National Steel Car 6,400-cubic-foot capacity gondola Scale: HO (1:87:1) Price: Single car, $64.99; two-pack, $109.99 Era: 2012 to present (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Features: Multiple body styles and ladder variations Removable scrap load Brass stirrup steps Metal grab irons Etched-metal crossover platforms where […]
WASHINGTON — Citing ongoing service problems at the big four U.S. Class I railroads, federal regulators today ordered BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific to continue reporting expanded performance metrics for an additional six months. The Surface Transportation Board in May ordered all Class I systems to provide weekly reports that cover […]
Union Pacific General Electric standard turbine Scale: N (1:160) Price: Direct current with Next18 connector – without tender, $144.99; with tender, $189.99. With ESU LokSound 5 Micro Digital Command Control and sound decoder with Full Throttle, Next18 connector, and sugar cube speaker – without tender, $244.99; with tender, $289.99. Era: 1950s to 1962 (varies depending on road number) […]
PUEBLO, Colo. — For 50 years the Transportation Technology Center, owned by the Federal Railroad Administration, has been North America’s testing grounds for railroad research, innovation, and development. Built in the 1970s as the High Speed Ground Test Center, it expanded to encompass transit and freight rail. Its 30,000 acre campus includes an array of […]
TORONTO — GO Transit parent Metrolinx and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 have reached tentative agreement on a new contract, averting a possible strike by 2,200 GO Transit workers that was set to begin on Monday, Oct. 31. The CBC reports union members will vote on the agreement next week. The union represents bus drivers, […]
Amtrak will change its policies in the wake of a disastrous trip of a Chicago-bound Wolverine train earlier this month, prioritizing getting passengers off trains without heating, air condition, electricity and/or toilets, the MLive.com news site reports. Passengers involved in the 19-hour trip from Pontiac, Mich., to Chicago that began at 6 a.m. on Oct. […]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — The Rancho Cucamonga City Council and San Bernardino County Transportation Authority have approved sale of a 5-acre property for a station for the Brightline West high-speed rail service. The San Bernardino Sun reports the two bodies approved the sale earlier this month. While the sale has been approved, a price has […]
LOS ANGELES — LA-area commuter rail operator Metrolink has marked its 30th anniversary by introducing a new logo, intended to emphasize its role as a vital transportation link in Southern California. The logo was unveiled Wednesday, Oct. 26, the anniversary of the first Metrolink run, which the operator also marked by handing out commemorative pins […]
Two ex-Virginian Railway EL-C electrics roll a train of coal hoppers west of Roanoke, Va., in 1961. Norfolk & Western had absorbed the Virginian in 1959, and shut down the smaller road’s electric operations in 1962. John Dziobko photo […]
Hot Water Gingerbread Muffins Classic Trains Editor Brian Schmidt loaned me some old railroad cookbooks recently, and the recipe for “Hot Water Gingerbread” caught my eye. According to the book, this dessert was a favorite on the Sunset Limited in the 1950s and 60s. How would it taste today? With a few tweaks, I made […]
Central of Georgia passenger trains All through November 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the Central of Georgia Railroad. For this article, please enjoy Central of Georgia passenger trains in images selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. This article was first published in December 2017. […]
A U.S. railroad strike now seems inevitable. The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen overwhelmingly rejected their tentative contract agreement with the railroads this week, following in the footsteps of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, who turned down their deal earlier this month. This makes it almost certain that the rank-and-file members of the two […]
