WASHINGTON — A Hulcher Services employee was seriously injured when he was pinned between a rubber-tire loader and a railcar during a rerailing operation at the Port of Stockton, Calif., the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary investigation report released today (April 7, 2025). The incident occurred March 11 at about 3:03 p.m., […]
News & Products for the week of April 7th 2025 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 7th, […]
TORONTO — Canadian National train service employees represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will get a 3% annual raise under an arbitrator’s contract decision. Arbitrator William Kaplan released his decision today on the three-year contract, which runs from Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2026. When CN and the TCRC were unable to reach […]
Reach, in model railroading terminology, is how far you can comfortably stick your arm into a scene without damaging the layout. Planning for reach is essential when designing a layout, as eventually you will need to dust, fix, change, or maintain one or more scenic features once it is built. The maximum depth the average […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs has asked train crews to pitch in to help the railroad dig out of congestion. “When I joined CSX, I said it clearly, our front-line railroaders are the ones who create the value our customers pay for,” Hinrichs wrote in a system notice sent to employees on Friday […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway is not hitting the pause button on a pair of trade-dependent intermodal projects in California and Arizona despite the broad tariffs that the Trump administration unveiled on April 2. BNSF is planning to build a $1.5 billion terminal and transload center in Barstow, Calif., to handle international containers. The […]
It’s early morning in the rolling hills of North Carolina. The silence is broken by the shotgun sound of a steam locomotive. The engine, a hulking Baldwin decapod, is panting and straining against a heavy train of building supplies and coal empties, bound for the junction with the Alarka Branch a few miles distant. With […]
The Lionel No. 773 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender from 1950 did much to revive the passion dedicated O gauge modeler Walt Urban Jr. has for toy trains. He reminds us that hobbyists who grew up during the 1950s will remember the annual holiday shopping season as being particularly nostalgic. Like him, many of […]
CHICAGO — Storm-related cancellations will continue today (Monday, April 7) for Amtrak’s Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans, the fourth such day for such disruptions. In posts on the Amtrak Alerts social media feed late Sunday night, the company said today’s departures of the City of New Orleans from Chicago and New Orleans would […]
It’s nice to have structures on our railways. You can often see coaling towers, sand stations, water towers, and sometimes a sawmill. A sawmill can also be a source of additional industries, such as a lumber store for cut planks or a log storage area, featuring an overhead crane. You might add animated features to […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Six cars of a CSX train derailed on the southeast side of Indianapolis on Sunday evening (April 6), with five cars falling off a bridge onto a street below and covering it with cornstarch. The Indianapolis Star reports that the derailment occurred about 6:35 p.m., according to CSX. Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman Rita […]
CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association’s restoration of Reading Co. T-1 No. 2100 has reached a major milestone with successful steam tests of the locomotive. The tests of the boiler, piping, and water delivery systems took place April 3-4, with contractors on hand. They were made possible when the organization was able to […]
