Q: What is dynamic braking on trains? – Mark Kroll A: Unlike a typical diesel-powered car or truck, a diesel locomotive doesn’t have a direct mechanical linkage between its diesel engine and its wheels. These locomotives are more properly called diesel-electrics. Rather than turning a driveshaft that drives the wheels, the engine (or “prime mover”) […]
MERRILL, Ore. — What is perhaps the single largest private collection of steam locomotives, mostly from the western U.S., has been sold and will soon be dispersed following the death of its long-time owner. The Fred M. Kepner collection of 14 steam locomotives and other railroad equipment has been purchased by the Oregon Coast Scenic […]
The new Sherman Hill line in 1953 was Union Pacific’s latest improvement over the massive undertaking of building and maintaining a transcontinental railroad begun about 90 years earlier. Since the first surveyors ventured into the uplands west of Cheyenne in 1865, the Union Pacific has been waging intermittent war against the geography of southeastern Wyoming. […]
[…]
All through December 2021, Classic Trains is celebrating the Chicago Great Western Railway. Please enjoy this image gallery of CGW passenger trains selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library and first published in December 2016. Only from Trains.com! […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis has extended the public comment period for environmental impact statement of the Canadian Pacific to Jan. 3, 2022. Comments were originally due today (Dec. 17, 2021). The extension reflects requests for additional time to comment, the Office of Environmental Impact said in the notice issued […]
Do railroad mergers live up to the hype? It’s a question that’s been rattling around in my head as federal regulators review the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, the first between Class I railroads in two decades. First, the projections. Within three years of the merger, Canadian Pacific Kansas City expects to gain 80,000 carloads […]
Looking for an excuse to sit down at the workbench? Try building this newly tooled gondola kit from ScaleTrains.com. Cody and Eric take a look at the features on this HO scale car. […]
Looking for an excuse to sit down at the workbench? Try building this newly tooled gondola kit from ScaleTrains.com. Cody and Eric take a look at the features on this HO scale car. […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF will pay a $1.5 million settlement to the Environmental Protection Agency over a 2018 derailment that led to an Iowa oil spill, the Associated Press reports. About 160,000 gallons of oil reached floodwaters near Doon, Iowa, in June 2018 after heavy rains washed out a BNSF line and flooded the Little […]
WASHINGTON — When outgoing CEO William Flynn joined the company in March 2020, a direction for Amtrak that de-emphasized long distance trains and national network investment had already been established under Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony Coscia. Stephen Gardner, hired by then-President and CEO Joseph Boardman, has been the primary confidant on strategy for two other […]
LOS ANGELES — The man who intentionally ran his train off the end of tracks in San Pedro, Calif., last year, claiming he was trying to draw attention to what he believed was a conspiracy involving a U.S. Navy hospital ship, has pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge resulting from the incident. Eduardo Moreno, 45, […]
