Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Hitch’s Garage

A gas station with a sign that reads "Hitch's Garage" on a model railroad layout with a train passing behind the gas station

As the mechanic at Hitch’s Garage tends to a disabled car, an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe NW2 rumbles past with a switch run. Jay Miller took the photo on Chuck Hitchcock’s HO scale Argentine Industrial District. You can read more about Chuck’s layout in the February 2007 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Model Railroader‘s […]

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New York governor claims Trump administration is responsible for possible Long Island rail strike

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to say Wednesday whether she would ask President Donald Trump to appoint a Presidential Emergency Board to head off a potential strike by five Long Island Rail Road unions, and claimed that the Trump administration was responsible for the possibility of a walkout as soon as […]

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Canada Infrastructure Bank helps fund Cando terminal expansion

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Canada Infrastructure Bank has reached financial close on a $72.1 million (U.S.) loan to Cando Rail & Terminals for expansion of its Sturgeon Terminal in the Alberta Industrial Heartland. The project will double the size of the terminal, which currently handles car supply for a dozen industrial customers in the Edmonton […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic drops

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed one of its biggest single-week dips compared to 2024 for the week ending Sept. 6, with volume down 2.4% compared to the same week a year ago. According to the Association of American Railroads, volume for the week was 467,880 carloads and intermodal units. That included 214,383 carloads, down […]

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Board members engaged at Amtrak online meeting: Analysis

Passenger train pulled by electric locomotive on long straight

WASHINGTON — Though outsiders were not permitted to comment or ask questions, the online Amtrak board of directors meeting today (Wednesday, Sept. 10) was much more informative than the previous edition, in large part because of interrogation by board members following company executives’ presentations and candid admission of where results are falling short. The last […]

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NS CEO says the rail industry has turned corner on service

Freight train at diamond with bridges in background

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George says the rail industry is ready to put periodic service crises in the rearview mirror — and regain market share lost to trucking in the process. “We went through … more than a decade where service crises happened every couple of years,” George told an investor […]

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Sound Transit train operates across I-90 floating bridge for first time

Aerial view of light rail trainset on bridge

SEATTLE — In a milestone for Sound Transit’s ongoing expansion of its light rail network, a light rail train operated across Lake Washington’s Interstate 90 floating bridge late Monday night (Sept. 8, 2025). It was not only the first time a Sound Transit train has crossed that bridge under its own power, but, according to […]

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Norm Jurgen’s O gauge layout

The track plan for Norm Jurgen's O gauge toy train layout

Name: Norm Jurgen’s O gauge layout Dimensions: 16 x 18 feet Track and switches: Lionel FasTrack (diameters range from 60 to 72 inches) Motive power: Lionel Rolling stock: Lionel Controls: Lionel Nos. 22983 180-watt PowerHouses (9), CW-80 transformer (5) with TrainMaster Command Control Accessories: Lionel, MTH Structures: Department 56, Lionel, MTH, Woodland Scenics Vehicles: Altaya, […]

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Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say rival alliances bolster their merger case

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena and Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George say the interline partnerships that BNSF, CSX, and Canadian National have announced recently are proof that the proposed UP-NS merger will boost railroad competition. “Just the mere idea of having a transcontinental railroad has already enhanced competition … And I […]

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Jim Steed’s Blairsville & Georgia Southern RR in O scale

A toy train layout track plan

Name: Jim Steed’s Blairsville & Georgia Southern RR Gauge: O Dimensions: 8 x 21 feet Track: K-Line, Lionel, Menards (diameters range from 31 to 54 inches) Switches: Lionel Motive power: Lionel (postwar, modern), MTH, Williams Rolling stock: Lionel (postwar, modern), MTH Controls: Lionel type-Z, MTH No. Z-4000 (3) transformers Accessories: Hafner, Lionel (postwar, mod-ern), Marx, […]

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The HO scale Cincinnati Traction layout

A model railroad track plan for the Cincinnati street railway layout

Facts and features Name: Cincinnati Traction Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 2′-6″ x 14′-6″ Prototype: Cincinnati Street Ry. (city streetcars) and Cincinnati & Lake Erie (interurban) Locale: Cincinnati, Ohio Era: 1930s and ’40s Style: shelf Mainline run: Approximately 24 feet (dogbone on interurban rapid transit line) Minimum radius: 7″ on streetcar line, 11″ on interurban rapid […]

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The HO scale Pennsylvania RR Panhandle Division

A model railroad track plan for the Pennsylvania railroad panhandle division layout

Facts and features Name: Pennsylvania RR Panhandle Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 41 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia panhandle Era: late 1940s and early 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 24″ (branch) Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 5 (branch) Maximum […]

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