FORT WORTH, Texas — There are plenty of barriers to be faced in equipping the U.S. freight car fleet with telematics, the use of GPS equipment and other sensors to provide real-time information about car location and all sorts of additional information. One is just getting all parties to agree on the benefits, and what […]
October on ex-Sacramento Northern Railway Each October, two former Key System bridge units operated by the Western Railway Museum become more than artifacts of 20th century transit. They regain their original role of moving crowds of people, quickly. The riders now are mostly kids and families visiting a trackside pumpkin patch, not commuters headed to […]
Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack Scale: N (1:160) Price: $54.99 Era: 1999+ to 2016+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack cars feature: Separate, factory-applied brake wheel and brake details Simulated corrugated roof Full articulation with flexible diaphragm Safety striping 70-ton […]
Top 6 locomotive upgrades from Mike Iden include: • Improved crashworthiness • Alerters and event recorders • Exhaust emissions • Improved working conditions in the cab • Improved dynamic brakes • Alignment control But before he explained those items, Iden wanted to include a dictionary definition of the word “enhancement”: Enhancement means “To increase or […]
When the prolific and influential California photographer Stan Kistler won the Railway & Locomotive Society’s prestigious Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award in 1996, he earned what might be considered the ultimate citation for a photographer: “He has not only documented the railroads of the West, but crafted beautiful images that will last […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National is challenging some conclusions federal regulators reached in their draft environmental review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. Chief among them: The assumption that the merged Canadian Pacific Kansas City would not increase fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CN, in an Oct. 14 filing with the Surface Transportation […]
Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $229.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder, $329.99. Era: 1973+ to present (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 diesel locomotive features: Road-number-specific details Trainline and m.u. hoses Walkway tread detail Separate, factory-installed uncoupling levers, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — On a sunny Thursday afternoon, officials from Canadian National Railway and Wabtec gathered outside Wabtec’s Fort Worth locomotive factory to celebrate the delivery of a brand new locomotive for Canadian National Railway. Or so it appeared. In fact, the officials were posing for photos with AC44C6M No. 3300, the first of […]
PHILADELPHIA — The City of Philadelphia has received a federal grant of about $1.6 million to rehabilitate 18 bridges for city streets that cross the Northeast Corridor, part of a group of 23 projects in 23 states receiving $18.4 million in Bridge Investment Program Grants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding from the Federal […]
Standardized time in the US Long before radios and extensive signaling systems, railroads safely operated multiple trains on the same line. Supplied with timetables showing the schedules of all regular trains and precisely worded written orders from the dispatcher, crews ran with a complete understanding of where and when they would meet other trains and […]
General Steel Castings 58’-4” depressed-center flatcar with 21-foot long lower deck Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $64.99 Era: 1950s to 1990s (depending on scheme) Manufacturer: ClassOneModelWorks.com, 8610 NW 107th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64153; 816-243-0044; ClassOneModelWorks.com General Steel Castings heavy duty flatcar features: Dual-end brake system components See-through etched-metal grating on upper decks as appropriate Road-specific body, […]
Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack Scale: HO (1:87:1) Price: $74.99 Era: 1999+ to 2016+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Gunderson Auto-Max articulated auto rack cars feature: Separate, factory-applied ladders, brake rigging, stirrup steps, and handbrake details Simulated corrugated roof Full articulation with flexible diaphragm […]
