Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Model trains are not only suitable for model railroading, but are also ideal for presenting the history of rail transportation in the United States. Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast to the settlement of the West.
Railroads not only increased the speed of transport, they also dramatically lowered its cost. For example, the first transcontinental railroad resulted in passengers and freight being able to cross the country in a matter of days instead of months and at one tenth the cost of stagecoach or wagon transport. With economical transportation in the West now farming, ranching and mining could be done at a profit. As a result, railroads transformed the country, particularly the West.
The North and Midwest constructed networks that linked every city by 1860. State and local governments often subsidized lines, but rarely owned them. However, the railroad system was largely built by 1910. After 1940, the replacement of steam locomotives with diesel electric locomotives made for much more efficient operations.
A series of bankruptcies and consolidations left the rail system in the hands of a few large operations by the 1980s. Almost all long-distance passenger traffic was shifted to Amtrak in 1971, a government-owned operation. Commuter rail service is provided near a few major cities, including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Freight railroads continue to play an important role in the United States' economy, especially for moving imports and exports using containers, and for shipments of coal and, since 2010, of oil. Like in any rich country, in recent years, railroads have gradually been losing intermodal traffic to trucking.
A special period in American railroad history covers the 1930s to 1960s, when passenger and freight traffic was at its peak. It was the time, when many railroads were not yet been driven out of business due to competition from airlines and Interstate highways. It was also the time, when trains were given their own names and became known throughout the whole country.
Finally, this was the period in which Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad or Western Pacific Railroad had their greatest boom.
Some of these 20th Century American Trains in 1/48 scale are collected by Santiago Pineda. Santiago is a passenger train collector focused on replicating transition era, named trains from the American Midwest in fine scale 1/48 models. Santiago’s collection is brass-based, with some plastic and aluminium models. Some prominent importers in his collection are Key Model Imports, Precision Scale, 3rd Rail, Protocraft, Oriental Limited and Golden Gate Depot.
The video footage was taken on Santiago’s model railroad layout. For Santiago, his modest model train layout, which depicts a generic American Midwest prairie landscape, is simply a space to display the model collection. The true backbone of his railway modeling activities are building and collecting.
Therefore, he has extensive experience presenting descriptive articles in publications such as “O Scale Trains”, “Railroad Model Craftsman” and “The O Scale Resource”. With his exacting attention to details, Santiago Pineda has effectively assisted importers in the production of several engine and passenger train projects.
*Videochapters*
00:00 Pilentum Intro
00:22 Hiawatha Milwaukee Road Train
02:44 EMD GP7 Diesel-Electric Locomotive
05:24 Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Class S-4 Steam Locomotive
07:46 EMC E5 Diesel-Electric Locomotive
09:50 Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Steam Locomotive Number 3746
12:58 Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
14:38 CB&Q Exposition Flyer Steam Locomotive
18:00 Super Chief Train
20:40 D&RGW Class L-105 Challenger Steam Locomotive
22:42 California Zephyr Motive Power
26:48 Once again, the Great D&RGW Class L-105 Challenger Steam Loco
*Pilentum Television*
pilentum.org
Model trains are not only suitable for model railroading, but are also ideal for presenting the history of rail transportation in the United States. Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast to the settlement of the West.
Railroads not only increased the speed of transport, they also dramatically lowered its cost. For example, the first transcontinental railroad resulted in passengers and freight being able to cross the country in a matter of days instead of months and at one tenth the cost of stagecoach or wagon transport. With economical transportation in the West now farming, ranching and mining could be done at a profit. As a result, railroads transformed the country, particularly the West.
The North and Midwest constructed networks that linked every city by 1860. State and local governments often subsidized lines, but rarely owned them. However, the railroad system was largely built by 1910. After 1940, the replacement of steam locomotives with diesel electric locomotives made for much more efficient operations.
A series of bankruptcies and consolidations left the rail system in the hands of a few large operations by the 1980s. Almost all long-distance passenger traffic was shifted to Amtrak in 1971, a government-owned operation. Commuter rail service is provided near a few major cities, including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Freight railroads continue to play an important role in the United States' economy, especially for moving imports and exports using containers, and for shipments of coal and, since 2010, of oil. Like in any rich country, in recent years, railroads have gradually been losing intermodal traffic to trucking.
A special period in American railroad history covers the 1930s to 1960s, when passenger and freight traffic was at its peak. It was the time, when many railroads were not yet been driven out of business due to competition from airlines and Interstate highways. It was also the time, when trains were given their own names and became known throughout the whole country.
Finally, this was the period in which Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad or Western Pacific Railroad had their greatest boom.
Some of these 20th Century American Trains in 1/48 scale are collected by Santiago Pineda. Santiago is a passenger train collector focused on replicating transition era, named trains from the American Midwest in fine scale 1/48 models. Santiago’s collection is brass-based, with some plastic and aluminium models. Some prominent importers in his collection are Key Model Imports, Precision Scale, 3rd Rail, Protocraft, Oriental Limited and Golden Gate Depot.
The video footage was taken on Santiago’s model railroad layout. For Santiago, his modest model train layout, which depicts a generic American Midwest prairie landscape, is simply a space to display the model collection. The true backbone of his railway modeling activities are building and collecting.
Therefore, he has extensive experience presenting descriptive articles in publications such as “O Scale Trains”, “Railroad Model Craftsman” and “The O Scale Resource”. With his exacting attention to details, Santiago Pineda has effectively assisted importers in the production of several engine and passenger train projects.
*Videochapters*
00:00 Pilentum Intro
00:22 Hiawatha Milwaukee Road Train
02:44 EMD GP7 Diesel-Electric Locomotive
05:24 Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Class S-4 Steam Locomotive
07:46 EMC E5 Diesel-Electric Locomotive
09:50 Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Steam Locomotive Number 3746
12:58 Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
14:38 CB&Q Exposition Flyer Steam Locomotive
18:00 Super Chief Train
20:40 D&RGW Class L-105 Challenger Steam Locomotive
22:42 California Zephyr Motive Power
26:48 Once again, the Great D&RGW Class L-105 Challenger Steam Loco
*Pilentum Television*
pilentum.org
