ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern President Alan Shaw spent his first two days as CEO visiting railroaders across the system and vowing to restore service to normal levels. On Sunday, when he added chief executive to his title as president, Shaw headed to DeButts Yard in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he spent time in the main tower, […]
Scale: O (1:48) Price: $114.95 Era: Mid to late 1990s Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, 908-687-0880, shop.atlasrr.com 40-foot rebuilt well car features: Die-cast metal body Trucks with rotating bearing caps Detailed brake rigging Etched-metal walkways Minimum radius: 36” Available fourth quarter 2022 Road Names: Northwestern Oklahoma RR (red, white, […]
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad was a survivor and an innovator. It weathered some very rough times, including at least five bankruptcies. It started running unit coal trains from Fort Smith, Ark., the city across the Arkansas River from my hometown of Van Buren, in the 1930s. It helped move Texas and Oklahoma oil east […]
Scale: N (1:160) Price: Five-pack, $174.99 Era: 1990s to 2000s (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822, 800-338-4639, athearn.com Johnstown America BethGon coal gondola features: Injection-molded plastic body Separate, factory-installed brake wheel Removable coal load Operates on Code 40, 55, and 80 rail Screw-mounted 100-ton roller bearing trucks 36” […]
Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $219.99 (direct current with 21-pin NEM connector), $319.99 (with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder). Add $10 for Primed for Grime models. Era: Late 1960s to 2019 (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822, 800-338-4639, athearn.com Electro-Motive Division SW1000 features: Injection-molded plastic body Separate, factory-installed wire […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s revenue and profits grew in the first quarter despite a decline in volume. The railway’s operating income rose 8%, to $2 billion, as revenue increased 10%, to $6 billion, thanks to higher revenue per carload and intermodal unit, the railroad’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. BNSF’s operating ratio […]
Norfolk Southern CEO Jim Squires retired over the weekend, passing the baton to new NS President Alan Shaw effective May 1. Squires, who became chief executive in 2015, had an eventful tenure at the helm. Under Squires’ watch, NS fended off unwanted merger advances from Canadian Pacific, pared its Triple Crown RoadRailer service amid the […]
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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track-repair error led to a rail-joint failure, causing a 2019 derailment of a Canadian National oil train, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in its summary of a report released Friday. The Feb. 16, 2019, accident near St-Lazare, Man., led to the derailment of 37 cars of a 110-car crude […]
BURLINGTON, N.D. — Fifteen cars of a BNSF Railway intermodal train derailed early Sunday near Burlington, with some cars catching fire, closing the railroad’s Glasgow Subdivision main line just west of Minot, N.D. KMOT-TV reports that while the derailment occurred about 1 a.m., as of 3:15 p.m., the fire was still burning because firefighters were […]
MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum kicked off its opening weekend of 2022 operations using former Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad RS1325 No. 31 as power for its passenger train. The museum acquired the RS1325, one of only two of the model built by Electro-Motive Division, in late 2020. New this year was the […]
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Brightline and the Florida Department of Transportation will seek a $25 million federal grant to help fund a $45 million project to address ongoing grade-crossing accidents along the passenger operator’s route in South Florida. The Palm Beach Post reports in a paywalled article that the project would make improvements at […]
