Rio Grande’s California Fast Freight departs Tennessee Pass station, crest of the Continental Divide, in April 1938. Big 2-8-8-2 3606 will keep the train in check on the 3 percent grade down to Minturn, Colo. H. Kindig […]
Cresting Tennessee Pass
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Digest: Contractor warns of new delays in California High Speed project, citing land-acquisition issues
Contractor informs California high speed agency of new delays A contractor on California’s high speed rail project has told the state high speed rail agency that it will not complete a 65-mile section of the railway in the Central Valley until at least April 2025, almost two years after the target date in the agency’s […]
Colebrookdale Railroad acquires a second steam locomotive
BOYERTOWN, Pa. — In cooperation with the Maguire Family Foundation, tourist line Colebrookdale Railroad announced on March 27 that it has acquired former Rio Grande Scenic Railroad 2-8-0 No. 18. The engine was built for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming in Upper Michigan by Alco (Pittsburgh) in 1910. The acquisition comes after the railroad said […]
Digest: Academy Awards lead to changes for Amtrak at LA Union Station
Use of LA Union Station for Oscars leads to Amtrak operation changes Amtrak operations at Los Angeles Union Station will be affected April 5-27 by the station’s use as one of two sites for the 93rd Academy Awards, to be held April 25. From April 5 to 23, and April 26-27, Thruway buses will be […]
Digest: CSX train derails in Nashville
No injuries reported as CSX train derails in Nashville Sixteen cars of a CSX Transportation train derailed early this morning in Nashville, Tenn., leading to a brief shelter-in-place order from authorities until it was determined there was no hazardous-material threat. A statement from CSX reports the derailment occurred about 3:07 a.m. CDT near West Due […]
Streamlined steam locomotives
A new aesthetic — “streamlining” — took hold in the 1930s. Objects from telephones to ocean liners were designed to be unified in appearance instead of collections of parts. Curves replaced square corners, and horizontal lines replaced verticals. Streamlining burst upon the railroad scene with the 1934 introduction of two sleek internal-combustion-powered passenger trains. Steam […]
Remembering Seaboard Air Line locomotives
All through March 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the stylish passenger trains, gritty freights, history, and now, hard-working locomotives of the Seaboard Air Line. Please enjoy this photo gallery of SAL images selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Bachmann announces limited-edition Amtrak Charger locomotive
Bachmann Trains announced that it will be releasing a limited-edition HO scale ALC-42 Charger locomotive decorated as Amtrak no. 301, wearing the passenger carrier’s 50th anniversary “Day 1” paint scheme. The model, item no. 68303, will be available only by pre-order through Bachmann retailers. The ALC-42 will feature a dual-mode TCS WOWSound sound decoder with […]
In Memoriam: Donald E. Fiehmann, 1934-2020
Donald E. (Don) Fiehmann of San Jose, Calif., passed away from complications due to heart failure in December. He was 86 years old. Don wrote more than 60 articles for Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines. In addition, he was the author of three Kalmbach books: Basic Electricity for Model Railroading (1988), The DCC […]
Broadway Limited announces dual-mode Paragon4 sound and control system
Broadway Limited Imports announced its new Paragon4 sound and control system with Rolling Thunder. The first two models with the new technology will be an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 2-8-2 steam locomotive and Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP20. Features of the dual-mode Paragon4 system include a built-in GoPack capacitor that’s automatically disabled on the programming […]
ScaleTrains.com donates to CSX “Pride in Service” signature charity partners
ScaleTrains.com recently donated $30,000 to five of CSX Transportation’s “Pride in Service” signature charity partners. The money is from the proceeds of the sale of the company’s HO scale Rivet Counter line CSX General Electric ES44AH diesel locomotives decorated in the Spirit of our Law Enforcement, Spirit of our First Responders, and Spirit of our […]
Digest: Legislation would create permanent funding for Amtrak
Senator, Congressman introduce bills to create dedicated funding source for Amtrak U.S. Sen. Richard Blumental (D-Conn.) and U.S. Rep Danny Davis (D-Ill.) have introduced legislation to provide permanent, dedicated funding for Amtrak. The Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act would create a fund providing approximately $5.4 billion annually for repairs, service improvements, fleet modernization and […]
