WATERBURY, Conn. — Nine passengers suffered minor injuries after a Metro-North train on the Waterbury Branch struck a tractor-trailer at a grade crossing late Monday morning, WTNH-TV reports. Thirty to 35 people were reported on the train when the accident occurred about 11 a.m. The driver of the tractor-trailer refused medical attention. Patch.com reports that […]
Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack Scale: N (1:160) Price: $54.99 Era: 1999+ to 2016+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack cars feature: Separate, factory-applied brake wheel and brake details Simulated corrugated roof Full articulation with flexible diaphragm Safety striping 70-ton […]
Norfolk Southern C39-8E diesel locomotive No. 8688 is one of only two of its kind known to remain in existence in the United States. The unit, made by General Electric, is a diesel-electric locomotive built between 1984 and 1987. An early part of GE’s Dash 8 series of locomotives, 161 C39-8s and C39-8Es were built […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, which was only restored to twice-a-day round trips in July after finding funds to restore full service, is about to be trimmed once again to one daily round trip between St. Louis and Kansas City. Effective Oct. 24 through Nov. 16, westbound train No. 311 and eastbound No. 316 […]
Top 6 locomotive upgrades from Mike Iden include: • Improved crashworthiness • Alerters and event recorders • Exhaust emissions • Improved working conditions in the cab • Improved dynamic brakes • Alignment control But before he explained those items, Iden wanted to include a dictionary definition of the word “enhancement”: Enhancement means “To increase or […]
Pullman-Standard 5,277-cubic-foot capacity waffle-side boxcar Scale: N (1:160) Price: $29.99 Era: 1974 to present (depending on scheme) Manufacturer: ExactRail, 525 E. 1860 S., Provo, UT 84606; 866-945-1701; exactrail.com Pullman-Standard 5277 boxcar features: Factory-installed Micro-Trains No. 1015 couplers Body-mounted draft-gear box American Steel Foundries 70-ton Ride Control trucks CNC-machined 33” metal wheelsets Road names: Southern Ry. (1976 […]
Korean War SW8 diesel locomotives survive in Alabama: Deep in the heart of America’s south, we find two able-bodied veterans of foreign war operating on the Calera & Shelby Railroad at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama. Calera & Shelby 2019 and 2022 SW8 switcher locomotives have a story to tell more […]
When the prolific and influential California photographer Stan Kistler won the Railway & Locomotive Society’s prestigious Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award in 1996, he earned what might be considered the ultimate citation for a photographer: “He has not only documented the railroads of the West, but crafted beautiful images that will last […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National is challenging some conclusions federal regulators reached in their draft environmental review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. Chief among them: The assumption that the merged Canadian Pacific Kansas City would not increase fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CN, in an Oct. 14 filing with the Surface Transportation […]
Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $229.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder, $329.99. Era: 1973+ to present (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 diesel locomotive features: Road-number-specific details Trainline and m.u. hoses Walkway tread detail Separate, factory-installed uncoupling levers, […]
It is difficult to keep garden railroad buildings dry. We have all spent hours constructing fine models of buildings for our railroads. Depending on your climate, they are not out long before they start to decay. More and more modelers are turning to plastic composite materials to build with, but certain plastic materials can be […]
You’ve found that perfect structure in an article or prototype drawing in Model Railroader magazine. The only problem is the plan is S scale and you’re an N scaler. You could use a photocopier to quickly enlarge or reduce a published plan to your scale. Or you can use the drawing and convert dimensions from […]
