Latest ACE expansion gets environmental approval

Altamont Corridor Express logo

STOCKTON, Calif. — Southward expansion of the Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail service to Merced, Calif., received a key administrative boost Friday, as the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission approved the final environmental report for the new segment. The Modesto Bee reports that the vote concludes an environmental review that began in June 2020. It […]

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Meet the modeler: Neptali Martinez

Man standing in garden railway.

How did you get started in the hobby? My earlier memories of model trains go back to first grade. On my way to school, we would pass by the front window of a store that would set up a layout during Christmas time. Later I learned that it was an HO train set, but at […]

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Ask MR: What freight cars would a GP18 or SD45 pull?

Four red-and-gray diesels pull a freight through an interlocking on a clear winter day

Q: I have some BNSF General Electric Dash-9 and GEVO units that pull my double-stack and trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) trains as well as a BNSF Executive train. My question is, what sort of freight cars would be used with GP18s and SD45s in the mid- to late 1960s? – Jim Rohrbach A: If you’re running Dash-9s and GEVOs, […]

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BNSF trains collide near Omaha

Wreckage from collision of two trains

PACIFIC JUNCTION, Iowa — Two crew members are reported to have been injured in a Friday morning collision of two BNSF Railway trains at Pacific Junction, about 18 miles south of Omaha, Neb. BNSF reports an empty coal train hit the back of a mixed freight train at about 7 a.m. local time, derailing the […]

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Baldwin Sharknose moved in Michigan

Blue and silver locomotive with one car and caboose

ESCANABA, Mich. — The railfan world was electrified yesterday when the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad was seen moving one of its two Baldwin RF16 “Sharknose” diesels from the E&LS car shop in Escanaba to another shop at the railroad’s headquarters in nearby Wells. Rumors flew this would be the beginning of an effort to […]

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Lionel 6464 boxcars, including a New York Central version

6464-125 New York Central Pacemaker, Cataloged 1954-56

  Lionel 6464 boxcars help Lionel Corp. mark 1953 as a turning point. Yes, a year after blazing a new trail with classic streamlined passenger cars, the engineering and sales teams at Lionel fielded near-scale models of a modern flatcar, a triple-dome tank car, and a porthole caboose. Perhaps most important of all, the company […]

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Worker warning system at fault in fatal SEPTA accident, NTSB says

Schematic diagram of site of railroad accident

WASHINGTON — The use of the Train Approach Warning method to warn track workers of approaching traffic — in a multiple-track location where trains could approach at full speed in either direction — led to a fatal 2019 accident involving Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority workers, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report issued […]

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New cybersecurity rules coming for railroads

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — New rules from the Transportation Security Administration requiring railroads to report cybersecurity breaches and review their vulnerability to online attacks will take effect on Dec. 31. Bloomberg reports the rules will require companies to report hacking incidents within 24 hours, conduct a vulnerability assessment, develop a plan to respond to hacking, and designate […]

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