N&W No. 611 named to National Register of Historic Places

Streamlined steam locomotive

ROANOKE, Va. — Norfolk & Western No. 611, the Virginia Museum of Transportation’s celebrated Class J 4-8-4, has gained a new honor: a spot on the National Park Services’ National Register of Historic Places. The museum learned of the designation earlier this week, and plans an official celebration in the spring, according to social media […]

Read More…

NTSB releases preliminary report on death of New York subway flagger

Interior of subway tunnel

WASHINGTON —The National Transportation Safety Board plans to focus on New York City Transit’s internal oversight and worker protection procedures, and the external oversight provided by the Federal Transit Administration and the New York Department of Transportation, as it continues its investigation into a fatal accident involving a track worker on Nov. 29, according to […]

Read More…

Weekly U.S. rail traffic shows significant surge

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its winning streak in a big way for the week ending Dec. 16, showing a 7.6% increase in volume compared to the same week a year ago. It is the sixth straight week that traffic has shown gains over the corresponding week in 2022. According to figures from the […]

Read More…

North America’s endangered Class I locomotives in 2024

Endangered Class I locomotives: Red and black locomotives in a snowy landscape.

Endangered Class I locomotives   Endangered Class I locomotives in 2024: Locomotive fleets are always in a state of evolution. Changes such as new power purchased, older locomotives rebuilt, returned off lease, stored, or retired are always happening. Interest is always piqued when the last of a model is ready to exit a roster. Observers […]

Read More…

BNSF train derails in Arizona

A BNSF derailment this morning in Adamana, Ariz., involved a locomotive and 21 cars, according to authorities. Apache County Sheriff's Office

ADAMANA Ariz. — One locomotive and 21 cars of a BNSF Railway train derailed this morning in eastern Arizona, KNXV-TV reports. No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved in the incident that occurred about 7:30 a.m. about 20 miles east of Holbrook, Ariz., and about 45 miles from the New Mexico border. […]

Read More…

Parallel Systems shows off autonomous cars’ ability to move together in platoons

LOS ANGELES — Parallel Systems today for the first time demonstrated the platooning capability of the autonomous, battery-electric container cars that it is developing for short-haul intermodal service. The self-propelled cars lack traditional Janney railroad couplers. Instead, they can operate in platoons through bumper-to-bumper contact and coordinating tractive effort among all of the cars in […]

Read More…

From the Cab: A picture worth a thousand words

This is a picture worth a thousand words. For decades, artists and photographers awed us with images of mighty locomotives scorching the high iron with hundreds of passengers or thousands of tons of freight in tow. The sun shines brightly as the wind blows the hair of the fearless engineer, perched on the armrest. The […]

Read More…

FTA directive seeks to address assaults on transit workers (updated)

Federal Transit Administration logo

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has released a proposal requiring transit agencies to assess risk to their workers and identify strategies to improve worker safety. The proposed general directive, published today in the Federal Register, is open to comment through Feb. 20, 2024. “Assaults on transit workers are unacceptable,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said […]

Read More…

Menards Moe’s Cycle Shop

model motorcyle shop structure

Menards has really shaken up how O gaugers build their layout cities. Parking garages, nuclear power plants, towering hotels and even strip shopping centers populate layouts nation-wide. One aspect of the Menards building line is that there is often a space-saving feature such as the “run-through” tunnel that allows you to place a structure right […]

Read More…