CN names two operations executives to succeed retiring chief operating officer

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National today appointed two operations executives to take over for retiring Chief Operating Officer Ed Harris. Patrick Whitehead was named executive vice president and chief network operating officer, while Derek Taylor was named executive vice president and chief field operating officer. Both appointments are effective Nov. 15. Railroads traditionally have a lone […]

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Metra lands federal grant to purchase battery-powered trainsets

Yellow and white multiple-unit trainset on straight track

CHICAGO — Metra will receive a federal grant of almost $170 million — the largest discretionary grant in its history — to buy battery-powered trainsets, the commuter rail operator announced Tuesday. The grant under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program was approved last week by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the […]

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Staten Island Railway receives first of new railcars

Subway car on truck crossing bridge

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Staten Island Railway has received its first new railcars in 50 years, with five of the R211 subway cars designated for service on the borough’s transit line unveiled at the railway’s Clifton Maintenance Shop after delivery in a series of nighttime moves. The cars were moved overnight […]

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Fall finale for Nickel Plate Road No. 765’s 2023 season

Steam engine crosses railroad crossing

STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. — While the 2023 schedule of the Indiana Rail Experience — a partnership between the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and Indiana Northeastern Railroad Co. — will continue with diesel-powered Christmas excursions out of Pleasant Lake and New Haven, Ind., the steam season for Nickel Plate Road No. 765 has concluded in […]

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Top preserved diesel locomotives we’re glad were saved

Blue and white diesel locomotive at night in front of a lighted depot.

Top preserved diesel locomotives are units that were not only saved from the scrap heap, but special. These locomotives are important to see and understand not only because they were saved but because visionary railroad management saw them as examples of the past that should be saved to be enjoyed by the present and future […]

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What is HOn3 scale? Is it bigger or smaller than HO?

A diminutive black model steam locomotive on narrow gauge track

Q: What is HOn3 scale? If it uses HO scale track (1:87 gauge), it seems the rolling stock must be scaled wider and taller. Conversely, if I modify an HO scale/gauge locomotive for narrow gauge, I’ll need to build new, narrower track. Help me understand this. – Mark Dice A: Hi, Mark. Your second guess is the […]

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R.J. Corman leases closed West Virginia intermodal facility

Aerial view of nearly empty intermodal terminal

PRICHARD, W.Va. — R.J. Corman Railroad Group has leased a former Norfolk Southern intermodal facility in Pritchard — the state’s only intermodal terminal when it was closed after four disappointing years — and originally plans to use it as a car repair site. However, long-term goals could see the facility, built for $32 million, returned […]

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Beyond the byline with Scott Hartley

man with camera

What was your first byline in Trains? Scott Hartley: My first Trains feature article appeared in the February 1980 issue, a four-page report on Amtrak’s Alco RS3 fleet. Editor David Morgan had occasionally used my photos and opinion columns, but this was my first real article. It was a tough sell:  In 1980, Alcos clearly […]

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After 18 years, rail group resumes RDC runs in Bellefonte, Pa.

RDC with puffs of white smoke in countryside.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – After an absence of 18 years, the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society will resume Rail Diesel Car public excursions over a branch of the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad on Oct. 28-29. This was made possible by the return from Rail Mechanical Services of Columbia, Pa., of the group’s repaired RDC-1 car No. […]

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