Obsolete railcars are getting a reprieve from the scrapper’s torch to serve as vital road links in an area of North Carolina ravaged by Hurricane Helene. The North Carolina Department of Transportation and Innovative Bridge Co. are installing retired flatcars as a quick fix to temporarily replace road bridges damaged or destroyed by the storm […]
MONTREAL — Most of the Réseau express metropolitain light rail network will be open in October, according to the head of the company overseeing construction of the Montreal-area system. But before then, the portion of the REM that is currently operating will be shut down for six weeks as part of systemwide testing. The CBC […]
I love details. Thirty years ago, I built my first craftsman structure kit and found out what details could do to “raise the roof” on my modeling. If you think about it, what you mostly see of a structure on a layout is the roof. On my railroad, a roof has to have one or […]
Stone has long been used as a building material in the full-size world. Cut stone can be long lasting as the Greeks and Romans showed us centuries ago. A more recent pair of examples are the stone railroad arch bridges from my home in Melrose, Mass., built in 1848 and the Canton Viaduct, which has […]
WASHINGTON — Historically, passenger rail funding has had legislative champions from each party in the House and Senate that successfully counteracted executive branch funding cuts. When President Donald Trump called for deep reductions aimed at Amtrak’s long-distance network during his first term, those budget proposals were eventually rebuffed in bipartisan transportation spending deals. But this […]
Brian and Riley Inch built a 10 x 16 layout using GarGraves track with Ross Custom Switches with Tortoise machines. This small layout features a marina, a small town, and a farm scene. Does the name Brian Inch sound familiar? He owns Model Rail Scenes custom layout services. Read more about this layout in […]
HELENA, Mont. — BNSF Railway has completed a plan to address grizzly bear deaths along its rail line near Glacier National Park in Montana that includes $2.9 million in mitigation efforts. Approval of the long-awaited document by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has led to the railroad receiving an “incidental take” permit that addresses […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — West met East here Thursday morning (Feb. 13, 2025) as the East Broad Top Railroad took ownership of former Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad diesel unit No. 1203, an H.K. Porter six-axle locomotive built in Pittsburgh in 1946. After a week-long trip by heavy-haul truck from its last home in […]
As I previously stated in the unboxing video with Classic Toy Trains Editor Rene Schweitzer, there’s going to be plenty to unpack on MTH’s DCS Wi-Fi Track Interface Unit (WTIU). One such curiosity for myself and many others regarding this latest edition to the Digital Command System family is “the remote of your choosing.” Which […]
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Patrick O’Donnell has joined the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway as chief mechanical officer, the railroad has announced. O’Donnell joins the NYS&W after a decade as a rail safety inspector or supervisor or rail safety inspectors for the state of New York. As a supervisor, he oversaw four disciplines — track, […]
EDMONTON, Alberta — Cando Rail & Terminals has opened its latest facility, the Cando Southlands Rail Yard in Strathcona County, Alberta. The new facility helps serve the Imperial Oil Strathcona Refinery in Sherwood Park, Alta., just east of Edmonton, adding operational and storage capacity for more than 600 railcars. Cando will provide rail service at […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced plans for a special rail schedule as part of the Massachusetts 250 celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. The celebration is set for Patriots Day weekend, April 19-20. “The Commonwealth has a rich history, and ‘Massachusetts 250’ is just one […]
