CSX launches double-stack service at the Port of Baltimore

BALTIMORE, Md. — CSX launched double-stack service to and from the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore on Monday (Oct. 28) thanks to clearance projects that have been completed north of the Howard Street Tunnel. “This is a great day for the Port of Baltimore and a great day for Maryland,” Gov. Wes Moore said […]

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Unifor opens negotiations with VIA Rail Canada

Logo of Canadian union Unifor

MONTREAL — Canadian union Unifor has opened contract negotiations with VIA Rail Canada, the union announced Monday, Oct. 28. The union’s Council 4000 represents 1,800 VIA employees in station services, headquarters, maintenance centers and onboard positions; Local 100 represents 700 employees working as diesel engine mechanics, electricians, railcar technicians, and general workers. “Our goal in […]

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More CRISI grants announced

Passenger train crossing bridge

WASHINGTON — Another group of awards were announced today (Monday, Oct. 28) under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant program, with the latest group led by more than $72 million for work in the Milwaukee area to reroute freight trains away from the city’s primary passenger station. The full list […]

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FRA aims to tighten rules for waivers that allow railroads to experiment with safety technology

Boxcar equipped with scientific instruments for railroad track inspection.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration today proposed more stringent requirements that railroads must meet in order to obtain safety rule waivers that allow experimentation with track and equipment inspection technology. The proposed rule would give rail labor and lineside communities more of a say in how automated track and train inspection systems are deployed. […]

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News & Products for the week of October 28th 2024

A black model steam locomotive with tender car and a yellow model caboose pictured below

News & Products for the week of October 28th 2024   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 October 28th […]

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Capturing reality in garden railway photographs

a figure of a child walks on the rails next to a boxcar on garden railway

Many of us started our love affair with model trains after getting Lionel or American Flyer items, perhaps to circle a Christmas tree. We might have gotten a toy plastic or metal station with people printed on the sides and some fake evergreen trees. It was all the excitement and the reality we needed. I […]

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Lionel Legacy Alco S2 switcher

maroon model train on a layout with figures nearby

Hidden in the back of the Lionel 2023 Volume 2 catalog — behind large Legacy steam and diesels locomotives, plus a few heavyweight passenger cars — was the small yet proven Alco S2 switcher.  The S2 was one of Alco’s most reliable and successful locomotives. Powered by a turbocharged inline 6 cylinder engine, it pumped […]

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Railfan Road: The Lone Star State

An orange freight locomotive leads a coal train through a rolling rural landscape

Amarillo to Fort Worth BNSF Railway’s route from Amarillo to Fort Worth has been twice reinvented — a secondary route rebuilt into a unit coal train conveyor, then repurposed to a primary California-Texas intermodal route.  Broad vistas, interesting topography and about 20 trains per day easily viewable from a closely paralleling U.S. highway makes the […]

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BNSF, electrical workers announce tentative contract agreement

BNSF Railway logo

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract, while the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers has ratified its agreement with the railroad. The BNSF-IBEW agreement is the ninth reached by the railroad in the last two months ahead of the […]

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Transit Workers Union authorizes strike against SEPTA

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority logo

PHILADELPHIA — Members of the union representing more than 5,300 workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority have voted to authorize a strike effective at midnight on Nov. 7, when their current contract expires. Members of Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents subway, trolley, and bus operators, mechanics, and other workers, voted unanimously in […]

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10 must-see Colorado railroad attractions

A narrow gauge tank type steam locomotive in an earthen cut.

1. Take the train from Cripple Creek Our list of 10 must-see Colorado railroad attractions starts with a trip back in time. Railroads arrived in the mining town of Cripple Creek in 1893, and today the best way to see the “World’s Greatest Gold Camp” is aboard Colorado’s only 2-foot narrow-gauge steam railroad, the Cripple […]

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California agency awards more than $850 million for 11 rail projects

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SACRAMENTO — Eleven rail projects, including a new LA Metro light rail line and extension of service in Sonoma County by SMART commuter trail, have received more than $850 million in funding from the Calfiornia State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) in awards announced last week. “From new zero-emissions buses in the Central Valley to vital rail […]

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