Classic Toy Trains February 2024 new products

silver model locomotive

Locomotives & rolling stock Mr. Muffin’s Trains has several custom-run items for sale. The first are MTH 50-foot Waffle Boxcars in two paint schemes with two road numbers each: Louisville & Nashville No. 101635 (20-99372), Louisville & Nashville No. 101640 (20-99373), Milwaukee Road No. 4307 (20-99374, shown), and Milwaukee Road No. 4311 (20-99375). Price: $69.95 […]

Read More…

Freight traffic resumes through San Clemente; passenger moves still halted

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — BNSF Railway has resumed freight operations through the location of the latest landslide on Southern California’s Surf Line, which remains closed to passenger traffic following a Jan. 24 incident near the San Clemente Pier. The Orange County Register reports BNSF began freight movements with a 10-mph speed restriction between 9 p.m. […]

Read More…

News photo: New paint for an Amtrak veteran

Locomotive with red and two tones of blue paint leading passenger train

Amtrak is beginning to give its General Electric locomotive fleet a look in keeping with its newer units. Fresh from an overhaul at the Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility, Amtrak P42 No. 174, manufactured in 2001, sports a variation of the paint scheme the company uses on its new Siemens Charger locomotives as it leads the […]

Read More…

California Zephyr derails in Colorado after grade-crossing collision

Amtrak logo.

KEENESBURG, Colo. — Amtrak’s eastbound California Zephyr derailed Monday night after striking a truck at a grade crossing northeast of Denver, KDVR-TV reports. Amtrak said that “no serious customer injuries” occurred in the collision and derailment that occurred about 10 p.m. east of Keenesburg, according to the Colorado State Patrol, although an exact number was […]

Read More…

Slide activity again halts Amtrak Cascades service (updated)

White locomotive with green and brown trim on passenger train

SEATTLE — For the second consecutive weekend, Amtrak Cascades service has been disrupted between Portland and Seattle because of a landslide. According to an Amtrak service advisory, all Cascade trains are cancelled today (Saturday, Jan. 27) and Sunday, Jan. 28, between Seattle and Portland with alternate transportation (buses) provided. Coast Starlight trains with originate or […]

Read More…

Officials unsure when rail service through San Clemente, Calif., will resume (updated)

Passenger train on single track next to palm trees and beach

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Officials have no estimate when rail service might resume past the site of a landslide near the San Clemente Pier, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. A Wednesday, Jan. 24, slide destroyed a bridge on a pedestrian trail, sending debris and parts of the bridge onto the Surf Line tracks below. The […]

Read More…

Slide issues again halt Surfliner, Metrolink service through San Clemente, Calif.

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service has once again been suspended in the San Clemente area because of landslide concerns, a long-running issue in the area over the last two years. The advisory page on the Surfliner website says tracks have been closed near the San Clemente Pier “until […]

Read More…

Downeaster’s Rockland branch experiment encounters equipment snag, Amtrak involvement delays (updated)

RDCs parked next to building

BRUNSWICK, Maine — A proposal to use a Rail Diesel Car to offer year-round connections on a former Maine Central branch line from Rockland, Maine to a rendezvous with Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority’s Amtrak-operated Downeaster at Brunswick, Maine, is being re-evaluated after the RDC suffered a debilitating breakdown last fall. Midcoast Railservice, the carrier with […]

Read More…

Senate confirms three nominees for Amtrak board

Man speaking at hearing

WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than eight years, the Amtrak board of directors has new members. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nominations of Christopher Koos, Anthony Coscia, and Joel Szabat to serve on the board, the first time the Senate has confirmed board members since 2015. Koos, the mayor of […]

Read More…

Mudslide closes Cascades route as Midwest cancellations near end

Passenger train at sunset. Amtrak cancellations mudslide snow

PORTLAND, Ore. — The latest in Amtrak’s series of weather-related operating cancellations in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest — caused by a mudslide, cold, and snow — will extend until at least Tuesday morning, based on information available as of Sunday evening, Jan. 21. A mudslide south of Kelso, Wash., on BNSF Railway’s Amtrak Cascades […]

Read More…

Amtrak Midwest routes see three days of cancellations

Diesel with front caked with snow crosses diamond

CHICAGO — Amtrak Midwest state-supported services have taken another weather-related hit, with cancellations today through Monday for a trains on a number of routes. In an update posted at 9 a.m. today (Saturday, Jan. 20), Amtrak announced these trains have been cancelled in their entirety: Lincoln Service (Chicago-St. Louis) — Today, Sunday, and Monday: Trains […]

Read More…

STB seeks answers for delay on Gulf Coast settlement: Analysis

aerial view of land along railroad tracks near water

WASHINGTON —The Surface Transportation Board has called for Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., to provide “detailed information regarding the status of the implementation of the settlement agreement” agreed to in November 2022 to allow Amtrak service to begin between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. — and scheduled a February hearing […]

Read More…