Six grade crossings you can model

Asphalt-and-timber crossing on west edge of Wisconsin & Southern yard in Horicon, Wis.

Grade crossings you can model are scene enhancers that you should consider adding to your list of projects. “Why a grade crossing?” you may ask. “I’d rather work on a locomotive, freight car, structure, or [fill in the blank with your favorite aspect of the hobby.]” I get it. Grade crossings you can model introduction […]

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Four injured when Amtrak train hits auto carrier, derails

Damage to rear of locomotive and upper level of bilevel passenger car

MARIETTA, Okla. — At least four people were reported injured Friday night when Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer hit a truck carrying automobiles, derailing the locomotive and apparently causing vehicles from the truck to strike one of the passenger cars.  A Facebook post from the Love County, Okla., Fire Department reports the auto carrier had become high-centered […]

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Mark Twain Zephyr mural takes shape

Mural of passenger train

HANNIBAL, Mo. — While the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad is home of the under-restoration Mark Twain Zephyr, the city of Hannibal, Mo., is getting its own version of the streamliner — a 60-foot-by-14-foot mural. For a couple of weeks, muralist Ray Harvey of surburban St. Louis has been perched on a manlift above the corner of […]

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DC Metrorail service to be limited after newest cars are sidelined

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

WASHINGTON  — DC Metrorail service will face a significant service reduction as of Monday — and potentially for weeks to come — as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority moves its newest rail cars, the Kawasaki-built 7000-series equipment, from service. The website DCist reports the independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission ordered the cars removed from […]

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Texas Supreme Court reverses itself, will hear Texas Central case

Texas Central logo

AUSTIN, Texas — Acting on a second request, the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal regarding Texas Central’s eminent domain authority to acquire property for its planned high speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, a case hinging on whether Texas Central meets the legal definition of a “railroad company” or “interurban […]

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Union Pacific to require employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by Dec. 8, the railroad has announced. In a brief notification on its website, the railroad says it is taking the action to comply with an executive order requiring vaccination for employees of federal contractors, noting UP’s status “as a federal contractor […]

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William Gray, midwestern preservation figure, dies at 49

FOUNTAINTOWN, Ind. — One of the Midwestern leaders of U.S. railway preservation has passed away. William Walter Gray, 49, died Oct. 12 from brain cancer. Known as one of the driving forces behind Indiana’s Whitewater Valley Railroad tourist line, he was a professional railroader, having worked as a Cincinnati-based CSX locomotive engineer for 26 years. […]

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STB sets new schedule for Amtrak Gulf Coast case

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted a new extension for the process of addressing Amtrak’s request to require CSX and Norfolk Southern to allow passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. — while cautioning that it will not look favorably on further efforts to delay the process. Amtrak filed the request in […]

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Where on a car should a consolidated stencil be placed?

A diagram of the side of a generic boxcar indicates areas for placement of lettering

Q: I’m interested in correctly applying consolidated stencils to rail cars existing in 1972 when consolidated stencils were introduced. Please describe the parameters of the area on a rail car within which the consolidated stencil must be located. This is possibly described in AAR Field Guide, Rule 80. – Chris Roehl A: Hi, Chris. You’re right; the […]

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