MIAMI — Brightline’s new stations in Boca Raton and Aventura continue to be a boon to ridership. Miami Today reports the two stations, which opened in late December, contributed 27% of the passenger carrier’s total ridership in January, according to Brightline’s monthly ridership and revenue report. The two handled 42,391 of the 157,137 total riders; […]
WASHINGTON — For the second straight week, U.S. rail traffic showed its biggest decline of the young year, with overall volume down 6.5% compared to the same week in 2022. That topped the 6.2% decline of the week ending Feb. 11 [see “Sluggish intermodal traffic drags US rail volume lower,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 16, […]
CHICAGO — Weather is taking its toll on current operations of Amtrak’s western long-distance trains. According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, the eastbound Chief scheduled to depart Los Angeles today (Wednesday, Feb. 22) has been cancelled due to severe weather conditions, while the westbound Chief that left Chicago on Tuesday, Feb. 21, will terminate […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has become the third railroad to reach an agreement with some union workers for paid sick leave, announcing a deal with members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The agreement will cover about 3,000 workers. The agreement provides for four days of […]
BNSF SD75 locomotives: Working out their days in the Pacific Northwest, nearly two dozen former Santa Fe and BNSF Railway SD75s have called this corner of the country home. They are now assigned some of the heaviest trains in and out of the northwest. The design of the SD75 was in part due to compete […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board says it welcomes moves by CSX Transportation and Union Pacific to provide paid sick leave for union workers, according to a statement issued today (Wednesday, Feb. 22). “The Board applauds the efforts of CSX and UP in taking the lead to work with the unions to address this critical […]
Classic Toy Trains’ O and S gauge building flats round-up showcases manufacturers producing low-profile structures. These building flats mimic a full-size building but are generally only an inch or two deep. They may fit against a backdrop, or, if large enough, may actually be the backdrop. Modelers can use these at the edge of a […]
Atlas HO scale Electro-Motive Division MP15DC. An Atlas Model Railroad Co. end-cab diesel locomotive decorated for First Union Rail visited our HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy layout. Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno talk about the features on this Master Line model. New paint schemes (all with ditch lights) on […]
Car Swap Project Part 3: Painting plastic models: As part of trading boxcars custom decorated for each other’s layouts, modelers Gerry Leone, David Popp, and Seth Puffer do some preparation and painting of the plastic models. In this installment, the three use a variety of readily available products to add some color, or take some […]
Metra’s colorful locomotive fleet is currently the most brilliant it has ever been. From its original paint scheme to its updated design first used on its MP36 fleet to a host of specially painted units to second-hand patched power. These days it’s a potpourri of colors hauling Chicago-area commuters. Let’s explore Metra’s colorful locomotive fleet. […]
If you read our online News & Products for the week of February 20, 2023, you saw an announcement for the Micro-Trains Line Co. N scale Department of Defense (DODX) flatcar with “mystery balloon” load. The model was made in response to the balloon that was shot down by an F-22 off the South Carolina […]
Basic parts of a gauge-1 switch: Switches are necessary any time one wants to send a train in an alternate direction. They’re what makes it possible to store one train on a siding and run another around it, or any other basic operation. They’re essential if you want your trains to do more than just […]
