Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe mechanical reefers from Rapido Trains

Drawing of orange boxcars in different paint schemes

Santa Fe RR-56/60/61 mechanical reefer Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car, $41.95; four-pack, $167.80 Era: 1955+ (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Santa Fe mechanical reefer features: Separate, factory-applied door posts, door latches, and uncoupling levers Underframe piping and equipment Cushion draft gear detail Positionable roof […]

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Man killed in Texas railcar accident

Logo of ExxonMobil

BEAUMONT, Texas — A 66-year-old Beaumont man has died in what is being described as “a railcar accident” at an ExxonMobil plant in Beaumont on Friday. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said it has ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death for Richard Garza, a contractor at the plant. No other information […]

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More Gulf Coast STB hearings set as mediation efforts fail (updated)

People on station platform to welcome special Amtrak train

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled two more days of hearings next month on Amtrak’s efforts to launch Gulf Coast passenger service after the passenger carrier, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., failed to reach an agreement through board-sponsored mediation. The evidentiary hearings will be Nov. 17-18, beginning at […]

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Athearn Genesis National Steel Car 6,400-cubic-foot capacity gondola

Drawing of green gondola

National Steel Car 6,400-cubic-foot capacity gondola Scale: HO (1:87:1) Price: Single car, $64.99; two-pack, $109.99 Era: 2012 to present (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Features: Multiple body styles and ladder variations Removable scrap load Brass stirrup steps Metal grab irons Etched-metal crossover platforms where […]

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Regulators, concerned about service, order big four U.S. railroads to continue to provide detailed performance data

Train crossing a diamond

WASHINGTON — Citing ongoing service problems at the big four U.S. Class I railroads, federal regulators today ordered BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific to continue reporting expanded performance metrics for an additional six months. The Surface Transportation Board in May ordered all Class I systems to provide weekly reports that cover […]

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Get ready for the first U.S. railroad strike in three decades: Analysis

A U.S. railroad strike now seems inevitable. The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen overwhelmingly rejected their tentative contract agreement with the railroads this week, following in the footsteps of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, who turned down their deal earlier this month. This makes it almost certain that the rank-and-file members of the two […]

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Guilford’s Dave Fink cast a long shadow

October 1998 Trains magazine cover

I never met David “Dave” A. Fink, but I felt his presence for a while in the late 1990s. The pugnacious president of Guilford Transportation Industries had a reputation for being difficult with journalists, but long about 1997 I decided Trains absolutely had to have a profile of his railroad, no matter what. Fink proved […]

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Bowser Canadian and Phase III RS3 diesel locomotives

Drawing of green and yellow diesel locomotive

Canadian and Phase III RS3 diesel locomotives Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin plug, $219.95; with ESU LokSound Select sound decoder, $319.95 Era: 1954+ (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Bowser Manufacturing Co. Inc., 1302 Jordan Ave., Montoursville, PA 17754; 570-368-2379; bowser-trains.com Canadian and Phase III RS3 diesel locomotive features: Road-name-specific fuel tanks Separate, factory-applied air hoses, windshield wipers, […]

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