Athearn HO Berwick bathtub gondola Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Single car, $36.99 to $41.99; three-pack, $99.99 to $114.99 Era: 1977+ to 2020+ (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Athearn HO Berwick bathtub gondola features: Body-mounted McHenry plastic scale couplers Machined metal wheels with RP-25 contours […]
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Andersen EMD SW1 operationally restored
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Transportation Museum volunteers have returned a 1949 EMD SW1 diesel locomotive to operation. The unit was built for the Wabash Railroad and later sold to window-maker Andersen for switching at its Bayport, Minn., plant. “It started with a hinge,” says Tim Nelson, one of the volunteers who led the project, […]
US weekly rail traffic continues downward trend
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic remains below 2024 levels for the third straight week — and the sixth time in eight weeks — with both carload and intermodal traffic showing declines. According to figures from the Association of American Railroads for the week ending Oct. 25, total traffic was 499,688 carloads and intermodal units, […]
SEPTA asks for more time for Silverliner IV inspections
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has asked the Federal Railroad Administration for more time to complete inspections of its Silverliner IV car fleet, a SEPTA spokesman said today (Oct. 29, 2025). Public broadcaster WHYY reports that the SEPTA has asked for an additional two weeks to complete the inspections of the 223 Silverliner […]
CPKC profits rise on higher volume and revenue
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City reported higher quarterly profits on Wednesday as volume and revenue both increased despite ongoing economic uncertainty and trade tensions in North America. “CPKC once again created profitable, sustainable growth in the third quarter, while navigating challenging macroeconomic conditions,” CEO Keith Creel said in a statement. “Through our powerful […]
Norfolk Southern tops 1,000 DC to AC conversions — and transforms its roster
Norfolk Southern didn’t mind being late to the AC-traction party. And NS wasn’t just fashionably late, either. As Burlington Northern, Canadian Pacific, CSX, and Union Pacific gravitated toward AC locomotives in the mid 1990s, NS stuck with DC, saying it couldn’t justify the higher cost of AC-traction units. Even little Kansas City Southern jumped aboard […]
Veedersburg, Ind., signals
Q: The cover of the November 2025 issue of Model Railroader shows the signals for the west end of the Veedersburg, Ind., siding. The signal for entering the siding has no middle head so the best it could display is slow clear, but the signal for leaving the siding has a middle head and only […]
CSX changes financial and commercial leadership
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX CEO Steve Angel has made changes to the executive team a month after arriving at the railroad. Kevin Boone, the railroad’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, today was named chief financial officer, replacing Sean Pelkey, who departed the company. Maryclare Kenney was promoted to senior vice president and chief […]
Why modern trains lack traditional signal lights
Soon after the first railroad bought the second locomotive it became apparent that some rules of the road were needed. There had to be a way to keep a following locomotive from running into the one ahead and to prevent head-on collisions when locomotives are moving toward each other on a single track. In the […]
Mount Washington Cog Railway rescues hikers
MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. — It was the Mount Washington Cog Railway to the rescue on Saturday, Oct. 25. The railroad transported more than 20 hikers, who were not prepared for conditions, from atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington back to the base of the mountain. A number of the group were showing signs of hypothermia when […]
MTA completes revamp of Grand Central-42nd Street subway station
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has completed a five-year revamp of the Grand Central-42nd Street station, the second busiest in the New York City Transit subway system, and says the extensive remodeling was finished on time and approximately $46.5 million under budget. The project — for a station served by the 4, 5, […]
MSU professor: UP-NS merger can’t turn back the clock on carload decline
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is unlikely to revive carload traffic — and it’s an open question whether it can unlock intermodal growth because of broader economic trends that are beyond railroads’ control, a Michigan State University supply chain management professor said during a webcast today. UP says its proposed $85 […]
