Spaces to Places VII | Within yard limits, part 2

Host Gerry Leone is back for more work on his double-deck model railroad, specifically targeting the lower-level yard recently featured in Spaces to Places VII. Follow along as he finishes out the scene by restoring and recycling ballasted track from his previous HO scale Bona Vista layout! Want to see more of Gerry’s work on […]

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Start-up Lunatrain plans private night trains in East, Midwest

Illustration of sleeping car accomodation

PHILADELPHIA — A new company has announced plans to develop a private sleeper-train service connecting major destinations, and says it aims to have a demonstration unit in the second half of 2026. Lunatrain, which describes itself as “a private, early-stage company,” says it will develop a network of express, non-stop night trains in the Midwest […]

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Floods halt Amtrak’s City of New Orleans (updated)

Passenger train on curve

CHICAGO — Flooding is disrupting operation of Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, while Empire Builder departures have been cancelled for a fourth straight day. Other Amtrak cancellations announced for today (Feb. 18) include both directions of the Borealis between St. Paul and Milwaukee and a Lincoln Service trip from St. Louis to Chicago, according to […]

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East Troy Industrial Park, Ep. 2 | Building a Frame

With all the same enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated in previous Model Railroader Project Layout efforts, host David Popp and Bryson Sleppy begin constructing the East Troy Industrial Park (ETIP) model railroad! While it will be just a small semblance of the former Milwaukee, Racine, & Troy HO scale (1:87.1) layout, the all-new ETIP promises to […]

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Missouri Pacific locomotives remembered

Striped mid-cab diesel locomotive

Missouri Pacific locomotives, both steam and diesel, display a variety typical of their era.     The “MoPac,” as it was called, merged several railroads during the diesel era, notably the International-Great Northern and St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico in 1956, the Texas & Pacific (which it had long controlled) and Chicago & Eastern Illinois […]

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Amtrak’s Empire Builder again cancelled

Amtrak logo.

CHICAGO — Departures of the Empire Builder have been cancelled in both directions today (Sunday, Feb. 16), for a second straight day, according to Amtrak’s website. No information on either cancellation was provided on the website or the Amtrak Alerts social media feed. However, the westbound Builder that was due in Portland at 11:17 a.m. […]

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Empire Builder again cancelled because of weather

Passenger train in snow

CHICAGO — Amtrak has cancelled Empire Builder departures in both directions scheduled for today (Feb. 15, 2025), as well as the eastbound Borealis and one westbound Wolverine. Two Northeast Corridor trains have also been cancelled. The reasons for the cancellations differ. According to posts on the Amtrak Alerts feed on X.com, the Empire Builder slated […]

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