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LAREDO, Texas — With simultaneous ceremonies in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Kansas City Southern marked the start of construction on a second span of the International Railway Bridge across the Rio Grande. KCS CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer led the ceremony in Laredo on Monday, Oct. 31, while KCS de Mexico President Oscar del Cuento hosted […]
Switchers are resilient: Less than 4% of Electro Motive Division SW- and MP-series switching locomotives manufactured between 1966 and 1987 remain in use on Class I railroads today. Of the more than 2,900 locomotives built in those 20 years, TRAINS calculates less than 12 SW and approximately 100 MP switchers still earn revenue for Class […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Menards intermodal cars and containers are popular with hobbyists who like to enjoy a modern scene on traditional-sized railroads. Bob Keller from Classic Toy Trains magazine has a look at them along with CTT editor Hal Miller in Bob’s Train Box 85. They also examine the shipping containers that go in the cars, and discuss […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
WASHINGTON — An array of shipper groups has asked the Biden administration to head off a potential railroad strike. Trade associations representing manufacturers, farmers, food and beverage producers, and retailers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday urging the White House to work with railroads and unions to ensure that tentative contract agreements […]
