MIAMI — The finances of Brightline’s Florida operation have produced cautionary action by bond-rating agencies on Wall Street, which have downgraded the company’s bonds and notes over concerns about its ability to service its debt. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports in a paywalled article that Fitch Group and Kroll Bond Rating Agency downgraded more […]
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe was the first railroad to order Electro-Motive Corp. FTs, and four of them are seen here leading an extra (note the white flags on the lead unit) through Starkville, Colo. The scene was on the late David Haines’ N scale AT&SF layout. Bill Pearce took the photo. Model Railroader‘s […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 and the railroad’s diesel honoring Abraham Lincoln will make a round trip between Cheyenne and Denver in July, with a public whistle-stop appearance in Greeley, Colo., in each direction. The railroad will also auction off four cab rides to support the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in […]
Mexico’s Maya Train — built to attract tourists to sites on the Yucatan Peninsula — has little chance of becoming profitable without the development of freight traffic on the route, the operation’s general director said this month. The news site Infobae reports that, at a seminar of the Mexican Railway Association earlier this month, Gen. […]
One of the questions we receive quite regularly is where to find parts. Sooner or later, it’s likely you’ll need a part for your locomotive or rolling stock. It could be as simple as replacing traction tires or as complicated as a postwar rehab project. In either case, we’ve got you covered! For each retailer, […]
How much a railroad charges to move freight depends largely upon the weight of the cargo. Large shippers maintain in-plant track scales and weigh each car — knowing the weight simplifies the paperwork involved in billing the shipment Other shippers rely on the railroad’s own track scales, which are usually located along a through yard […]
CHICAGO — Sellouts in coach and high prices in sleeping cars, if space is available at all, are the rule rather than exception in a News Wire survey of Amtrak long-distance trains as summer arrives. Travelers will often face limited inventory for the rest of the summer despite marginal increases in equipment deployment. In a […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada workers represented by Canadian union Unifor have authorized a strike that could come as soon as June 22, the union announced Monday, May 26. Some 97.5% of workers represented by Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 voted in favor of strike authorization. “This strike vote is not just a number […]
ROANOKE, Va. — Norfolk Southern’s Norfolk & Western heritage locomotive, ES44AC No. 8103, will take part in the 75th anniversary celebration for Class J 4-8-4 No. 611 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the museum has announced. The event is set for May 30-31, 2025, at the museum in Roanoke. “This is a powerful homecoming,” […]
MARHOWRA, India — Wabtec Corp. and Rio Tinto SimFer on Monday (May 26) unveiled the first locomotive in an order for TransGuinéen Railway, part of an order to serve Africa’s Simandou iron ore project. The Evolution Series ES43ACi locomotive is part of a $277 million order placed in 2024 by SimFer, a joint venture of […]
Athearn N 45-foot Fruehauf trailer Scale: N (1:160) Price: $31.99 Era: 1970s to 2000s Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Athearn N 45-foot Fruehauf trailer features: Factory-applied mud flaps Factory-printed builder’s plates on sides and ends Free-rolling plastic tire and wheel assemblies One-piece injection-molded plastic body Red rear-facing lights and […]
I began collecting O and 027 gauge trains in middle school. Like many toy train enthusiasts, the trains were eventually packed away for various reasons. Years later, I unpacked my Lionel and Marx collection. It had been a long time since I had seen these trains. I unpacked mostly postwar and modern 2-4-2 outline steam […]
