News & Products for the week of November 4th 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 November 4th […]
Type of Train: Freight
Another look at Lionel catalog volume 1 for 2024
Lionel catalog volume 1 for 2024 is filled with plenty of treasures. I should know because several months ago, I spent hours studying the latest additions to the O gauge line and then shared my observations on Trains.com. It was a lot of fun, especially after hobbyists who had read my opinions replied with their […]
3-D print a Schnabel car
Railroads carry a multitude of loads, from passengers, livestock, and a variety of other goods. I decided to build a high-power transformer and the car designed to carry it—the Schnabel car. The Schnabel car is designed to carry heavy or oversized loads. The construction of this car involves two friends and 3-D printing. One hobbyist […]
FRA slows Class I railroad implementation of improved track and train inspections
WASHINGTON – In the wake of the disastrous hazardous materials derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio, the Federal Railroad Administration has repeatedly said it’s doing everything it can to improve rail safety. Yet under Administrator Amit Bose the FRA has stymied Class I railroad efforts to combine automated track and equipment inspections with traditional […]
OmniTRAX to serve P&G plant in Ohio
LIMA, Ohio — Rail and logistics firm OmniTRAX has been selected to provide switching for Procter & Gamble’s laundry-products factory in Lima, the third P&G manufacturing served by the OmniTRAX network. The new agreement became effective Nov. 1. OmniTRAX affiliate OmniTRAX Lima Industrial will switch daily inbound cars to the plans and return empty cars […]
BNSF reports higher profits as volume grows and costs fall
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s profits, revenue, and volume all increased for the third quarter, thanks to surging intermodal and agricultural shipments. BNSF’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday that the railroad’s quarterly operating income increased 13.4%, to $2 billion, as revenue grew 2.8%, to $5.9 billion. Expenses declined 2% for the quarter. The railway’s […]
Nineteen cars of CN train derail in Alberta
BEISEKER, Alberta — No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved when 19 cars of a Canadian National train derailed today (Friday, Nov. 1) about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) north of the town of Beiseker, the Calgary Herald reports. The derailed cars included empty petroleum tank cars and 14 cars of household goods, […]
Work stoppage to hit British Columbia ports on Monday
Most British Columbia port terminals will shut down on Monday morning amid a labor dispute between the union representing 700 forepersons and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 has issued a 72-hour strike notice and plans to walk off the job beginning at 8 a.m. on Nov. 4. […]
Trinity sees improved third-quarter profits
DALLAS — Third-quarter revenue declined but operating profit improved for railcar builder Trinity Industries. Revenues were $799 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $821 million in the same quarter a year ago. The company said in an earnings release that lower deliveries of 4,360 railcars was partially offset by favorable pricing […]
Pocatello prominence
The Union Pacific hump yard at Pocatello, Idaho, receives cars from various branch lines, sorts them by destination, and forwards them east or west to other points on the rail network. The yard is located on the Oregon Short Line route between Ogden, Utah, and Portland, Ore., that UP leased in 1936. Union Pacific photo […]
Walthers HO Greenville wood-chip hopper
The Greenville 73-foot wood-chip hopper has returned to the Wm. K. Walthers Inc. HO scale freight car lineup. The model, part of the Mainline series, is based on a prototype designed for transporting wood chips between sawmills and paper mills. Prototype history Greenville Steel Car Co., located in its namesake in Pennsylvania, produced the 7,000-cubic-foot […]
Norfolk Southern nominates four railroads for next heritage locomotive
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern will add another heritage locomotive to its original 20-unit fleet. “We’ve narrowed it down to four iconic railroads, but only one will get to roll out of Altoona,” the railroad said in a recent LinkedIn post, referring to its paint shop in Pennsylvania. The railroad has selected four predecessor railroads as […]