PAYSON, Ariz. — Logan “Stan” Garner, rail enthusiast, actor, and supplier of railroad equipment to the entertainment industry, died May 20 in Arizona at the age of 83. Born in Pasadena, Calif., Garner gained initial fame for being a co-founder in 1967 of Short Line Enterprises, where discarded railroad equipment, mostly from Hollywood movie studios, […]
The first patented stock car was developed in 1870 and used in shipments between Chicago and New York City. The cars were designed for 90 hours of travel, had water troughs fed from tanks under the car, and food troughs fed from hoppers in the roof. Over the years, other stock car designs were introduced […]
MONTE VISTA, Colo. — Short line San Luis Central Railroad embargoed its entire 13-mile line May 28 after its crossing of the Empire Irrigation Canal, one mile north of Monte Vista, collapsed. According to local farmers, the crossing, a series of culverts surrounded by cement walls, had been seeping water between the pipes for a […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner and board chair Anthony Coscia are scheduled to appear before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in a hearing this Wednesday, June 12. The Railroad, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee will hold the hearing, “Amtrak and Intercity Passenger Rail Oversight: Promoting Performance, Safety and Accountability,” […]
KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Catskill Mountain Railroad has converted its locomotives to run on 100% biodiesel fuel and says it is the first heritage railroad in the country to do so, the railroad has announced. The railroad operates with a pair of Alco locomotives. RS1 No. 401 was built in March 1950 for the Illinois […]
It’s time for the next installment in the Model Railroader Hall of Fame series. If you didn’t now, we’re creating a hall of fame for the 90th anniversary year of Model Railroader. In order to be nominated for the hall of fame, a nominee must have made a significant contribution to the model railroading hobby […]
DETROIT — The magnificent indoor space at Michigan Central Station that once hosted New York Central passenger trains has been brought back to life in spectacular fashion by the Ford Motor Company. It joins New York’s Grand Central Terminal, union stations in Washington and Chicago, and Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal as well-preserved classics built […]
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Failure of a plug rail joint, installed about a week earlier, likely led to the derailment and fire involving a Canadian Pacific crude oil unit train near Guernsey, Saskatchewan, in February 2020, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in a final investigation report released Friday (June 7). The Feb. 6 incident […]
SILVIS, Ill. — Union Pacific DDA40X Centennial diesel No. 6936 will be on display at a free “Summer of Safety” open house at the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America shops in Silvis, Ill., later this month, while a concurrent event, the “Walk Amongst the Giants Fundraiser,” will offer a chance to view the two UP […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak’s planned six-week outage of Adirondack service north of Saratoga Springs to Montreal, originally slated to last through June 29, will now apparently stretch into the second week of September. The news was originally reported by the Adirondack Explorer, based on Amtrak booking cancellations and a letter obtained by the non-profit news […]
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “Model railroading is dying.” An adage seemingly as old as the hobby itself, right? That alone belies the truth of the statement. If it held any veracity, model railroading would be long dead, and I wouldn’t be writing this article, and you wouldn’t be reading it. It’s […]
DETROIT — The city of Detroit has seen its share of comebacks over the past 20 years, but nothing quite like what is happening this week as it celebrates the grand opening of the renovated Michigan Central Station, the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars in investment by its new owner, Ford Motor Co. […]
