WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has named Patrick Warren as director of its Office of Railroad, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Investigations, and selected Mike Budinski as deputy director of the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering. Warren previously was chief safety and security officer for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority for more than […]
If you’re planning on building a model railroad, preparing a train room should be your first step. You might be eager to get to work building benchwork and laying track, but basics like wiring and lighting your layout space and making it comfortable for your operators are a lot easier to do before there’s a […]
Trains sat down with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and new Chief Operating Officer John Orr today to discuss the railroad’s strategy and response to activist investor Ancora Holdings. Ancora has launched a proxy battle to gain control of the Norfolk Southern board, and wants to appoint former UPS executive Jim Barber Jr. as CEO […]
Jamie Boychuk, the activist investor candidate aiming to lead operations at Norfolk Southern, says improvements the railroad has made in recent weeks under new Chief Operating Officer John Orr — like increasing train velocity, reducing dwell, and removing 75 locomotives from active service — are low-hanging fruit that will help reduce the operating ratio by […]
News & Products for the week of April 15th 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 April 15th […]
FOLKSTON, Ga. — Three CSX crew members have been taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after an intermodal train struck a standing rock train in Folkston, the railroad said in a statement this afternoon. The collision occurred about 1:24 p.m. Two locomotives, two intermodal cars, and two rock cars derailed as a result, and […]
GE’s B30-7 In the late 1970s, General Electric introduced the B30-7, a 16-cylinder, 3,000-hp, four-axle locomotive designed for road service. Virtually identical externally to the B23-7 model offered at the same time, the B30-7 ended up with less orders, though it did sell more variations than its 12-cylinder, 2,250-hp cousin. The launch customer for the […]
Railroad fusees My first memory of using railroad fusees [flares] for signaling was on an early winter morning in 1978. Coming back from lunch on the midnight shift at Auburn yard, the scenery had turned very foggy. Lanterns, while not useless, were hard to see at a distance in that kind of weather. During those […]
TREGO, Wis. – The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad has added a steam locomotive to its expanding roster. Former Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 will be moved from its display site at the Carlton County Fairgrounds in Barnum, Minn., where it has been displayed since 1968. Wisconsin Great Northern, known for its ongoing restoration of the […]
Lionel No. 151 Semaphore signals made their debut in the cataloged lineup for 1947 and remained popular members right through 1969, the final year of the post-World War II era of production. During that two-decade span, Lionel must have produced tens of thousands of the out-of-proportion trackside accessories. Collectors and operators of O-27 and O […]
CHAPPELL, Neb. — Approximately 30 cars of a Union Pacific intermodal train derailed Sunday in the town of Chappell, leading to the short-term evacuation of a few residents as a precautionary measure and closing U.S. Route 30 for about two hours. KNOP-TV reports the incident was reported about 5:30 p.m., and that an evacuation of […]
JASPER, Alberta — Anyone planning a trip on VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian, Ocean or other regional trains outside the Quebec City-Windsor, Ontario, corridor should keep departure date and sleeping accommodation options open. That’s because this is the first summer VIA will be utilizing a more sophisticated booking system that now offers wide pricing swings based […]
