WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway this week asked federal regulators to ensure that it can use its trackage rights over Union Pacific to interchange with a proposed new short line railway in Utah. UP last month sought Surface Transportation Board permission to reinstitute common-carrier service over a 1.04-mile section of the abandoned Warner Branch. The connecting […]
Despite the lack of play value in tank cars, boys wanted them because they reflected what kids saw in full-sized trains. So prewar manufacturers like Lionel and Ives developed tank cars, but hoped to do more with them. The breakthrough came in 1932, when Lionel worked out a licensing agreement with Sun Oil Co. Tank […]
Prewar predecessors Cranes that can lift miniature cargo, rotate as they hold it, and lower it into a tray or a piece of rolling stock have been toy train staples since the first part of the 20th century. Perhaps the first such accessory made in America – certainly, the most celebrated of the prewar era […]
Starting in 1935, Lionel cataloged six models based on the Commodore Vanderbilt. None had a 4-6-4 arrangement, yet the look of the Nos. 264E, 265E, 289E, and 1689E (2-4-2s) and 1508 and 1511 (0-4-0s) made it clear these O and O-27 toys were derived from the sleek, curved design of America’s first streamlined steamer. Louis […]
Lionel’s separate-sale items and accessories for 1959 Readers of our article on Super O and O-27 outfits cataloged in 1959 (September 2009 issue) will remember that the company experienced some earth-shaking changes in 1959. The turmoil started at the top, as Joshua Lionel Cowen sold control to Roy Cohn, his great-nephew. This confounding move by […]
What was your first byline in Trains? Blair Kooistra: It was a short, totally unsolicited book review on the softcover photography title “Railroading West: A Contemporary Glimpse,” written by Jeff Brouws and Ronald Hill, appearing in the October 1976 issue. I was an impressionable 16 1/2 years old, and was blown away by the photography […]
NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Mid-Continent Railway Museum is launching a project to restore to operating condition its Electro-Motive Corp. motor car , the oldest surviving piece of EMC equipment. Montana Western No. 31, built by EMC in 1925 for Great Northern Railway as its No. 2313, is the 13th railcar built by the company that […]
NEW SALEM, Ill. — Clean-up is continuing, but Norfolk Southern expected to have its line reopened Wednesday evening following a 20-car derailment Tuesday, Dec. 12, on its main line west of Springfield, Ill. The Quincy Herald-Whig reports the derailment did not involve any hazardous materials. KQHA-TV reports the incident was reported to authorities at 11:44 […]
PHILADELPHIA — Police for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority have gone on strike, with the nation’s sixth-largest transportation agency calling on other law-enforcement bodies to fill in throughout the system. WHYY reports 83 of 124 members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge No. 109 voted to strike, with Troy Parham, the organization’s first […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors has approved a new four-year contract with International Association of Machinists Lodge 264, including an overall pay raise of approximately 18% over the life of the contract, as well as several provisions intended to improve worker retention. The contract approved on Wednesday, Dec. 13, is […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Gateway Transit Center, a hub for the MAX light rail system’s Red, Blue, and Green lines in eastern Portland, will be closed to rail service Jan. 14 to Feb. 25 of next year to allow for construction, transit agency TriMet has announced. The resulting service disruption will include a suspension of […]
SAGUENAY, Quebec — The Canadian government and the province of Quebec will help fund a conveyor system at the Port of Saguenay, connecting the port to storage facilities and railyards in the community’s industrial port zone. The funding announced this week includes C$55.2 million from the federal government, a loan of up to C$36.8 million […]
