Union Pacific and BNSF Railway shut down their operations in the Houston area Sunday in preparation for Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall today (Monday, July 8) as a Category 1 storm. Beryl, which was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning, came ashore at Matagorda, Texas, about 90 miles southwest of Houston. Beryl is expected […]
WASHINGTON — Three labor organizations have opposed Amtrak’s request for a waiver allowing installation of a device the company claims will prevent incidents where trains fail to trigger track circuits. As a result, a decades-old issue that recently has forced Amtrak to assign at least seven Superliners to trains operated over Canadian National’s Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed a 3.8% gain in June over the same month in 2023, the fifth straight month of increased volume, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. Weekly traffic, for the week ending June 29, showed a 3.9% gain compared to the corresponding week a year ago. The monthly […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has completed agreements with all 28 of its labor unions, an accomplishment covering 16 collective bargaining agreements, the agency announced today (Wednesday, July 3). The agency says this is the first time in 15 years it has had agreements in place with all its unions, and — with […]
In this concluding video of the Olympia & Sand Creek Sidetrack Series, host David Popp finalizes the assembly of the horses, mules, and wagons. Follow along as he shares techniques for hitching the ponies to the carts, before he gets back to working on the On30 model railroad! Be sure to explore the entire Olympia […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern’s Lamberts Point Coal Terminal in Norfolk, Va., set a two-month tonnage record after the collapse of the Key Bridge shut down an export facility at the Port of Baltimore. NS diverted coal trains to Norfolk for CONSOL Energy, whose Baltimore terminal was blocked on March 26 after a container ship struck […]
On Monday, July 1, 2024, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) moved its Final Spike Steam Tour train north out of Nahant Yard south of Davenport, Iowa. Trains Magazine was on hand to document the move to Dubuque, Iowa. The train is headed to its next appearance in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for an event on July 6. […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada will air its annual public meeting — a pre-recorded session featuring the passenger operator’s top officials — on Wednesday, Aug. 7, the company has announced, and is soliciting questions to be answered during that meeting. Questions are being accepted beginning today (Wednesday, July 3), through Friday, July 5, at 11:59 […]
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. — Regional Rail LLC has added to its holdings in the Midwest with acquisition of the Cincinnati Eastern Railroad, a 70-mile Ohio short line, the company has announced. The company now has seven railroads in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. “The Regional Rail team and I are delighted to partner with the team […]
A fleet of GE-built former Union Pacific and Conrail locomotives exported to Estonia two decades ago are now mostly out of service, with many cut up for scrap earlier this year. A handful remain in service, and some, heavily rebuilt, remain in use in Estonia and have been exported to nearby Finland for use there. […]
Harold W. Russell’s illustrations have been appearing in Model Railroader magazine since the mid-1960s. He has more than 150 bylines to his credit. In the July 2024 issue he shared plans for a masonry depot on the Lehigh Valley in Gorham, N.Y. Click on the link below to download Harold’s plans. Use this link to […]
Rail labor groups today released a report calling for public ownership of Class I freight railroads in the U.S., arguing that the current system is broken because it’s beholden to Wall Street. The 98-page report contends that the Class I railroads’ relentless focus on cost-cutting has hurt safety, service, employees, infrastructure investment, and passenger service. […]
