WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today issued a setback to Union Pacific’s effort to acquire Norfolk Southern, rejecting the railroads’ merger application as incomplete — although that move offers little clue to the eventual prospects for the first transcontinental merger. The decision will slow the merger process, requiring the two railroads to rework three […]
NEW HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Railroad Museum, home of the New Hope Valley Railway, was recently awarded $280,216 in federal grants to support interactive exhibit development. The new exhibits will illustrate North Carolina’s railroad history and its role in transportation innovation. The Institute of Museum and Library Services grants will support the creation […]
TORONTO — Alstom and the Toronto Transit Commission have finalized an agreement for Alstom to build 70 six-car Metropolis subway trainsets for the New Subway Train program to replace the fleet on the TTC’s subway Line 2, as well as for use on subway extension projects. The purchase of the new equipment had been announced […]
WASHINGTON — House members from Pennsylvania and Ohio have introduced a bill requiring the Federal Railroad Administration to study tank car pressure relief valves, and provide a report to Congress on their findings, nearly three years after the disastrous February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials derailment. The Under Pressure Act was announced Thursday (Jan. […]
LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt executives are disappointed that the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application did not include more details about the railroads’ intermodal plans. “We continue to digest the application and had expected more intermodal-specific questions to be addressed in the merger application than there were,” Darren Field, president of J.B. Hunt Intermodal, said […]
In the 1890s, the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland operated the first Mallet locomotives. They were compound articulated locomotives developed by, and named for, Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet. A Mallet locomotive has two engines, which are independently mounted on an articulated frame. A high-pressure engine is located at the rear. Steam exhausted from it is conveyed […]
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would extend to passenger train crew members the same legal protections that exist for airline flight crews and attendants. U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) on Thursday, Jan. 15, introduced the “Passenger Rail Crew Protection Act.” It would carry penalties of up […]
CALGARY, Alberta — A total of 16 tentative bargaining agreements covering Canadian Pacific Kansas City workers with various U.S. unions in recent weeks have all been ratified, the railroad announced on Thursday (Jan. 15). The five-year agreements cover approximately 700 railroaders in 11 states. “We are very pleased to see all these agreements ratified and […]
WASHINGTON — A CSX conductor was killed when he was crushed by the railcar he was riding during a shove move, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report released Thursday, Jan. 15. The car, part of a string being shoved onto a siding, overturned onto the conductor after it struck a cut-off […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena had the crowd laughing Thursday (Jan. 15) throughout his talk to the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, to the point that analyst Anthony B. Hatch, the event’s final speaker, said that he appreciated getting the chance “to do a set at the Vena Comedy Club.” One example […]
Explore 80 years of model railroading innovation with Athearn’s Jim Wiggin! Ride along with Trains.com hosts Cody Grivno and Lucas Iverson, and you’ll hear Jim outline the company’s evolution from Irv Athearn’s garage to the exacting production of highly detailed Genesis line HO and N scale products. Discover how modern technology like 3D printing and […]
For 80 years, Athearn has been a part of the model railroading industry, producing familiar product ranges like HO scale blue box kits and Genesis ready-to-run models. In preparation for its milestone anniversary in 2026, Associate Brand Manager Jim Wiggin joined Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno and Trains.com Assistant Digital Editor Lucas Iverson to […]
