White Pass & Yukon operating employees vote to strike

WhitePass_Diesels_Johnston

SKAGWAY, Alaska — Operating personnel on the White Pass & Yukon Route have voted to authorize a strike, according to their union’s website. Members of International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 1626 authorized the strike in voting last week. The union says it has been negotiating with the […]

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California funds to allow expansion of rail facilities at San Joaquin Valley inland port

Map of former Air Force Base converted to freight transportation center

ATWATER, Calif. — The California State Transportation Agency, or CalSTA, has awarded Merced County a $49.6 million grant for buildout of an inland port at the Castle Commerce Center, a 1,900-acre freight transportation hub at the site of the former Castle Air Force Base. The grant, one of the largest in the history of the […]

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Delaware & Hudson passenger trains remembered

Wooden coaches on Albany–Binghamton train 208 at Albany Union Station, circa 1945–46.

Delaware & Hudson passenger trains     All through July 2023, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit and grandeur of the Delaware & Hudson in its bicentennial year. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Kansas City Southern passenger trains selected from the files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library.   Only from Trains.com! […]

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Sierra Northern receives funding to expand hydrogen locomotive project

Blue, green, and gold locomotive with road-switcher design

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Transportation Authority will fund an initiative by Sierra Northern Railway to convert three additional diesel switchers to hydrogen power, the railroad has announced. The railroad will receive funding from the transportation authority’s Port and Freight Infrastructure Project through a public-private partnership with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management […]

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British Columbia dockworker strike continues to hit Canadian rail traffic

Red locomotive with freight in Illinois

The dockworker strike at Western Canadian ports has dragged into its sixth day today (Thursday, July 6), putting a dent in Canadian rail traffic. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City have both issued embargoes for certain types of freight moving to Vancouver and, in the case of CN, Prince Rupert, British Columbia. “CPKC is […]

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LEGO City 60197 Passenger Train – Part 2: Passenger Cars

They completed the locomotive, station platform, and signal in the previous video. Now it’s time for Bryson and Rene to build the two passenger cars. They finish the remaining books and bags in the set and finish it at the end of the video. Keep an eye out for Part 3: Running the train here […]

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The On30 Narragansett Railroad layout

The trackplan for the Narrgansett railroad layout in On30 scale

Facts & features Name: Narragansett RailroadScale: On30 (1:48)Size: 24 x 22 feet Prototype: freelancedLocale: Rhode IslandEra: 1929 to 1935Style: walk-inMainline run: 150 feetMinimum radius: 18″Minimum turnout: No. 4Maximum grade: noneBenchwork: open gridHeight: 57″Roadbed: noneTrack: flextrackBackdrop: hand-painted tempered hardboardControl: direct current Download a PDF of this trackplan! Buy the August 2023 issue of Model Railroader! […]

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Regulators set schedule for hearing coal producer’s common carrier complaint against BNSF

Full and empty coal trains stopped on adjacent tracks

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have set a procedural schedule for handling Navajo Transitional Energy Co.’s common carrier complaint against BNSF Railway. The Surface Transportation Board last month issued a preliminary injunction that ordered BNSF to handle a minimum of 4.2 million tons of coal from NTEC’s Spring Creek mine in Montana to export at the […]

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Illinois chooses Metra to operate Chicago-Rockford service

People speaking with train in background

ROCKFORD, Ill. — With an 1880s bridge over the Rock River supporting a Metra train as a backdrop, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other officials announced Thursday that Chicago commuter operator Metra had been selected to partner with Union Pacific to provide two daily rail roundtrips between Rockford and Chicago by 2027. The estimated $275 […]

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Modeling transition era railcar brakes

The underside of an HO scale caboose model with brake equipment labeled

Q: I am researching transition era railcar brakes. Were there books written on the subject, and are they still available for purchase? – Ron Buddemeier A: The most complete and detailed reference for transition era railcar brakes is the one used by the railroads themselves – the Car Builder’s Cyclopedia of American Practice. This weighty […]

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A handy N scale uncoupler — good for olives, too

ThisredplasticswordisjustrightforuncouplingNscalecars

A handy N scale uncoupler: If you’re a model railroader, everywhere you go your antennae are out, scanning your environs for anything that might be useful to build with. And that leads me to swizzle sticks. I was having lunch with a tableful of in-laws at Maggiano’s Little Italy, a popular chain with a restaurant […]

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