Union Pacific cancels all steam activities for 2020 NEWSWIRE

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Big Boy No. 4014 takes Track 3 across Sherman Hill at Speer, Wyo., on Sept. 27, 2019. The locomotive will not run in 2020, Union Pacific has announced. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn Union Pacific has cancelled all planned steam activities in 2020, citing the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 virus and social distancing measures. Senior Vice President […]

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Tips for identifying modern diesel locomotives

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Many readers have asked how we identify the current crop of big, modern road diesels. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy, as many locomotive designs have evolved into a family of similar looking locomotives. This means modelers have to study the details to figure out what locomotive is represented by a specific scale model. Comparing the model […]

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InnoTrans trade show postponed NEWSWIRE

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More Wednesday morning rail news: — InnoTrans, the massive international rail trade fair held every other year in Berlin, has postponed its 2020 edition, which had been set for Sept. 22-25. The decision follows a decree on Tuesday by the Berlin Senate banning events with more than 5,000 people before Oct. 24 because of the […]

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Class I railroads use videos to update coronavirus response NEWSWIRE

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A screen shot from BNSF’s video updating its response to the COVID-19 virus. BNSF Railway Three Class I railroads have released videos addressing their response to the coronavirus pandemic. BNSF Railways’ video, available here, features Jon Gabriel, general superintendent of the railroad’s Network Operations Center in Fort Worth, Texas. It updates current service and moves […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Monday, March 30 NEWSWIRE

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More Monday morning rail news: — While Strasburg Rail Road passenger operations have been suspended because of the COVID-19 virus, the short line’s freight traffic is up 169% in March, Lancaster Online reports. The 4.5-mile railroad has handled 43 incoming freight cars this month, 27 more than the same month a year ago, with another […]

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News Wire Digest Third Section for Friday, March 27 NEWSWIRE

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Friday afternoon rail news: — The National Transportation Safety Board will make the performance of DOT-111A, DOT-117, and DOT-117R tank cars one of the focal points in its investigation of a Feb. 13 derailment of a CSX train in Draffin, Ky. The preliminary report on the accident, released Thursday, also indicates the agency will look […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Saturday, March 21 NEWSWIRE

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More Saturday morning rail news: — The American Public Transportation Association has increased its request for emergency funding for public transit agencies to $16 billion from $12.875 billion, reflecting an estimated $14 billion in funding losses and $2 billion in direct costs including upgraded cleaning. “Without these funds,” APTA CEO Paul P. Skoutelas said in […]

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Modern railroading

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A refrigerator car rolls into the bowl of Union Pacific’s North Platte, Nebr., hump yard. The box to the right contains a radar speed-monitoring device. Union Pacific photo […]

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