Giving your trains a permanent home starts with building a train table. Here are two popular construction types: butt-jointed and L-girder. We’ll show you how to build a simple 4 x 8-foot train table using both techniques. Modelers have been using these method since the early years of the hobby. In fact, the information and […]
RONKS, Pa. — Strasburg Rail Road 4-8-0 No. 475, damaged in a Nov. 2 collision with a piece of track maintenance equipment, is back in operation on the railroad’s trains today (Monday, Nov. 7), Strasburg General Manager Jim Hager reports in a note to Trains News Wire correspondent Dan Cupper. The locomotive suffered damage to […]
Maxi-IV line from American Z Line Scale: Z (1:220) Price: Contact manufacturer Era: Modern Manufacturer: American Z Line, 6142 Northcliff Blvd., Dublin, OH 43016; 614-764-1703; americanzline.com Maxi-IV features: Each set includes six containers. 53′ containers are the first time AZL has offered corrugated type containers in this length. 40′ containers are a rerelease with new tooling. […]
TORONTO — A strike by 2,200 GO Transit workers began at 12:01 a.m. today (Monday, Nov. 7) after talks broke down over the weekend, halting bus service by the Toronto-area transit agency. The seven GO rail lines and UP Express service to Pearson Airport continue to operate. The strike is by Amalgamated Transit Union Local […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s profits declined in the third quarter due to a combination of lower volume and higher operating expenses. The railway’s operating income fell 7.1%, to $2.1 billion, on revenue of $6.5 billion, a 16.8% increase, BNSF’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. Revenue rose due to higher fuel surcharge revenue […]
SHIRLEYSBURG, Pa. — A new generation of facilities is planned for next summer at East Broad Top Railroad’s time-honored Colgate Grove picnic area, the line’s historic tourist-era turnaround point. Sometime during the coming season, the EBT Foundation Inc. will open two small pavilions and restrooms, along with something that the location never had before, a […]
COSTONIA, Ohio — Fifteen cars of a Norfolk Southern train carrying trash derailed Sunday morning, Nov. 6, in Jefferson County, Ohio, WTOV-TV reports, sending some containers of refuse into the Ohio River. The derailment was reported to authorities about 7 a.m., Rob Herrington, deputy director of the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency, told WKBN-TV that […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Former Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield, who was instrumental in the state’s purchase of the Alaska Railroad from the federal government and went on to serve as the railroad’s president, CEO, and board chairman, has died. Sheffield died on Nov. 4. He was 94. “There are just no words to encompass all that […]
SPRING, Texas — A Union Pacific worker was killed Saturday in an explosion during track work in Spring, Texas, KPRC-TV reports. The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office told the station the accident occurred about 9 a.m. Two workers were welding when gas was ignited, causing an explosion. One worker was taken to an area hospital, […]
A Great Northern publicity photo shows the interior of one of the 1947 Empire Builder’s observation-lounge cars. GN photo […]
What was your first byline in Trains? I had a news photo of brand-new Southern Railway GE U30Cs in the April 1968 issue, but my first feature story, “Yes, I DID Want to Run a Railroad” appeared in the July 1978 issue. It was a completely unsolicited manuscript with no photos. I wanted to describe my […]
Steam locomotives generate electricity As soon as trains began running at night railroads realized a light was needed for crews to see the tracks ahead and for people at grade crossings to be warned of the oncoming train. The first attempt at a headlight appeared in 1832 and involved a large wood bonfire burning in […]
