Amtrak GP40 diesel locomotives

Silver-and-black diesel Amtrak GP40 diesel locomotives with red, white, and blue stripes

Amtrak GP40 diesel locomotives came in two flavors: eight former GO Transit GP40TCs acquired in October 1988 and 15 straight GP40s leased between May 1991 and June 1993. The 3,000 hp GP40 is a standard bearer of freight motive power in the second half of the 20th century. Introduced by EMD in 1968, the model […]

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California concludes zero-emissions locomotives are ready to roll

The California Air Resources Board pitted a standard diesel-electric locomotive consist against zero-emissions alternatives – including battery-electric models from Wabtec and ProgressRail as well as Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s hydrogen fuel cell locomotive – in a hypothetical test run from the Port of Los Angeles to Barstow, Calif. The analysis concludes that the current zero-emissions […]

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Orders at Reverse

20180622

In about 1950, the operator at Reverse, Idaho, hands up orders to the engine crew of westbound freight 3-257. Two 2-8-8-0 pushers have been removed here after assisting the train up Medbury Hill. Henry R. Griffiths Jr. photo […]

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Great Railfan Roads | U.S. Highway 460 in Virginia

U.S. Highway 460 is one of the great railfan roads, paralleling the former Norfolk & Western mainline across the state of Virginia for hundreds of miles. Starting in Norfolk on the Atlantic coast, 460 follows today’s Norfolk Southern into the Blue Ridge Mountains to Roanoke and beyond.  West of Roanoke, the Norfolk & Western confronts […]

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News & Products for the week of June 10th 2024

A model locomotive in a red paint scheme

News & Products for the week of June 10th 2024 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 June 10th 2024. […]

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From the Cab: One for the ages

weathered locomotive on track

My first regular assignment as a brakeman on the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1977 was one that no one else wanted. In accordance with my union’s working agreement, when a job could not be filled voluntarily, the most junior employee was “forced” to work it. The morning after being notified by the crew clerk, […]

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House subcommittee schedules hearing on California locomotive rule

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — A subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has scheduled a hearing this Thursday on California regulations that would require zero-emissions locomotives in the state beginning in 2030. The focus of the hearing by the Investigations & Oversight Subcommittee is clear from its title: “Environmentalism Off the Rails: […]

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Newest Norfolk Southern paint scheme salutes its railroaders

Front of red, white, and black locomotive with slogan "Thank you to our railroaders."

ALTOONA, Pa. — Norfolk Southern introduced a new specially painted locomotive saluting its railroaders at an NS Family Day event at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona on Saturday, June 8. NS CEO Alan Shaw was on hand and spoke, and the railroad’s Southern and Virginian heritage units were also on display. The front of […]

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