Who has new locomotive power in 2024?

orange, black and yellow locomotive on track

Locomotive power 2024 Someone turned on the new locomotive faucet, but its just a slow drip right now. For several years no new six-axle freight locomotives have been built for North America’s Class I railroads. Now, there are some signs of life. Last year saw orders from Canadian National and BNSF Railway — Canadian National […]

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News photo: New paint for an Amtrak veteran

Locomotive with red and two tones of blue paint leading passenger train

Amtrak is beginning to give its General Electric locomotive fleet a look in keeping with its newer units. Fresh from an overhaul at the Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility, Amtrak P42 No. 174, manufactured in 2001, sports a variation of the paint scheme the company uses on its new Siemens Charger locomotives as it leads the […]

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A brief encounter with Northwestern Pacific

Two steam locomotives handle passenger train cross river bridge

More than a few times, photographs in the Kalmbach library have sent me searching for railroads and places I’ve never encountered, and a few weeks ago some 8 x 10 prints lined up perfectly with travel plans. The destination: Mendocino, Calif., the charming old lumber town up the coast 155 miles from San Francisco. My […]

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Understanding brake horsepower in diesel locomotives

Drum-shaped equipment from inside a diesel locomotive

An EMD AR20 alternator from CSX SD70MAC 4549 at the railroad’s Huntington, W.Va., shop. Chris Guss Understanding brake horsepower: Diesel engines, like all engines, are built to perform a specific function. In a locomotive, that role is to provide power to move freight cars from one place to another. When buying locomotives, one thing management […]

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California Zephyr derails in Colorado after grade-crossing collision

Amtrak logo.

KEENESBURG, Colo. — Amtrak’s eastbound California Zephyr derailed Monday night after striking a truck at a grade crossing northeast of Denver, KDVR-TV reports. Amtrak said that “no serious customer injuries” occurred in the collision and derailment that occurred about 10 p.m. east of Keenesburg, according to the Colorado State Patrol, although an exact number was […]

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Northern California short lines receive $31.4 federal loan

Train with two locomotives on low wooden bridge

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation has extended a $31.4 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan to the Sierra Northern Railway and Mendocino Railway for infrastructure improvement work, DOT’s Build America Bureau announced on Monday. Funding will finance almost 100% of work including expansion of 6.7 miles of Sierra Northern’s Oakdale Branch for […]

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MBTA completes January Green Line work, eliminating 16 speed restrictions

Maintenance equipment works in transit tunnel

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority eliminated 16 speed restrictions during two sets of maintenance shutdowns on the Green Line this month, the agency said Monday, including the completion of all work related to out-of-gauge track stemming from the construction of the Green Line extension between North Station and the Union Square and Medford/Tufts […]

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Swiss make commitment to maintain Gotthard Pass line

Passenger train rounds curve after emerging from tunnel

BERN, Switzerland — The long-term future of Switzerland’s historic Gotthard Pass rail line, which has been in question since the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016, has been assured with the decision of the Swiss government and Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, to spend some 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.16 billion) to renovate […]

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News & Products for the week of January 29th 2024

A model caboose in a red paint scheme with a black roof

News & Products for the week of January 29th 2024   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 January 29th […]

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