Autonomous rail vehicle project receives $4.4 million federal grant

Genesee & Wyoming plans for first test of autonomous container equipment. Container moving independently on railroad track

LOS ANGELES — Parallel Systems, the company seeking to build autonomous battery-powered intermodal rail vehicles, has received a $.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of its technology. The grant is part of the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, program, developed to advance high-potential, high-impact energy technologies. It […]

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Acela suffers seven-hour stoppage in New York

Acela_ElizabethNJ_Lassen

NEW YORK — An Amtrak Acela train bound from Boston to New York was stalled on the Northeast Corridor for more than seven hours after losing power on Monday, the Associated Press reports. Train No. 2151 left Boston at 5:05 a.m. but lost power in the Hunter’s Point neighborhood of Queens at 8:37 a.m., 10 […]

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New tourist operation to launch in New York’s Saratoga County

Green and yellow locomotive running light

CORINTH, N.Y. — The newly formed Saratoga Corinth & Hudson Railway has announced plans to begin tourist operations this spring. Trains will operate on more than 11 miles of the southern end of the former Delaware & Hudson Railway Adirondack Branch, between Corinth and Greenfield, N.Y., just north of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The locomotive will […]

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Pennsylvania regulators turn down CSX request to demolish bridge

Aerial view of bridge over railroad track

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission has turned down a request by CSX Transportation to remove a 60-year-old bridge in Southwest Philadelphia, siding with the city of Philadelphia’s recommendation to replace the structure at a cost of $5 million. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that CSX filed the request to demolish the bridge on Cemetery […]

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Model railroad products for the week of February 17, 2022

Black and gray diesel locomotive with red, white, and blue stripes on scenicked base with clouds in background.

Product news Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about model railroad products like locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of February 17, 2022.   HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division […]

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Reconstructing a railroad diamond crossing

Aerial map with projects.

Duplainville, Wis., about 18 miles west of Milwaukee, was developed around 1848. A predecessor of the Milwaukee Road began building a new main line west toward Portage, Wis., running through Duplainville about 1855. The Wisconsin Central (Soo Line) built south from Rugby Junction to Chicago in 1885, crossing the Milwaukee Road at Duplainville. The crossing […]

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NJ Transit settles with crew member over Hoboken crash

NJ Transit logo

TRENTON, N.J. — The NJ Transit board of directors has approved a settlement for a crew member injured in the 2016 accident that saw a train crash through the end of track at its Hoboken, N.J., terminal. NorthJersey.com reports that the board unanimously approved the settlement for Mark Mari, a conductor on the train in […]

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What’s in Chase Gunnoe’s camera bag?

Camera gear inside a bag.

Fifteen years ago, when entering the rail photography scene capturing photos of Norfolk Southern trains switching freight cars on the old West Virginia Secondary in Nitro, W.Va., my resources involved a Kodak EasyShare C433 and a Walmart-bought Case Logic case. The camera’s rectangular dimensions were smaller than today’s smartphones and a quick eBay search determines […]

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Gulf Coast show(down) set to begin: Analysis

Yellow locomogive moving a short string of freight cars

WASHINGTON — The words “significant harm” and “unfair” on dozens of comments are countered by “boost tourism” and “economic growth” on dozens more. But comments filed with the Surface Transportation Board as it prepares for its hearing on Amtrak’s effort to start Gulf Coast service finds the phrase “precedent-setting impact” showing up on both sides […]

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Environmental groups sue over STB approval of Utah rail project

Map showing proposed rail route in Utah

WASHINGTON — A coalition of environmental groups have sued the Surface Transportation Board, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and federal government over the STB’s approval of Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway project. The suit filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by the Center for Biological Diversity and four […]

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