Nevada Northern Railway Museum to host Iron Horse Symposium

Black and white photo inside a railroad shop with steam and diesel locomotives. Nevada Northern Railway Museum to host Iron Horse Symposium.

ELY, Nev. — A longstanding tradition for the Nevada Northern Railway Museum will be held again this fall. The 2023 Iron Horse Symposium is scheduled from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 as an immersive experience with steam locomotives Nos. 81 and 93 in operation alongside the museum’s other historic equipment, including vintage Alco and Baldwin […]

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Southern California’s Coachella Valley receives $5 million

Earth-tone passenger station with angled walls

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The planned passenger rail service between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley is receiving a boost in federal funding. In a July 28 press release, Congressman Ken Calvert announced that $5 million (of the $23.8 million secured for district transportation projects) — as part of the federal Fiscal Year 2024 Transportation/HUD Appropriations […]

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Brightline inaugurates Orlando service

Yellow, white, and black passenger train arriving at station. Brightline inaugurates Orlando service.

The mood was one of celebration and accomplishment as the first Brightline train pulled into the new Orlando International Airport station on Friday. The arrival signaled the start of revenue service between Miami and Orlando, linking major population centers and attractions in the northern and southern portions of Florida. [see “Brightline Orlando to launch service […]

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Swiss Spectacular, Part 13: Steaming up the mountainside

Steam locomotive and one car on curving line on mountainside, as seen from above

LUCERNE, Switzerland — We went up another mountain today. Once again, our view from the top was almost completely obscured by clouds. And once again, no one minded much. This time around, the Trains/Special Interest Tours “Majestic Switzerland” tour made its way up the Brienz-Rothorn Bahn, a 7.6-kilometer, 800-mm gauge, steam-powered rack railway (that’s 4.7 […]

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Norfolk Southern breaks ground on first responder training center in East Palestine

Norfolk Southern logo

Training center in East Palestine EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern broke ground Thursday on a training center for first responders in East Palestine. CEO Alan Shaw and East Palestine officials attended a ceremony to mark the start of the construction of a regional safety training center. The new center will provide ongoing, free training […]

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Athearn HO EMD SD39

Screen shot of title page for HO scale SD39 review video.

We’ll head down to Larson Stone on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to check out a model from the latest run of HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotives produced by Athearn Trains. Join Model Railroader senior editor Cody Grivno as he points out the features on the six-axle road locomotive, demonstrates some of […]

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Polar Express five-day layout build

scene of toy train on holiday layout

The Classic Toy Trains staff built the Polar Express layout over a five day period, from benchwork to final scenery. The layout features scenes from the beloved movie, including the Hero Boy’s house, the train crossing the frozen river, and the city scene where the First Gift of Christmas is given. Staffers Hal Miller, Roger […]

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Athearn HO EMD SD39

Screen shot of title page for HO scale SD39 review video.

We’ll head down to Larson Stone on our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout to check out a model from the latest run of HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotives produced by Athearn Trains. Join Model Railroader senior editor Cody Grivno as he points out the features on the six-axle road locomotive, demonstrates some of […]

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Urban rail begins reinventing itself

blue and black Metra train

Urban rail CHICAGO — Representatives from a wide range of U.S. rail operations gathered in the Windy City this week to compare ways in which systems are attempting to capture customers who may have shunned their trains prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Highlights of the three-day confab included a tour of South Shore Line projects […]

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