NEW HAVEN, Conn. — With little fanfare, the Connecticut Department of Transportation has turned its Shore Line East commuter service over to Kawasaki M8 electric multiple unit cars, replacing diesel-powered trains using former Virginia Rail Express Mafersa coaches. The EMUs began to cover all trains today (Tuesday, May 24) on the service between New Haven and […]
LONDON — Delayed by construction problems and then the pandemic, London’s new high-tech, east-west rail line, the Elizabeth Line connecting existing routes on both sides of the city, finally opened to passengers today (Tuesday, May 24). Initially, the brand-new central section from London’s Paddington station in the west to Abbey Wood in the city’s […]
When East Broad Top General Manager Brad Esposito was cleaning up rock salt in a shed at the railroad’s shop complex last year, he didn’t bat an eye when he realized he was standing on wooden crates marked “dynamite.” After all, the EBT stored just about anything in dynamite crates that had been emptied at […]
WASHINGTON — “Weak administrative controls” that allowed a supervisor to authorize a high-speed test without knowing another train was on the same track led to the collision of two light rail trains in Sacramento, Calif., in August 2019, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report. The Aug. 22, 2019, collision occurred at 9:39 p.m. […]
MONTREAL — When a passenger operator is forced to survive on a budget insufficient to provide service capable of satisfying its country’s travel needs, while on-time reliability remains hamstrung by host railroads, it is almost impossible for the person in charge to make a difference. The abrupt departure of VIA Rail Canada CEO Cynthia Garneau […]
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak opened a second-generation Acela high-speed trainset for press inspection Monday at 30th Street Station, giving a look at the interiors of the first-class, business-class, and café cars that will make up 28 160-mph trainsets projected to enter service between Boston, New York, and Washington late next year. Parked at an underground boarding […]
HAINESWORTH, Ill. — The driver of the truck was killed and a passenger was injured Monday morning when a Metra train struck a dump truck at a private railroad crossing near Grayslake, Ill. The cab car of the inbound Milwaukee District North train derailed as a result of the collision about 7 a.m. The injured […]
LOS ANGELES — The board of directors of transit agency LA Metro will consider an $8.8 billion budget on Thursday, a fiscal plan including $2.3 billion for ongoing expansion projects as well as funds to begin operation on two new rail lines. Metro’s in-house blog, The Source, reports the expansion funding includes ongoing work on […]
WalthersMainline General Steel Castings 53-foot bulkhead flatcar Senior Editor Cody Grivno reviews the HO scale General Steel Castings 53-foot bulkhead flatcar from Wm. K. Walthers Inc. The model, part of the WalthersMainline, has a newly tooled die-cast metal body and is offered in six paint schemes (and undecorated). The model is based on full-size cars […]
Tangent Scale Models HO scale 86-foot quad-door high-cube boxcar Watch as Editor Eric White reviews these new 86-foot quad-door high-cube boxcars from Tangent Scale Models. Eric goes over the underbody details and checks the trucks, couplers, and car weight on this new model. Get a closeup look at all of the separately applied detail and […]
Athearn Genesis 2.0 Electro-Motive Diesel SD70M-2 Bring the modern era to your HO scale model railroad with the Athearn Genesis 2.0 Electro-Motive Diesel SD70M-2. Senior Editor Cody Grivno reviews this HO scale model. See (and hear) the features on the model and watch it lead a train on Model Railroader’s Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff […]
WASHINGTON — The four largest U.S. Class I railroads have told federal regulators that their conductor training programs and hiring pipelines are full as they try to restore service to normal levels amid widespread crew shortages. The railroads’ service recovery plans, submitted to the Surface Transportation Board on Friday as required, outlined the steps BNSF […]
