SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brightline and Siemens Mobility are celebrating the completion of Brightline’s newest trainsets, which will roll off the assembly line at the Siemens Mobility North American manufacturing headquarters and prepare to begin passenger operations. In the coming days, the newest train will depart the factory on a cross-country excursion to West Palm Beach, […]
Section: News
CG Railway’s new ferry completes first round trip from Port of Mobile to Mexican port
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CG Railway’s new rail ferry, which plies the Gulf of Mexico between Mobile, Ala., and Coatzacoalcos in Mexico, set a speed and volume record on its maiden 1,912-mile round trip this month. The 590-foot Cherokee departed the Port of Mobile on Sept. 12 with 122 freight cars aboard. It arrived at the […]
BNSF Northern Transcon reopens after Empire Builder derailment
JOPLIN, Mont. — BNSF Railway’s busy Hi Line Subdivision is open again following the derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder over the weekend. According to KHQ News, a local NBC affiliate, the first BNSF freight train to pass through the community of Joplin, Montana, since Saturday’s derailment arrived just after 4 a.m. Tuesday. The train is […]
Feds: ‘Empire Builder’ was traveling under speed limit at time of crash
JOPLIN, Mont. — The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board says Amtrak’s Empire Builder was traveling below its posted speed limit when it derailed and partially overturned over the weekend in rural Montana, killing three people. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg told members of the media Monday afternoon that the eastbound Empire Builder […]
‘City of New Orleans’ returns to its namesake city
NEW ORLEANS — After first being turned back to Chicago at Memphis, Tenn., and later at Jackson, Miss., Amtrak’s City of New Orleans will finally make its grand entrance to the Crescent City one month after Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana with torrential rains and strong winds. The southbound train departing Chicago today and its […]
Model railroad locomotive, freight car, passenger equipment, electronics/controls, and DVD announcements for September 30, 2021
Product news 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. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of September 30, 2021. HO scale locomotives Alco FA-1 and FB-1 diesel locomotives. […]
Grivno receives award
Group technical editor Cody Grivno and Jerry Holmes of Chattanooga, Tenn., were named co-winners of the National Association of S Gaugers (NASG) 2021 Perles Publication Award. The two received the award for Grivno’s article on Holmes’ S scale Chesapeake & Ohio layout featured in Great Model Railroads 2021. “The award provides recognition for the efforts […]
In Memoriam: John Claudino
John Claudino, owner of Aztec Manufacturing, died on March 10 in Reno, Nev. He was 82 years old. Claudino was a frequent vendor at train shows throughout the country. He produced track cleaners in multiple scales, provided a locomotive chassis milling service, and offered a line of custom-decorated N scale boxcars. […]
In Memoriam: Charles Kalmbach
Charles A. “Charlie” Kalmbach, son of Model Railroader founder Albert C. Kalmbach, died on August 25. He was 79 years old. Charlie was employed by Northwestern Mutual Life and later also worked in real estate. He stayed connected with his father’s company for nearly half a century. “Charlie had a deep devotion to Kalmbach Media […]
AAPRCO: ‘Horrifying to see the derailed and overturned rail cars’
GALESBURG, Ill. — As the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners sets off on its annual trip and convention this week, the organization has released a statement on the weekend derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder in northern Montana. “It is horrifying to see the derailed and overturned rail cars. For many of us, rail […]
Victims identified in ‘Empire Builder’ derailment
JOPLIN, Mont. — The passengers killed in Saturday’s deadly Empire Builder derailment have been identified as a tech engineer from Illinois and a husband and wife from Georgia. According to media reports, the three people killed when Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder derailed Saturday afternoon in northern Montana have been identified as 28-year-old Zach Schneider, of […]
Santa Fe 2926: A grade crossing ahead for the big 4-8-4
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The buzz at an open house for Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 2926 wasn’t all about the locomotive last run in 1953 and moved for the first time under its own power on July 25. A grade crossing and a spur track also figured into the conversations. With the restoration of the locomotive […]