BNSF reaches paid sick days agreement with boilermakers union

Logo of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway has reached a paid sick time agreement with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the railroad announced today. BNSF said the deal was part of larger ongoing discussions about modernizing the work environment. Seven of BNSF’s 12 labor unions are now covered by paid sick leave agreements. Building upon existing […]

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Rail safety bill introduced in U.S. House

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. representatives from Ohio — Bill Johnson (R) and Emilia Sykes (D) — today introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotives Act, or RAIL Act, the latest legislative response to the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. The companion bill to the Rail Safety Act introduced earlier this month in the Senate [see “Senators propose […]

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FRA issues safety bulletin on shoving moves across grade crossings

Logo for Federal Railroad Administration

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety bulletin asking railroads to review with employees the dangers of pushing and shoving moves at highway grade crossings. The bulletin issued today (March 17) is clearly in response to the fatal accident involving a Norfolk Southern conductor on March 7 [see “Norfolk Southern employee killed […]

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Canadian Pacific Kansas City eyes April 14 start date

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific will waste no time officially combining with Kansas City Southern. CP said today that it will create Canadian Pacific Kansas City on April 14, the earliest date CP could take control of KCS under the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the $31 billion merger. “Under the leadership of the exceptional […]

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Modeling Conrail in the UK

two blue model locomotives on track of garden railroad

Modeling Conrail in the UK The genesis of the Bishopstown Sub is tale that involves a chance encounter and a leap of faith. In 2003 I found myself in Kuwait with the UK Military and one day I found myself in a USAF Headquarters. Walking through an office area I saw a screensaver image of […]

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CSX train derails in Kentucky (updated)

Derailed auto rack

GLENDALE, Ky. — Occupants of a vehicle suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” this afternoon (March 16) when their car was struck by a derailed car from a CSX train, the railroad said in a statement to WHAS-TV. Twenty-one cars  derailed when the train applied emergency braking to avoid striking a truck at the Hodgenville Road grade crossing […]

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Looking at the MTH Premier 36-foot Woodsided Reefer

MTH Premier 36-foot Woodsided Reefer

Chris Montagna of Chris’s Trains and Things is checking out some of the latest releases from MTH Trains: the most recent run of its 36-foot Premier line refrigerated cars. These were delivered in early 2023. MTH cataloged cars decorated for Pioneer Valley Ham; White Rock Water; Fox River Butter; and Fruit Growers Express. The billboard […]

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RBP Trains, Trainworld team for custom locomotive

RBP Trains Trainworld custom Katy locomotive

Having your own YouTube channel is a cool thing. Getting your own custom-decorated locomotive is also pretty spectacular. Trainworld, in conjunction with Chris Raines, the creator behind YouTube toy-train channel RBP Trains, is producing a Lionel Legacy ES44AC in a modified Union Pacific heritage Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway paint scheme. RBP Trains, Trainworld make custom locomotive If […]

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Add interior lights to a passenger car

Model Railroader magazine’s associate editor Bryson Sleppy shares his technique for installing an LED kit into a modern, HO scale passenger car that did not come factory-equipped with lights. Even better, Bryson adds an NCE Light-it DCC decoder he’ll use to toggle the interior illumination on/off. Be sure to follow the exclusive In The Workshop […]

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