ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern operations were disrupted by an outage at its data center on Friday night, the railroad reports, the second time in little more than a month that technical issues have affected rail operations. The railroad said in a statement that the issue, which affected dispatching, train movements, and its terminal operating system, […]
Erie Railroad history starts, surprisingly, with a canal. “The Work of the Age” was a proclamation by New York City’s Common Council upon the opening of the 300-mile New York & Erie Railway in 1851, “Erie” referring to one of the Great Lakes. New York City had become the natural gateway to the […]
For much of the first half of the 20th century, the 2-8-2 Mikado was the dominant freight locomotive of the steam era. With its medium weight and medium power, it became the go-to, general-purpose engine — sort of the GP38 of its era. Consider how the World War I-era United States Railroad Administration divvied up […]
WASHINGTON — No injuries were reported after a DC Metrorail train derailed Friday morning near Reagan International Airport, an incident Metro officials said was caused when the train struck an object that fell off a preceding train. The derailment occurred about 10:45 a.m. and involved a southbound train heading toward the Franconia-Springfield station, the Washington […]
Dirt and N scale layouts: A locomotive model won’t run if current doesn’t pass from the rails to the pickup wheels. “Duh,” you may say, but that fact isn’t necessarily obvious, especially to younger people who haven’t tinkered with mechanical or electrical devices to the extent previous generations did. Filthy track can look clean The […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) have reached an agreement to allow for more predictable scheduling and paid sick days for all ground service employees, the parties have announced. Thursday’s announcement says the tentative agreement, after several months of negotiations, follows […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has called for development of new standards for gaskets used by tank cars in flammable-liquid service as a result of investigation into a January 2022 derailment and fire involving a BNSF Railway Train in Oklaunion, Texas. The NTSB released a synopsis of its final report on Thursday. [The […]
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Transit Administration has released maps showing three potential routes for its east-west Red Line transit project, an approximately 15-mile route between the western community of Woodlawn and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center via downtown. All three routes include both light rail and bus rapid transit options; the ultimate form of […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has named Will Miller as its first director of public engagement, who the railroad said “will help marshall resources to improve railroad infrastructure and engagement with local leaders and their citizens.” Miller’s job will be to serve as point person for issues such as grade crossings, public events that cross railroad […]
Disassembling N scale diesel locomotives: In the 1990s, Kato pioneered its classic, vertically split-frame design. Since then, probably more than 80% of the N scale locomotives made, regardless of manufacturer, have followed (in fact, downright copied) that approach, meaning that if you’ve learned how to work on one of them, you can work on nearly […]
ATLANTA — Norfollk Southern and Florida East Coast Railway will expand their domestic interline intermodal services in Florida, the railroads announced Wednesday. As of Oct. 2, NS will add service to FEC’s Fort Pierce and Fort Lauderdale facilities, joining existing service to FEC terminals in Titusville and Miami. The additions will add flexibility for their […]
MacTIER, Ontario — Thirteen cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight train derailed about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday after a reported collision with another train, CTV News reports. CPKC said in a statement to the network that no injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved. Two of the cars were carrying plastic pellets […]
