Fast-charging technology of Britain’s Vivarail finds buyer

Former London subway equipment converted for intercity use

The insolvency administrators trying to sell Vivarail, the British passenger train re-manufacturing company previously backed by Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp., have succeeded in selling the company’s innovative fast battery-charging system. That system, called FastCharge, which will be tested in passenger service in London later this year. Vivarail was founded in 2013 by British rail industry […]

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East Broad Top steam returns to revenue service

Steam locomotive with four passenger cars and caboose

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — East Broad Top Railroad’s freshly restored 2-8-2 Mikado locomotive No. 16 delighted admirers over the weekend by pulling a full schedule of eight passenger trains and two photo freights for the road’s annual Winter Spectacular. All trains were sold out. The event was a landmark in several ways. First, No. 16 […]

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PRR car ‘Colonial Crafts’ to take part in Pullman Railroad Days

Three-quarters view of Tuscan red passenger car with gold trim and lettering

CHICAGO — Colonial Crafts, built in 1949 for the Pennsylvania Railroad, has joined the lineup of Pullman-built cars set to appear at Pullman Railroad Days, May 20-21 at the Pullman National Historical Park. The car will appear with New York Central No. 3, a private car built in 1928, and observation car Royal Street, constructed […]

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TransmetriQ introduces Asset Manager software

Logos for Transmetric and parent company Railinc

CARY, N.C. — TransmetriQ, the rail software brand of data and information firm Railinc, has introduced Asset Manager, designed to provide railcar fleet owners with single-source information on location, status, and health of their equipment. “Asset Manager helps car owners get to the insights they need faster than any other product on the market,” TransmetriQ […]

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Bay Area’s SMART reports no issues with DMU brake discs

Silver and green DMU trainset

PETALUMA, Calif. — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, which operates Nippon Sharyo diesel multiple-unit passenger trains similar to those that led to a weekend shutdown of Toronto’s Union Pierson Express, has inspected its equipment and found no problems, a SMART spokesman tells Trains News Wire. The brakes on the two fleets are slightly different, Matt Stephens, […]

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Altoona museum adds PRR baggage car to K4s restoration project

Maintenance-of-way car is lifted by crane for move by truck

ALTOONA, Pa. — The Railroaders Memorial Museum has acquired a former Pennsylvania Railroad baggage car for use in a planned exhibit train to accompany K4s No. 1361, currently undergoing restoration. In a post on its Facebook page, the museum reports the car — a model B60b baggage car built in the 1920s — was donated […]

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Silvis update: UP passenger cars being repaired

Steam locomotive under repair

SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America reports it is making significant progress on repairs to former Union Pacific passenger rolling stock at its Silvis, Ill., shop complex. In an email to donors, RRHMA President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg said in the coming weeks former Southern Pacific business car Stanford will be sandblasted […]

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Toronto’s UP Express resumes operation

Two-car diesel multiple-unit trainset passes high-rise building

TORONTO — Union Pearson Express rail service resumed this morning (Sunday, Feb. 12) with 30-minute frequencies after all operation were cancelled Saturday, according to the UP Express website. The trains between Union Station in downtown Toronto and the city’s Pearson Airport, which normally operate on 15-minute headways, have been operating on reduced frequencies since cracks […]

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Toronto airport rail service halted after brake issues found throughout equipment fleet (updated)

Silver two-car DMU trainset on bridge

TORONTO — Toronto’s Union Pearson Express rail service, which operates between downtown and the city’s airport, has been replaced by bus service as of Saturday, a day after CTV News reported 14 of 18 cars in the service’s equipment fleet had been sidelined by cracks in their brake discs. As of Saturday evening, a notice […]

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Riding the rails with the Lionel Hobo Sound Boxcar

the Lionel hobo boxcar side view with figures

It’s time to go riding the rails with the Lionel Hobo Sound Boxcar. Initially offered in the Lionel 2021 Volume II catalog, it was confined to half of page 47. Perhaps uncertain of how the product would be received, the manufacturer only offered it in two road names: Erie (pictured, No. 226010); and Rock Island […]

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