LOCARNO, Switzerland — The trains are new, modern, run on time, and everyone uses them to go everywhere. Clearly, I’m not at home. In fact, and as the dateline has given away, I am in Switzerland. This is night two of my second trip here, this time a three-week adventure. And while I am badly […]
BOSTON – CSX Transportation still expects to see growth in revenue ton miles this year despite declines in several key commodity segments, CEO Joe Hinrichs told an investor conference today. While the railroad’s automotive, coal, minerals, and metals business has been strong, its chemicals, forest products, and international intermodal traffic are all down year over […]
CHICAGO — Eastbound California Zephyr passengers crossing eastern Nevada late Sunday suffered the same fate as an estimated 70,000 Burning Man Festival attendees 100 miles north of Reno over Labor Day weekend: they couldn’t go anywhere. Heavy rains had turned festival grounds into a highly-publicized sea of mud, making all roads impassable. Further east, debris […]
MINERSVILLE, Pa. — Central Railroad of New Jersey No. 113 is scheduled to operate during the fall and holiday seasons. The heavy 0-6-0 switcher is in its centennial year, having been built in June 1923 by the American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, N.Y. Railway Restoration Project 113 — the nonprofit organization that owns the locomotive […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Santa Fe No. 3415 returned to service on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad during the Labor Day weekend. The 4-6-2 received a month-long break and extensive work in August that included check-valve maintenance and a routine firebox cleanout, according to Ross Boelling, the president and general manager of the A&SV. “No. […]
Rene Schweitzer has been promoted to editor of Classic Toy Trains magazine. Rene has been with Kalmbach for nearly 28 years, and has worked for a number of brands, most recently CTT, Model Railroader, Classic Trains, and Books. Rene started her career working for CTT in 1995, and returned to the brand in 2014 as […]
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives Oversight Committee is probing the Department of Transportation’s response to a series of rail and aviation safety issues. The committee’s Republicans sent a letter yesterday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding train derailments and near-misses involving airlines. The letter asks DOT to provide documents related to “efforts to investigate […]
OMAHA — Union Pacific has released its 2023 Green Bond Allocation and Impact Report, which outlines how proceeds from green bonds issued in September 2022 were used to help the railroad invest in its climate action goals. Union Pacific allocated 100% of the bond’s net proceeds of $590.8 million to eligible projects that support the […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State of Ohio has established a Grade Crossing Elimination Program for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025. The program provides $100 million to assist Ohio communities in competing for grade crossing elimination grant funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Crossing Elimination Program. Ohio’s has nearly 5,700 grade crossings. Since the Federal […]
With school back in session, the sun setting earlier, and the first hints of autumn showing up in the trees, it also means we’re getting back to peak model railroading season. Are you searching for some workbench projects to keep you busy this fall and winter? Here are five cabooses you can model. I just […]
Second of two parts Part one of this report appeared Tuesday, Sept. 5 EFFINGHAM, Ill. —The latest round of tests investigating ways to ensure trains always activate track circuits — the process known as “shunt” — involves shunt-enhancing antennas mounted on both trucks of a state-owned locomotive in Amtrak service in California. Here’s how the […]
COSHOCTON COUNTY, Ohio — Beginning in mid-September, nonhazardous wastewater from Norfolk Southern’s East Palestine, Ohio, derailment cleanup will be trucked here for disposal, according to statements from the Environmental Protection Agency and a Spectrum News story. Currently, the site from the Feb. 3, derailment generates one million gallons of wastewater per week from excavation-related stormwater […]
