Trains LIVE: AIRS and No.4 — 1-18-2023 — Is bigger better? Can a small steam locomotive generate excitement like Union Pacific No. 4014 — Big Boy? Some would say not, but the members of the American Industrial Railroad Society are excited about the small — 0-4-0 — steam locomotive they are restoring to operation. This […]
Albany and Eastern Railroad Company summary The Albany and Eastern Railroad Company (AERC) is a short line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It’s owned by the Rick Franklin Corporation, a family-owned business. Today, the railroad operates standard-gauge tracks of the former Southern Pacific Railroad and Oregon Electric Company between Albany, Lebanon, […]
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern’s lift bridge across the Tennessee River at Decatur, Ala., will be out of service for up to five days after it was struck by a vessel, the railroad said in a service advisory on Tuesday. “A bridge strike was reported at Decatur Junction on the Memphis East Division disrupting service between […]
Here are some personal recollections of 12 notable model railroaders who died in 2022. Don Ball For many years, Don Ball was a regular contributor to Model Railroader. I worked with him on several stories, including his big feature in Model Railroad Planning 2011 about building his Stockton & Copperopolis HO layout. I visited Don […]
Milwaukee Road Hiawatha passenger trains are the long-lasting legacy of a Midwestern railroad plagued with underperformance and mismanagement — right up until its merger with the much smaller Soo Line in 1986. Rather than recount the bad times, join us for a look back at the Hiawatha trains over the years. Only from Trains.com. Twin […]
Model a weather-beaten wood structure: In model railroading, weathering is typically associated with freight cars and locomotives. However, structure weathering is another way to add realism to a layout. Peeling and faded paint, a roof in need of repair, and broken glass are just a few of the ways to turn an ordinary structure into […]
OMAHA, Neb. — A 42-year-old Arizona man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for calling in threats to Union Pacific headquarters and other Omaha locations in April 2021. The Omaha World-Herald reports Andrew Isaac Abrams of Tucson was sentenced for transmitting threats through interstate commerce on Friday, Jan. 13, according to a […]
EGR and SCR locomotive systems EGR and SCR locomotive systems are just two ways locomotives meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emission regulations, specifically Tier 4, standards implemented for new locomotives built for service in the United States. The emission regulations are designed to reduce the amount of nitrous oxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide […]
You have to give Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw a standing ovation for his performance at the railroad’s investor day last month. Using logic as a sledgehammer, it took him just 10 minutes to demolish two of the things that have hurt rail service and put a lid on traffic growth: Excessive cost-cutting and an […]
DeKALB, Ill. — The DeKalb City Council has voted to fund a transportation study aimed at determining the feasibility of bringing Metra commuter rail service to the city. At its meeting earlier this week, the council voted unanimously to fund a $98,379 study by Sam Schwartz Consulting LLC “to identify potential ridership, capital costs, and […]
The Lionel 2023 Big Book catalog is out. I just had a quick flip through it and here are my first impressions. I’ll tell you right off, this isn’t an exhaustive treatment and I can’t cover everything. Nor will you find any mention of the prices of these things. As I’m frequently inclined to say, […]
PALESTINE, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a lower-court ruling that Union Pacific is no longer bound by an agreement requiring it to maintain a certain number of employees in the city of Palestine, which dates to an 1872 contract with one of the railroad’s predecessors. The railroad filed suit in […]
