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COWCATCHER MAGAZINE

News


U.S. railroads finish 2024 strong, off to good start as intermodal shipments continue to trend upward

From News Releases U.S. railroads finished strong in 2024 and are off to a good start this year, according to traffic data compiled by the Association of American Railroads. For the first six weeks of 2025, total combined U.S. traffic was 2,857,828 carloads and intermodal …

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Railroad Hobby Show 2025 to bring out the party hats, celebrate model railroad industry anniversaries

By TIM BLACKWELL/Cowcatcher Magazine See the March/April 2025 issue of Cowcatcher Magazine for a recap of the show. The Railroad Hobby Show 2025, one of model railroading’s top train show, is marking two industry anniversaries and will don a new look as manufacturers take their …

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Amtrak achieves all-time ridership record in FY2024 following investments to upgrade fleet, infrastructure

Amtrak achieved an all-time ridership record in fiscal year 2024 at 32.8 million customers as demand for passenger rail service continues to grow nationwide. Trips increased a whopping 15 percent compared to 2023. Ticket and total operating revenue also posted big gains. Amtrak sold $2.5 …

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Product Review: Loaded with details, Scale Trains N-scale Tunnel Motors stand out like the prototype

The recently released Scale Trains N-scale Tunnel Motors represent a variation of the popular Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive that conquered the rocky terrain of the Western U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. EMD’s 3,000-horsepower, six-axle SD40-2 locomotives, built from 1972 to 1989, were best-sellers …

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Ex-Texas & Pacific business car returns to familiar ground, joins Texas railroad museum’s collection

A former Texas & Pacific business car is back on the rails in Texas after a 97-year journey that took it to California. The California State Railroad Museum recently gifted former T&P Business Car No. 2 to the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco. …

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Product Review: Rapido HO Budd Slumbercoach

Never mind that the Rapido HO Budd Slumbercoach is a strong reminder of passenger rail travel in the 1950s. You easily could see yourself in it today. Look in one of the several mirrors inside the model released earlier this year – and see your …

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