California passenger rail corridors form ‘advocacy coalition’

High-angle view of regional Amtrak train at station

WASHINGTON — Unsatisfied with their individual efforts, California’s three entities operating intercity passenger rail corridors announced Wednesday that they have formed a coalition to jointly advocate for their operations. The agencies operating Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliners, and San Joaquin will be linked in an organization known as CIRCLE, an acronym that stands for California’s […]

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Improperly adjusted bolts led to Ottawa light rail derailment

Red and white light rail train

OTTAWA — Improperly adjusted bolts led to the Sept. 19 derailment that has shut down Ottawa’s O-Train Confederation Line, according to a Wednesday report to the city’s transit commission. CTV News reports Rideau Transit Group, which has the operating and maintenance contract for the Confederation Line, said improperly torqued bolts on the train’s gearbox were […]

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Tri-Rail to restore service to pre-pandemic levels on Oct. 25

Commuter train with blue locomotive and bilevel cars

MIAMI — South Florida commuter rail operator Tri-Rail will restore service to full pre-pandemic levels as of Monday, Oct. 25, operating 25 round trips on weekdays and 15 on weekends. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority announced the schedule change on Wednesday. WFOR-TV reports Steven Abrams, the authority’s executive director, said, “Tri-Rail has had one […]

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Weekly U.S. rail volume remains below 2020 levels

Weekly table of U.S. rail traffic by category

WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic continues to slip compared to 2020, with the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads showing a 4.2% drop from the same week a year ago. For the week ending Oct. 16, the overall volume of 496,983 carloads and intermodal units is, in addition to the decline compared […]

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CSX profits surge as railroad steps up crew hiring effort

Train on bridge along river

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s third-quarter profits, revenue, and volume all grew thanks to strong freight demand and the railroad’s acquisition of a bulk chemical trucking company. But executives said the railroad would have been able to handle more traffic if not for a persistent worker shortage, as well as the impact of the spike […]

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Review: Lionel Legacy GP30 locomotive

Lionel GP30 locomotive

Electro-Motive Division’s GP30 was a pioneer of sorts: a herald of the second generation of diesel-electric locomotion on American railways. By 1960 most American railroads had an idea of what worked and what didn’t cut it in diesel operations. Watch Lionel’s Legacy GP30 run here. Builders such as Alco, Baldwin, Lima-Hamilton, and Fairbanks-Morse fell to […]

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Meet the modeler: Eric Schade

Two live-steam engines on a garden railway

How did you get started in the hobby?  I received an HO scale model kit of a steam locomotive for Christmas when I was 14 years old. I had fun following the instructions, then building a railway to run it on. I also liked building outdoor villages with buildings and roads with toy cars and real […]

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