NS has another small derailment at Horseshoe Curve NEWSWIRE

ALTOONA, Pa. — For the second time in three weeks, Norfolk Southern has had a minor derailment at the landmark Horseshoe Curve. This one, at about 4 p.m. on Friday, July 26, involved six cars, all empties, on a westbound freight. The cars remained upright after leaving the track, the Altoona Mirror reports. There were […]

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Ask Trains: Why do railroads create heritage locomotives?

Union Pacific SD70ACe No. 4141 letter for former President George H. W. Bush led Bush’s funeral train from Houston to College Station, Texas, in Dec. 2018. 18345-3 Bradley Bates Q: Painting locomotives is expensive. I’m curious to know why railroads would spend this kind of money painting heritage units? — David Berg, Minneapolis, Minn. A: […]

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Railroad Performance Measures website goes dark NEWSWIRE

Railroad Performance Measures website home page WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads pulled the plug on the Railroad Performance Measures website this month, saying it has outlived its usefulness. The railroadpm.org website — which reported weekly Class I figures for terminal dwell, average train speed, and cars online — was an outgrowth of the […]

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SD9 hauls again in Indiana NEWSWIRE

With six cars on the drawbar for Nease Chemical in Fernald, Ohio, Indiana Eastern SD9 No. 206 cruises through the farmland of eastern Indiana on former Chesapeake & Ohio rails near the tiny community of Peoria, Ind., on July 18. David Rohdenburg COTTAGE GROVE, Ind. — Midwest shortline Indiana Eastern Railroad, which operates 43 miles […]

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2019 National Train Show report, part 2

Athearn HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe diesel locomotive. Pre-production sample shown. HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD70ACe diesel locomotive. Pre-production sample shown. Union Pacific (George Bush 41 Presidential Library and Museum). One road number (2018 version with black radiator fan housings). Removable cab roof secured with magnets, light-emitting-diode headlights and ditch lights, and commemorative box. […]

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NJ Transit unveils six heritage commuter cars NEWSWIRE

Newly wrapped Central Railroad of New Jersey multiLevel Bombardier coach joins five other heritage-themed cars to commemorate NJ Transit’s history on its 40th anniversary. NJ Transit KEARNEY, N.J. — NJ Transit will join the list of railroads to operate heritage-themed equipment, rolling out six coaches decorated with logos of railroads that operated on parts of […]

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Squires ‘pleased’ with NS operations changes NEWSWIRE

James Squires, NS CEO Norfolk Southern LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Norfolk Southern is looking ahead with its newly implemented TOP21 operations plan, in use now for less than a month. The comments come from NS CEO James Squires at the summer meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers at the Grand Geneva Resort. “I think […]

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WalthersMainline HO scale chop-nose GP9

The GP9 (CNW sample shown) has drill-starter points for grab irons. Walthers offers a detail kit for the model separately. The layout of the components under the shell is pretty typical, with the printed-circuit board and decoder located above the motor and flywheel. The chop-nose GP9 is equipped with light-emitting-diode headlights. A newly tooled chop-nose […]

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