News & Products for the week of March 27th 2023 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 March 27th 2023. […]
BOSTON — Former Long Island Rail Road President Phillip Eng will become the new general manager of the problem-plagued Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced Eng’s selection in a statement today, saying Eng “is the proven leader the MBTA needs to improve safety and reliability across the system and restore the public’s […]
LaVerne F. (Vern) Bleifuss, former art director for Model Railroader magazine, died on March 1, 2023. He was 87 years old. LaVerne was born April 30, 1935 in the village of Summit, Wis. After graduation from Oconomowoc High School, he attended the Layton School of Art, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree. Following his honorable […]
MONTREAL — A coalition opposed to construction of the Lac-Mégantic rail bypass has delivered almost 1,500 letters contesting the Canadian government’s expropriation of land for the project to the agency in charge of the process. The French-language newspaper La Presse Canadienne initially reported the protest in an article published in English by the Montreal Gazette. […]
WASHINGTON — The independent body which oversees safety matters for the DC Metrorail system is investigating an incident in which a train operator improperly used Metrorail’s automated operating system, and is working to determine if other operators have done so, as well. The Washington Post reports the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission is looking into a […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak departures from Chicago began at mid-morning today (Sunday, March 26) following two days of widespread cancellations because engineers couldn’t register, or initialize, trains in the interoperable positive train control system shared with host railroads. The impact of those cancellations will reverberate for days because equipment isn’t available to return to Chicago. Today’s […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak’s PTC issues have stretched into a third day and is leading to widespread National Network cancellations, although the company no longer has a notification of the problem on the front page of its website. As of 8:15 a.m. CDT today (Sunday, March 26), the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed is listing the following […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced a significant number of service disruptions in April for track work to address speed restrictions on its rail rapid transit network, as well as some commuter rail work. No work is planned the weekend of April 15-16 because of anticipated increased ridership for Boston Marathon events. […]
CHICAGO — Ongoing issues with the server involved with Amtrak’s positive train control system have led to the cancellation today (Saturday, March 25), of a number of trains in the Midwest and elsewhere. According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, 11 of the 13 Hiawatha service trains between Chicago and Milwaukee have been canceled as […]
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Legislature is placing on hold a bill that would require trains to have two-person crews while federal regulators consider the issue, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Legislative Bill 31 was introduced in January by state Sen. Mike Jacobson (R-North Platte) and was awaiting action by the legislature’s Transportation and Telecommuncations Committee. […]
A coalition of eight shop craft unions have reached a tentative agreement with Amtrak, the unions announced Friday. The TCU & Shop-Craft Coalition said in a brief statement that it had reached the agreement on Thursday, March 23. “We appreciate the patience of our members, and we will be providing all the details of this […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has reached an agreement with General Committee 953 of the SMART-TD union to maintain two-person crews, the railroad announced, confirming an earlier report by the North Platte Telegraph. General Committee 953 covers workers in a 13-state area on the Union Pacific and four short lines, and in its current form […]
