An introduction to track wiring basics

Diagram showing the path power takes from a booster, through a bus, and to the track.

There is probably no other aspect of our hobby that creates more anxiety and confusion for newcomers than wiring. When you’re starting at absolute ground zero on the learning curve it can be daunting at times. However, at the most basic level, what we’re trying to do is get electricity from a power source to […]

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Tichy Train Group announces new HO scale structure kit

Tichy Train Group HO scale one-room schoolhouse with picket fence and outhouse on scenicked base.

Tichy Train Group, manufacturer of structure and freight car details, decals, and other products in N, HO, S, and O scales, has added a one-room schoolhouse kit to its HO scale product line-up. The injection-molded styrene schoolhouse includes windows, two different doors, an outhouse, 28” of fancy picket fence, porch railings, a one-piece roof, and […]

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Eastern Seaboard Models enters HO scale market

Eastern Seaboard Models HO scale New Haven & Bangor & Aroostook 40-foot heated, insulated plug-door boxcars.

Eastern Seaboard Models, well-known for its N and Z scale products, announced that it will be entering the HO scale market. The company’s initial offerings will be Magor and Pacific Car & Foundry 40-foot XIH heated, insulated plug-door boxcars. The first cars will be a circa 1950 Bangor & Aroostook boxcar based on a Magor […]

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Pennsylvania Railroad HO scale transition era layout images

A train waits a city station

Pennsylvania Railroad HO scale transition era layouts Pennsylvania Railroad HO scale transition era layouts are among the grandest and most visually stunning in model railroading. Bridges, viaducts, and tunnels stitch together verdant vistas. Brunswick green, Tuscan red, or plain black steam and diesel locomotives thread drag freights and limiteds alike through lush canyons, beside quarries, […]

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STB sets hearings on three major issues

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled hearings on three major issues: the CSX acquisition of Pan Am Railways; Amtrak’s bid to operate trains between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., and its reciprocal switching proposal. All three hearings will be held in the hearing room at the STB’s Washington headquarters, with additional specifics to […]

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BNSF and CN raise issues over CP-KCS merger

Train of auto racks meets locomotives

WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Canadian National have raised issues with federal regulators’ timeline for review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. BNSF, in a filing posted today on the Surface Transportation Board’s website, said the 90-day comment period was insufficient given the ramifications of how the merger would affect traffic moving between […]

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Doug Karhan, former NS steam master mechanic, dies

IRONDALE, Ala. — Doug Karhan, who was master mechanic of steam for Norfolk Southern from 1982 to the close of excursions in 1994, has died. Karhan, who began as a volunteer, became assistant to the late Bill Purdie. He died Thursday, those close to him tell Trains News Wire. No other details were immediately available. […]

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Sketching With Steve: Using DPDT switches

Pencil sketches on graph paper show four applications for double-pole double-throw switches

On a railroad, a switch usually refers to the moving parts of a turnout that routes a train between two possible routes. This time, though, we’re talking about an electrical switch: specifically, a double-pole double-throw switch (DPDT). It’s easy to understand a single-pole single-throw switch: it only has two states, open or closed, off or […]

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CN pledges to achieve net-zero carbon operations by 2050

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, becoming the first North American railroad to do so by joining the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and United Nations Race to Zero campaigns. “CN’s pledge to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 further builds upon our commitment to short-, medium- and long-term targets, […]

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