Rapido Southern Railway of British Columbia GMD-1

Business took me to Toronto again recently. With time between appointments, I dropped in at Credit Valley Railway, one of Canada's best model railroad stores.

The store has a great in-store layout. The day I was there, there was a Rapido Southern Railway of British Columbia GMD-1 on the track with a short train.

Like all Rapido products, it's a beautiful unit. It was made as special run for Pacific Western Rail Systems. 

Train-Watching at the Third St. Bridge

I had some time the other day, so drove over to the Third St. bridge to see if there was any action in the For Frances yard on the Manitoba & Minnesota Sub.

Lucky for me, there was; a little, anyway.

No mainline action, but the yard switcher was on its way back from the Peace River paper mill, and another unit was making a few yard moves.

There's an old saying that time spent fishing is better than time spent working. I think the same can be said of train watching.

More on the Proposed CP-Norfolk Southern Merger: CP Touts Benefits of By-Passing Chicago

Canadian Pacific hasn’t given up hope of merging with Norfolk Southern. In January it issued a white paper outlining the reasons why it still thinks it’s a good idea.

The white paper, titled "The Opportunity to Alleviate Congestion in Chicago," was sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In it the railway argues that its proposed merger with NS will alleviate congestion in the key rail hub of Chicago, "where gridlock in the winter of 2013-14 hobbled the industry for months and threatened to hinder the U.S. economic recovery."

According to the paper, a CP-NS merger would reduce congestion and create capacity in Chicago by providing options to shift traffic to alternative routings, which would also serve to relieve pressure across the network.

It would also make operational improvements by moving interchanges now in Chicago to underutilized hubs outside the city.

The paper notes that Chicago is the most critical freight hub within North America's rail system, with about 25 percent of all U.S. rail freight traffic travelling through the city.

“Today, this hub is a chokepoint for rail freight and passenger traffic as capacity in the region is constrained,” the paper states.

“On a good day, it takes a train on average 30 hours to get through Chicago, about the same amount of time it takes the same train to travel from Chicago to the East Coast."

With freight volumes expected to double by 2025, “this is a problem that must be addressed now. Otherwise, the next Chicago rail crisis is inevitable."

A CP-NS combination would “provide both the flexibility to avoid Chicago and the ability to improve operations in Chicago, which will be of enormous benefit to CP and NS customers,” the paper states, and also for customers of other railroads.

The result would be “a stronger and more resilient rail network better able to avoid and recover from future service disruptions.”

Read the full white paper here.

Click here for more on the proposed merger on this blog, including a Q & A.

Photo credit: Nick Suydam. Check out his website for more great Chicago and area photos.

Twin City Railroad Museum in St. Paul Saved

The Twin City Model Railroad Museum has been saved.

The Museum, located in St. Paul, Minn., was told last year it had to leave its long-time home at Bandana Square, where it had been for 31 years.

Now it has found a new home in the city; it will remain open in its current location until Feb. 28.

“We’re really excited to continue our legacy in St. Paul,” museum spokesman Brandon Jutz said Friday.

Once word spread that the museum could close, financial support poured in; more than $70,000 was donated to help with the move.

The challenge now is moving the huge layout.

This is the second time the museum has moved since its founding in 1934. It moved from the Union Depot to Bandana Square in 1984.

More information can be found on the Museum’s website. 

Read more about the saga of the Museum's relocation. 

First Drawings of Bowser SD40-2F Red Barn

Great news on the Bowser front for Canadian modellers! First, Bowser's new SD40-2 units are shipping, and the early reviews are great.

Second, Lee English of Bowser has released the first drawings of the upcoming SD40-2F Red Barn. He gave me permission to share them on this blog.

In a note, Lee said that "the only item not shown is the three front no-window, round window and square window. I do not plan to make a front without class lights."

I can't wait until my new SD40-2s show up, and until the Red Barns are released!

Read more about the Bowser Red Barn.

Update from Bowser about the Red Barn.
Red Barn Model Variations 
Bowser Announces Red Barn!
About CP Rail's Red Barns