DC Metrorail issues lead to NTSB safety alert

Map of DC Metrorail system showing three locations where a car derailed

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a safety alert, asking commuter rail and rail transit systems to check wheelsets for possible out-of-gage situations. Safety Alert 083, issued Wednesday, results from an October derailment on the DC Metrorail system, which revealed problems in which some wheels moved outward from their mounted position on […]

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Groundbreaking set for Baltimore tunnel project

CSX logo

BALTIMORE — CSX CEO Jim Foote and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan head the list of those those scheduled to take part today (Monday, Nov. 29)  in a groundbreaking ceremony for the start of work on the long-sought Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore. The 1 p.m. ceremony will be at the former Mount Royal Station […]

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GE 44-tonners to be preserved by organizations in New Jersey, New York

Green and yellow locomotive running in middle of street

The New Jersey-based Tri-State Railway Historical Society and Operation Toy Train of New York have partnered to acquire two General Electric 44-ton diesel-electric switchers for preservation, and launched a joint campaign to cover transportation and restoration costs. Former Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad locomotive No. 700 and Middletown & New Jersey Railroad locomotive No. 2 are the […]

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Anthracite hauler

Black-and-white broadside photo of 2-10-2 steam locomotive with hopper cars beside a river

Anthracite hauler Reading Co. 2-10-2 3012 leads a train of anthracite along the Schuylkill River at Tamaqua, Pa., in July 1953. RDG’s 20 K-1’s were the heaviest Santa Fe types ever built. Classic Trains collection […]

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Firebox replacement plans advance for PRR K4s restoration project

Boiler of disassembled steam engine

ALTOONA, Pa. — Work is proceeding on planning for and funding a replacement for the firebox of Pennsylvania Railroad K4s-class 4-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1361 at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. FMW Solutions LLC, the engineering consultant on the $2.6 million project to restore the engine to operating condition, determined that the original squared-off Belpaire firebox […]

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Western Maryland Scenic 1309 receives FRA approval

steam locomotive outside shop

RIDGELEY, W.Va. — The Federal Railroad Administration Thursday approved Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 for service, officials of the Cumberland, Md.-based tourist railroad tell Trains News Wire. The last Baldwin built for domestic service in 1949 immediately becomes the world’s largest operating Mallet on a 17-mile mountain railroad that was once the Western […]

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Train race for charity nets $10,000

Group of children and adults in a hobby store

On November 13, Trainland, a leading hobby retailer located in Lynbrook, N.Y., and its sister store, TrainWorld in Brooklyn, N.Y., partnered with model train manufacturers Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, Lionel, LGB, PIKO, Rapido, and Walthers in the inaugural “Great American Train Race for Charity.” The event raised close to $10,000 for the Family & Children’s Association’s […]

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Handsome Hudson

Streamlined steam locomotive with passenger train at speed

Handsome Hudson For a few years in the late 1930s, the steam queens of New Haven’s Shore Line were 10 class I-5 4-6-4s. The handsome Hudsons’ wheel-balance woes prompted NH to begin acquiring a fleet of 60 DL109 diesels in 1941. Here, an I-5 roars west with the Merchants Limited at Sharon, Mass. Wayne Brumbaugh […]

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New Long Island Rail Road station opening set

people in group stand outside new station

NEW YORK – The Long Island Rail Road will open its Elmont Station for eastbound service on Nov. 20. It is the first new LIRR station in almost 50 years, according to the railroad’s owner, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The beginning of service will coincide with the New York Islanders’ hockey team’s first home game […]

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