Facts & features Name: Great Northern Scale: N (1:160) Size: 10-0′ x 16-0′ Prototypes: Freelanced Locale: Pacific Northwest Era: Mid-1960s Style: Walk-in Mainline run: 86 feet Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Benchwork: Modified L-girder Height: 46″ Roadbed: Commercial foam roadbed Track: Micro Engineering code 55 (main), Peco code 80 (staging) Scenery: Extruded-foam insulation […]
Autoflood III coal hopper in N scale from Rapido Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car, $38.95; six-pack, $233.70 Era: 2004+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Autoflood III coal hopper features: Die-cast frame and floor Full interior rivet and K-member details […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific wants to address sick leave for its unionized employees and provide certainty regarding scheduled days off, CEO Lance Fritz told the Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday. STB Member Robert Primus asked Fritz if he would be in favor of adding sick leave, something that rail labor is seeking through congressional action […]
MILTON, Ontario — The Halton County Radial Railway Museum closed its 2022 season with its “Christmas On the Rails” event Dec. 10-11, operating multiple cars from its collection of more than 50 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century equipment. Among cars in operation were London & Port Stanley Railway interurban car No. 8 (built in 1919 […]
ALTOONA, Pa. — The first new Belpaire steam-locomotive firebox built in Altoona in 76 years is taking shape at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. Over the last week, employees of consultant FMW Solutions LLC and volunteers have fabricated a new firebox for former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam passenger engine No. 1361 (PRR Juniata Shops, […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — A hi-rail vehicle parked outside the area specified in its track occupancy permit — reflecting miscommunication between the vehicle’s driver and the rail traffic controller, as well as the driver’s inexperience in requesting such permits — led to a Canadian National train striking the vehicle in a Nov. 28, 2020, accident near […]
WASHINGTON — The independent body that oversees DC Metrorail safety issues has indicated reservations about the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s plan to restore automated operation of Metrorail trains, which was disengaged following a fatal collision in 2009. The Washington Post reports the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission says it will work with WMATA on the […]
My first railroad book has stuck with me ever since my parents gave it to me when I was 9. Lucius Beebe’s “Hear the Train Blow” was a massive scrapbook of American railroad history, full of the author’s outrageous prose and uncanny skill at digging up illustration. I still love looking through it 62 years […]
Missouri Pacific 4-6-2 6621 and St. Louis-Southwestern 4-6-0 663 await their next assignments at the Memphis Union Station engine house in October 1950. James G. La Vake photo […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific’s increasing reliance on embargoes to clear congestion came under fire on Tuesday from shippers, labor unions, and members of the Surface Transportation Board during a daylong hearing. Regulators last month ordered UP to explain why it has significantly increased its use of embargoes. With UP running short of train crews, the […]
MINOT, N.D. — With winter storm warnings in effect across the northern plains from a windy, frigid blast that has already barreled through the Sierra Nevada and Colorado mountains, there is always the possibility that service on Amtrak’s long-distance network will be disrupted. As was the case during a blizzard last month [“Westbound Empire Builder […]
Food Machinery Corporation 50-foot plug door boxcar in N scale from Athearn Scale: N (1:160) Price: $29.99. Add $5 for Primed for Grime. Era: 1977+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Food Machinery Corporation 50-foot boxcar features: Injection-molded body Scale profile brake wheel Roller bearing, screw-mounted […]
