“Most dangerous task I ever performed”

GTW8090

The little door below the headlight on an Alco switcher like Grand Trunk Western S4 No. 8090 led to a veritable chamber of horrors for a young roundhouse worker. J. David Ingles I know there are many dangerous occupations. My wife’s ancestors were coal miners in Pennsylvania after coming to America, having mined coal in […]

Read More…

New model railroad products for the week of March 5, 2020

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive

Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive. Southern Pacific (as delivered); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; British Columbia Ry. (red, white, and blue “lightning stripe”); Conrail (as delivered, CSX patched numbers, and Norfolk Southern patched numbers); CSX (blue, yellow, and gray); Minnesota Commercial; Seaboard System […]

Read More…

Donations pour in to steam the last Baldwin

BaldwinPlate

CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Trains Magazine led fund-raising effort to contribute $100,000 toward the restoration of the last Baldwin steam locomotive made for domestic use — Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 — is off to a good start. With the appeal to readers still in its first month, more than $41,000 — including one […]

Read More…

B&O 195 box cab lives again

Model locomotive on layout

Today we find B&O # 195 box cab delivering two tank cars to the Criswell Oil Company and picking up the empties. Model is a Roundhouse from which the internal mechanisms and trucks have been removed. They are replaced with Stanton power and non-powered trucks from North West Short Line. Added features include an ESU […]

Read More…

B&O 195 box cab lives again

Model locomotive on layout

Today we find B&O # 195 box cab delivering two tank cars to the Criswell Oil Company and picking up the empties. Model is a Roundhouse from which the internal mechanisms and trucks have been removed. They are replaced with Stanton power and non-powered trucks from North West Short Line. Added features include an ESU […]

Read More…

Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad

Southbound manifest train 26, three F unit diesels, pauses by the Borden Textile Mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, in March 1967 to add a three-unit rear-end pusher for the 42-mile climb to Erwin.

Southbound manifest train 26, three F unit diesels, pauses by the Borden Textile Mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, in March 1967 to add a three-unit rear-end pusher for the 42-mile climb to Erwin. C. K. Marsh Jr. History and major events of the Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield was different. It was conceived by men who had […]

Read More…

Easy project: Swapping loads on flatcar models

Model railroad flatcar false floor 1

Roger Kujawa and Bruce Brantner came up with the idea of using false floors to secure heavy equipment and other loads on their HO flatcars. This allows them to run properly loaded or empty flatcars during operating sessions on Roger’s Atlantic & Great Western RR. Jim Forbes Roger used the wood deck as a template […]

Read More…

February 2020 new products from Garden Railways magazine

accucraft_adams

Accucraft Adams Radial Tank 4-4-2T Engines & rolling stock Accucraft, 3260 Central Ave, Union City CA 94587 has an Adams Radial Tank 4-4-2T in 1:32 scale. This live-steam engine is butane fired and available in both kit and ready-to-run versions, with a choice of several roadnames Price (kit): $1,945 or (RTR) $2,160. See the website […]

Read More…

New model trains for the week of February 27, 2020

Bachmann HO scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive

Bachmann HO scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive HO scale locomotives 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Erie; St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco, with doghouse); Western Pacific; and painted black but unlettered. Dual-mode TCS WOWSound decoder; Keep-Alive capacitor; Chuffinity technology; cog V-belt flywheel drive; metal motor bearings; separately applied stack, domes, cab, […]

Read More…

Locomotive profile: 2-10-2 Santa Fe type steam locomotive

Chinese-built Iowa Interstate Railroad's 2-10-2 Santa Fe type steam locomotive pulls a passenger train at Rock Island, Illinois.

Chinese-built Iowa Interstate Railroad’s 2-10-2 Santa Fe type steam locomotive pulls a passenger train at Rock Island, Illinois.  Jim Wrinn 2-10-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1903 to 1931 •MANUFACTURERS: Baldwin, Lima, Brooks, Canadian, Montreal, China •OPERATED ON: Burlington Route; Baltimore & Ohio; Wabash; Atlantic Coast Line; Boston & Albany; Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range; Southern Railway; among […]

Read More…

Locomotive profile: 2-6-6-6 Allegheny type steam locomotive

Chesapeake & Ohio Allegheny-type 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1622 pulls freight in West Virginia in the 1940s.

Chesapeake & Ohio Allegheny-type 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1622 pulls freight in West Virginia in the 1940s. B.F. Cutler 2-6-6-6 •YEARS BUILT: 1941 to 1948 •MANUFACTURER: Lima •OPERATED ON: Chesapeake & Ohio, Virginian Railway •NAMES: Allegheny on C&O, Blue Ridge on Virginian •QUANTITY: 68 •BOILER PRESSURE: 260 psi •KNOWN FOR: Hauling freight on steep mountain […]

Read More…

Locomotive profile: 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotive

Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotive No. 1225 steams near Owosso, Michigan.

Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotive No. 1225 steams near Owosso, Michigan. Jim Wrinn 2-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1924 to 1949 •MANUFACTURERS: Lima, Alco, Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Multiple large railroads •NAMES: Berkshire, Kanawha (Chesapeake & Ohio) •QUANTITY: 611; C&O had the most with 130 on the roster in 1947 •BOILER PRESSURE: 240 psi •KNOWN FOR: […]

Read More…