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Defect detectors
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Defect detectors

An Amtrak train en route from Milwaukee to Chicago on Canadian Pacific’s double-track main line hurtles by a metal cabin…

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Freight car classifications
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Freight car classifications

The Association of American Railroads has 11 basic classification of freight cars. Most of the major classes have subclasses, and…

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Freight car markings
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Freight car markings

Conrail. Milwaukee Road. Santa Fe. Rail Box. Anyone who watches freight trains is familiar with these and other names blazoned…

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Freight car trucks and carbodies
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Freight car trucks and carbodies

Car trucks and carbodies Do you remember running boards and full-height ladders on box cars? They are known in the…

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Introducing the horn section
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Introducing the horn section

Leslie and Nathan may sound like a dull couple from the ‘burbs, but they’re actually the first chairs in railroading’s…

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Locomotive classification lights
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Locomotive classification lights

Locomotive classification lights Locomotive classification lights — colored flags by day, lights by night — were once used throughout North…

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Mountain railroading terminology
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Mountain railroading terminology

Ruling Grade: The maximum meaningful grade on a line; the grade that limits train tonnage. Traditionally, a ruling grade was…

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Rack and cable railways
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Rack and cable railways

Virtually all the railways in the world employ the same system for moving the vehicles that travel over them: Power…

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Rail
May 1, 2006·ABCs Of Railroading·Trains Magazine

Rail

Perhaps no part of railroading is as important as that which gave the industry its name: rail. Together with flanged-wheel…

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