Fox Valley Models Trinity RD-4 coal hopper Scale: N (1:160) Price: $22.99, single car; 6-11 cars, $21.99 each; 12+ cars, $19.99 each Era: mid-1990s to present Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, scaletrains.com Fox Valley Models Trinity RD-4 coal hopper features: New road numbers Die-cast weight with interior detail Separate, factory-applied interior braces Removable coal load Detailed, free-rolling trucks […]
Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 Scale: N (1:160) Price: Direct-current model, $149.99; with dual-mode ESU LokSound 5 and Digital Command Control, $249.99 Era: 1972 to 1984 Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, scaletrains.com Features: Directional LED headlights Operating front and rear deck mounted alternating LED ditch lights Body-mounted knuckle couplers (Micro-Trains compatible) Operates on code 55 and 80 rail Paint schemes: […]
RALEIGH, N.C. — A draft feasibility study for a 43-mile commuter rail line connecting Raleigh and Durham projects the project could cost $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion, WRAL-TV reports. The $9 million study for regional transit agency GoTriangle is now being presented to local officials for review. A final version is slated to be is […]
COHUTTA, Ga. — The small town of Cohutta, just southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn., is seeking $2 million in funding to develop railroad-themed park to attract tourism. The Daily Citizen of Dalton, Ga., reports the town has applied for grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to turn a 5-acre lot adjacent to a Norfolk […]
Menards Cripple Creek General Store is in the new product showcase for Bob’s Train Box 82. Then Bob and CTT editor Hal Miller have a show-and-tell about the types of track available for Standard, O, and S gauge hobbyists including tubular, integral roadbed, and scale-like. There are lots of choices if you’re just starting a […]
Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model, $149.98; with dual-mode ESU sound and Digital Command Control, $209.98. Era: 1984 to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218, walthers.com Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel locomotive features: Upgraded power trucks with HT-C sideframes See-through steps Detailed dynamic brake […]
SAFE HARBOR, Pa. — Where electric-powered freight trains once rumbled high above the Susquehanna River en route between the East Coast and Midwest, hikers, bikers, and runners now catch breathtaking views of soaring bald eagles from the 150-foot-high Safe Harbor trestle. Opened earlier this month to public use as part of the planned 29-mile-long Enola […]
The U.S. Class I railroads’ recurring crew shortages, related bouts of service problems, and a lack of meaningful volume growth are intertwined. You can lay the blame for all three problems at just one place: Wall Street. BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are in the midst of the mother of all […]
SUMMIT, Ill. — Some projects in Chicago’s CREATE program, which seeks to address rail congestion, bring dramatic changes to the landscape. The Englewood Flyover, the lengthy bridge which raised Metra’s Rock Island District above the Norfolk Southern main line on the city’s South Side, is the classic example. For others, the impact is far more […]
General Electric C30-7 diesel locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model, $239.95; with dual-mode ESU LokSound V5 sound decoder, $349.95 Era: September 1976 to present (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada, 905-474-3314, rapidotrains.com General Electric C30-7 features: Adirondack or Rockwell trucks as appropriate […]
CHICAGO — Higher interest rates may not be significantly pulling back inflationary pressure thus far, but they are cooling down lumber prices, returning them to near pre-pandemic norms in an inadvertent sacrifice of Class I railroad carloads. According to rail carload data, so far this year the country’s seven Class I railroads have hauled approximately […]
WASHINGTON – Operational changes related to Precision Scheduled Railroading — including a reliance on longer trains — took center stage at a congressional hearing focused on rail safety. Rail labor leaders and some safety officials were critical of PSR during a House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. But little light, backed up with […]
