Taking Care of Business: SMS Rail Lines

A green-paint switching locomotive in a rail yard.

To launch our all-new operation-oriented series, Charlie Conway captures a day in the life of a hardworking SMS Rail Lines crew in New Jersey. In this narrated show, you’ll discover useful modeling insights and prototype railroad information you can apply to your own layout operating sessions. You won’t want to miss any of the shortline […]

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Taking Care of Business: SMS Rail Lines

A green-paint switching locomotive in a rail yard.

To launch our all-new operation-oriented series, Charlie Conway captures a day in the life of a hardworking SMS Rail Lines crew in New Jersey. In this narrated show, you’ll discover useful modeling insights and prototype railroad information you can apply to your own layout operating sessions. You won’t want to miss any of the shortline […]

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CSX runs test train on Clinchfield route NEWSWIRE

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Photographers caught CSX Transportation train K446-07 on April 8, led by two SD40-2’s, on a northbound trip on the Clinchfield Route. Here it is seen going through Dante, Va., by the old depot. Nick Dumas DANTE, Va. — Sources close to CSX Transportation say railroad managers are looking for alternative routes now that recent hump […]

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Broken rails: an unexpected pain

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The manufacture and maintenance of rail is as old as railroading — and so are broken rails. Though today’s rail is much harder, stronger, and of higher quality than rail made even 40 years ago, railroads and metallurgists have just recently begun to understand why rails still are breaking. As railroads installed new rail in […]

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The fine science of friction control

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Hydraulic flange greasers are activated when a wheel rolls over an actuator, as shown on CSX’s Indianapolis Line Subdivision. Two photos, Eric Powell Forgive the pun, but it’s a slippery slope that railroads have to deal with, in terms of rail and flange lubrication. Too much or too little grease on the track can cause […]

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CSX to close down hump at Osborn Yard in Kentucky NEWSWIRE

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CSX Transportation’s Osborn Yard Google Maps LOUISVILLE, Ky. — CSX Transportation’s Osborn Yard in Louisville will be the third yard in less than two weeks to have its hump operations shut down. CSX spokeswoman Laura Phelps tells Trains News Wire that after a thorough review of the railroad’s Louisville-region operating plan, the railroad has informed […]

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CSX to close down hump at Stanley yard in Ohio NEWSWIRE

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CSX EMD SD40-2 No. 8387 and an autorack train at the railroad’s Stanley Yard near Walbridge, Ohio, in January 2015. Michael D. Harding WALBRIDGE, Ohio — CSX Transportation’s Stanley Yard in Walbridge will be the next facility downsized under E. Hunter Harrison’s leadership. The decision to do away with hump operations at Stanley comes less […]

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Judge sides with freight carriers in Amtrak time-keeping case NEWSWIRE

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Train No. 28, the ‘Empire Builder,’ departs Portland, Ore., on March 15. Brian Schmidt WASHINGTON – A ruling issued Thursday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is likely to be the final decision in a case that dates back to 2010. District Judge James E. Boasberg, an Obama appointee, found the […]

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CSX to close down Tilford hump yard in Atlanta NEWSWIRE

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A Tilford yard job shoves cars toward the hump using a freshly repainted SD40-2. Frank Orona ATLANTA – CSX Transportation is in the process of closing down its Tilford hump yard in Atlanta, a source close to the railroad tells Trains News Wire. The railroad will close down the hump portion of the yard and […]

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Under Harrison, CSX of Tomorrow meets precision scheduled railroading NEWSWIRE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Now that E. Hunter Harrison is calling the shots at CSX Transportation headquarters, he faces the same daunting problem that former CEO Michael Ward had to grapple with: How to replace nearly $2 billion in coal revenue that vanished over the past five years and is likely gone for good. Ward’s answer […]

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