News & Products for the week of March 6th 2023

News & Products for the week of March 6th 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 6th 2023. […]

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Beyond the byline with Carl Swanson

man with hat and glasses

What is your history with Trains? Carl Swanson: I hired on with Kalmbach twenty-five years ago after previous stints with another publisher where I was editor of Passenger Train Journal and RailNews magazines. In 1999, I became an associate editor with Trains Magazine. For a lifelong railfan, and long-time reader of Trains, this was a dream […]

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East Broad Top Railroad passenger cars in the 21st century

Cabooses and passenger cars at a railyard during the evening.

East Broad Top Railroad passenger cars have been vital to the narrow gauge railroad’s 150-year history. Today’s fleet is a mixture of old and new, waiting for you to climb aboard the next time you visit this National Historic Landmark in Rockhill, Pennsylvania. Coach passenger cars Since the beginning of passenger service on August 30, […]

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Norfolk Southern taking steps to improve wayside detector network

Black cloud of smoke above town

Norfolk Southern will take several steps to improve its wayside defect detector network in the wake of the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on last month’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. NTSB officials say the Feb. 3 wreck of train 32N was likely caused by the catastrophic failure of a wheel bearing on […]

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Brightline train hits 130 mph in testing (with video)

Group of people in hi-viz vests standing in front of train

ORLANDO — A Brightline train has hit speeds of 130 mph in testing on passenger operator’s corridor between Orlando and Cocoa, Fla., the company announced this morning (March 6, 2023), making it the fastest train ever to operate in Florida and the southeastern U.S. The 35-mile route paralleling the Beachline Expressway (State Route 528) is […]

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Grade crossing for a garden railway

applying driveway sealer to gap in gauge-1 track in groove

Grade crossing for a garden railway: I founded the Motorcycle and Model Railroad Museum of Wisconsin, a non-profit corporation that allows others to enjoy model trains and growing vintage motorcycles, in 2002. These, along with a 3,000 square foot HO scale model railroad layout, will be the centerpiece of this Green Bay area attraction. Having […]

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North Dakota Attorney General indicates BNSF owns Bismarck bridge

Steam-powered passenger train on large truss bridge over water

BISMARCK — North Dakota’s Attorney General said during a State Historical Board Friday that BNSF Railway owns the Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge, the first time the attorney general’s office has weighed in on the ownership issue contested by a group that wants to preserve the 140-year-old bridge, which BNSF wants to replace. The Bismarck Tribune reports […]

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Two unions vote for strike against CN in Canada

Logo of Canadian union Unifor

MONTREAL — Two Canadian unions whose contracts with Canadian National Railway expired at the end of 2022 have voted in favor of a strike, CityNews reports. Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 have voted 98% and 97%, respectively, in favor of a strike. The two unions represent about 3,000 workers in mechanical, intermodal, and […]

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Erosion concerns halt Cuyahoga Valley Scenic operations

Yellow, maroon, and black FA locomotive with passenger train

PENINSULA, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which had planned to resume full operations on Friday, March 3, instead has had to suspend all operations as of that date. A news release on the heritage railroad’s website says “ongoing geotechnical soil monitoring in recent weeks identified increasing erosion along the 26-mile scenic and educational […]

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Massachusetts senator calls on STB to reject CP-KCS merger

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked the STB to deny the CP-KCS merger. Office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in a letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman, has asked that the STB deny the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, saying the merger “would reduce competition in an already highly consolidated market and could cost increased shipping costs.” Warren, in the letter […]

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