black and white photo of train station

  BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A group has formed to try to save a 133-year-old former Southern Pacific railroad station in Bakersfield, and is asking the public’s help in convincing the city to extend a lease on the structure while it mounts its preservation efforts. The Bakersfield Californian reports the Save the Sumner Station Working Group […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern intermodal train derails in Virginia

Norfolk Southern logo

BLUEFIELD, Va. — An estimated 30 cars of a Norfolk Southern intermodal train derailed Monday in Bluefield, leading to a response by hazmat teams. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports the derailment occurred Monday morning, and no injuries were reported. Railroad spokesman Connor Spielmaker told the newspaper that a small number of the cars were categorized […]

Read More…

Toronto museum offers online talk on film ‘Iron Road’

Logo of Toronto Railway Museum

TORONTO — The Toronto Railway Museum will host an online lecture “Trains in the Movies: Behind the Scenes of ‘Iron Road’” on Feb. 17. Producer Anne Tait will be the featured speaker for the event, set for 7-8:30 p.m. EST, on the movie Iron Road, described as “the building of the Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental route, […]

Read More…