Why are there so many derailments? Freight train derailments have been in the headlines since the disastrous Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern wreck in East Palestine, Ohio. Some have been spectacular, like the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train caught on video at a grade crossing in Springfield, Ohio.; the fiery derailment of a BNSF Railway […]
News & Products for the week of April 3rd 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 3rd 2023. […]
CHICAGO — Midwest Amtrak service has resumed after a storm stretching from Arkansas to the East Coast disrupted routes with downed trees and power outages. Beginning Friday, March 31, many trains were held at stations while tracks and grade-crossing highway warning devices were cleared and inspected. Weather issues continued today (Sunday, April 2), when catenary […]
Kansas City Southern history is now appropriate to talk about since the seventh of seven Class I railroads in North America has been approved to merge with Canadian Pacific to make a larger No. 6 Class I railroad. Kansas City Southern history In 1889 Arthur Stilwell began building the Kansas City, Nevada & Fort Smith […]
By Greg Privette Vacationing near the Olympic mountains of Washington state birthed a vision for my new HO scale layout. Logging was the industry and Shelton, Wash., was home to the last logging railroad in the United States. Old-growth timbers harvested near Camp 5 were delivered by the Simpson Railroad to Shelton starting around the […]
Canadian National U-class 4-8-4 locomotives proved to be the most versatile of the type operated in North America. It’s generally accepted that the ultimate in steam power was the 4-8-4 Northern type, if defined by criteria that includes speed, power, technology, and, perhaps most importantly, versatility. A lot of railroads capped off the steam […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The City of Cheyenne has accepted a donation from Union Pacific of three passenger cars and a caboose for the city’s planned 15th Street Railroad Experience tourism project, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports. Two of the cars — a former Southern Pacific heavyweight observation car later used in maintenance-of-way service and a […]
WASHINGTON — Three Democratic Senators from Pennsylvania and Ohio have called for new rail safety legislation they say is intended to build on provisions of the Rail Safety Act introduced earlier in March by addressing wheel-related failures and enacting new inspection rules, among other provisions. The Railway Accountability Act was introduced Thursday by U.S. Sens. […]
PORT ALLEN, La. — No chemicals were released after about 25 tank cars carrying liquid petroleum gas and butadiene derailed Wednesday morning, WAFB-TV reports. The Union Pacific derailment, on a spur serving a plant for industrial gases firm Air Liquide America, led to a response by the Louisiana State Police hazardous materials unit, Louisiana Department […]
KELSO, Calif. — Two locomotives and 55 cars of a runaway Union Pacific train carrying iron ore derailed near the Mojave Desert community of Kelso today (Monday, March 27), officials from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District reported. Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen has confirmed that there was “uncontrolled train movement” of the southbound […]
News & Products for the week of March 27th 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of March 27th 2023. […]
Conrail locomotive Locomotives fascinate us, amaze us, and move us across landscapes — and our imaginations. A railroad selects locomotives based on factors that include operational need, affordability, maintenance cost, applicability for a certain service, and what models might be available at the time. Stories are woven throughout the industry’s history of locomotive models that […]
