MOBILE, Ala. — In a filing with the Surface Transportation Board earlier this month, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern asserted the railroads’ freight operation will suffer a “catastrophic meltdown” if Amtrak is allowed to add two daily passenger round trips between New Orleans and Mobile. Yet the 277-page “opening evidence” document by the two carriers […]
WASHINGTON – The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill President Biden is slated to sign into law today (Monday, Nov. 15) contains funding for a study of Class I railroads’ use of ever-longer trains and their impact on safety, grade crossings, freight and passenger service, and the environment. The measure provides up to $2 million for the […]
MONTROSE, Iowa — A collision between a BNSF Railway train and a barge sent coal hoppers and diesel fuel into the Mississippi River on Saturday night, the Burlington Hawk Eye reported. The barge was parked along the shore of the river in a position that left the nose of the barge extending over the adjacent […]
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The second portion of the Port of Savannah’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal is now in operation, increasing intermodal capacity at the port by more than 30%. The second phase of the project adds nine new tracks to nine that opened in 2020 as part of a project that, overall, has added more […]
MONTREAL — Light rail equipment for Montreal’s Réseau Express Métropolitain system shows manufacturing flaws that could put passengers at risk, the Montreal Gazette reported, citing a French-language report by Radio-Canada. The report says the first group of light rail vehicles delivered to Quebec from construction in India shows wiring, assembly, and finishing exhibiting “a breach […]
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. — The state of New Jersey is purchasing an abandoned rail right-of-way from Norfolk Southern Railroad to turn it into a linear park, a project Gov. Phil Murphy is comparing to New York City’s landmark High Line Park. WNBC-TV reports Murphy on Friday announced the state’s purchase of the 9-mile-long, 100-foot-wide route from Montclair […]
Tichy Train Group, manufacturer of structure and freight car details, decals, and other products in N, HO, S, and O scales, has added a one-room schoolhouse kit to its HO scale product line-up. The injection-molded styrene schoolhouse includes windows, two different doors, an outhouse, 28” of fancy picket fence, porch railings, a one-piece roof, and […]
Eastern Seaboard Models, well-known for its N and Z scale products, announced that it will be entering the HO scale market. The company’s initial offerings will be Magor and Pacific Car & Foundry 40-foot XIH heated, insulated plug-door boxcars. The first cars will be a circa 1950 Bangor & Aroostook boxcar based on a Magor […]
Athearn announced that it will be adding a Union Pacific Electro-Motive Division (EMD) SD59M-2 diesel locomotive to its Genesis 2.0 line. The HO scale six-axle road locomotive is based on prototypes rebuilt from EMD SD60M phase II diesels. The newly tooled Athearn Genesis 2.0 model will include separate, factory-applied uncoupling levers, m.u. hoses, and sander […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled hearings on three major issues: the CSX acquisition of Pan Am Railways; Amtrak’s bid to operate trains between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., and its reciprocal switching proposal. All three hearings will be held in the hearing room at the STB’s Washington headquarters, with additional specifics to […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Canadian National have raised issues with federal regulators’ timeline for review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. BNSF, in a filing posted today on the Surface Transportation Board’s website, said the 90-day comment period was insufficient given the ramifications of how the merger would affect traffic moving between […]
IRONDALE, Ala. — Doug Karhan, who was master mechanic of steam for Norfolk Southern from 1982 to the close of excursions in 1994, has died. Karhan, who began as a volunteer, became assistant to the late Bill Purdie. He died Thursday, those close to him tell Trains News Wire. No other details were immediately available. […]
