April 29, 2009 | 1 Comments »

I am always on the lookout for good building plans for model railroads. Today i found lots of great buildings in PDF format from the Illinois Historic Preservation Society. These are in HO scale and the color quality is good. You could print and build structures for Main Street, USA or create your very own set of Lincoln sites. They also have a line drawing version that you could build and then color it in.

You could easily adapt these drawing for your preferred scale by converting it from HO and using the factor as a enlargement/reduction percentage while printing. [ See previous post ]

Though there are many commercial buildings, the real gem is the Great Western Depot which was the site of Abraham Lincolns’ Farewell Speech as he left Springfield, Illinois for Washington, D.C. to become the 16th President of the United States.

Instructions are fairly straightforward. All you have to do is print on a 8.5”x11” cardstock and then cut out and glue. For more depth, you may want to print 2 or 3 copies of each wall and then layer it up. I plan to tackle the Lincoln Berry Store and would be posting my progress and “layering” methods.

April 27, 2009 | Comments Off

More details about the upcoming Rail Simulator 2: Railworks have been released. It will have 3 fictional routes covering the UK, Europe and USA. This will be in addition to the existing Oxford Paddington, Bath Templecombe, Cajon Pass, York Newcastle and Hagen Siegen routes. The total number of locomotives will be 13 and will have the new US class F7, UK Class 37 and German class V200.

Personally, i like the graphics and sound of the current version, which i own, but creating routes in them is not as intuitive as in Trainz. I shall wait for more details about the routes and technical changes.

Additional: Some screens from the upcoming version.

April 24, 2009 | Comments Off

This week PBS launched a new video portal containing loads of clips and full-length episodes of many of its shows. For us rail/rail history fans, the entire program Grand Central is available at the new portal. This video recounts the dramatic story of the construction of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal in 1913, lauded as the greatest railroad terminal in the world, with electrified train service under the city streets.
Be sure to watch it full screen!

April 22, 2009 | Comments Off


Image: Bombay, Baroda & CentralGrowing up in India, I did not have many choices regarding model railway manufactures. You had to have someone living abroad who could bring it as a gift for you or you could pay the high customs fees and have it imported.

The only Indian manufacturer in the 1980’s was “Crown Railways”. There did not have a lot of products. I eventually got all their stock. My inventory consisted of a 0-4-0 tank loco, some passenger wagons and a couple of freight wagons They even had a imported SD35 Union Pacific loco which i had to get. The quality of their products left much to be desired, but it was cheap and at that time they were my prized possessions.

The other options available to Indian modelers was to scratchbuild everything yourself. The Barfi Light Railway (4mm) captures the Indian scene very effectively. The Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railways is another well done O gauge layout and they have some HO scale Indian locos for sale that were modified from a Fleischmann locomotive. The GEMME Group also scratch build their rolling stock for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Oe) layout.

Presently, in India there are still no ready-to-run manufacturers for Indian models. (if i am wrong let me know) but since the import restrictions are relaxed nowadays, some companies, like Mukund Toys have started to bring in products like Bachmann, Liliput and Woodland Scenics.

The younger generation needs to be inspired to get into the hobby before they create a demand for Indian models. Dr. Ravi Joshi in Pune, India has started MiniRailways, a HO layout using european manufactures. He does have plans to create a Mini-India involving scenes depicting Indian landscape. Their hobby store let you buy models from Fleischmann, Roco & Hornby.

In the virtual world (MSTS/Trainz) there have been more choices. Ronald Kappel has created a lot of models for MSTS.

For Trainz, anand99 has created some passenger coaches that you can download from the DLS (search for them by user name: anand99) Another great Indian route for Trainz is the Darjeeling route (free but registration required)

It will take time before railway modeling as a hobby catches on in India but at least things are pointing in the right direction.

April 21, 2009 | Comments Off

A new Amtrak advert that was released last month. Nicely done with kids, toy cars and model railroad. Found the advert when i came across Amtrak’s Facebook entry. Did not know they had one.

April 20, 2009 | Comments Off

Simutrans is a open source transport tycoon game similar to Transport Tycoon Deluxe. You will be able to transport your goods, develop cities, and become the wealthiest tycoon out there using trains, tracks, trucks, and roads.

The developers have brought this over to the iPhone/iTouch platform and is available for free at iTunes (direct link) This game is still under development so i am not trying to do a review just yet. Only thing i noticed is to move around the map you have to use your two fingers and swipe across the screen. I found this to be very sensitive and i kept going off to the edges rather quickly.

Simutrans is also available for the PC/Linux and the MacOS X if you prefer managing your empire on a bigger resolution.

April 17, 2009 | Comments Off

Regular readers will begin to notice how i keep posting articles about the Trans-Siberian Railways. I don’t know if it’s the romance of the three day trip or the scenic pleasures of traveling across countries. Perhaps, someday i might make it in person. Until then i read up on others accounts of the trip.

Adrian Bridge of the Telegraph travels the Trans-Siberian and brings us his report.

But there was so much to see. More precisely, there were so many birch trees to see. For someone attuned to the visual harshness of urban life, it was a balm to stand in the corridor watching the endlessly green sweep of the Russian countryside passing by.

April 17, 2009 | Comments Off

April 16, 2009 | Comments Off


Image credit: everystockphotoPresident Obama proposed today, a multi-billion dollar effort to develop high-speed US railway. They are looking at 10 high speed rail corridors, including California, northwestern Pacific states, the southern United States, the Gulf Coast and Florida.

This is at least a step in the right direction. The allocated $8 billion will go not only to high-speed rail development but also to a parallel effort to improve rail service along existing lines.

The only high-speed in the US, the Acela can only average 80mph because of curved tracks and other slower traffic. As in many projects of this scale, the costs tend to increase over time, airline and other transport lobbyist get active and people get impatient, so even though the high-speed train vision looks daunting, we hope that citizens and politicians have the fortitude to carry this through.

For the proposed map and other details, check out the Federal Railroad Administration site.

April 15, 2009 | Comments Off

A well done interactive guide to the Big Boy Locomotive. It contains a brief history and facts about the loco. The interactive technical diagram is the best part of the presentation where you get to turn on the whistle, lights and simulate a run.

Other locos simulated are the WDM2 diesel and the WP steam. These locomotive classes have been used extensively for the Indian Railways.

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