Trains News Wire continues our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t make that list. Today: The freight rail industry. How the […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has joined a group of officials from other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review decisions that have prevented states from enacting or enforcing laws that limit the amount of time railroads can block grade crossings. Eighteen other state attorneys general have joined a group […]
HAMILTON, Ohio — The move is in progress today for the first of two structures that make up the Hamilton, Ohio, railroad station — a structure dating to the 1850s and with a history including visits from at least four U.S. presidents. The station, donated to the city by CSX Transportation, is being located from […]
Walthers Mainline Electro-Motive Division F40PH Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin plug, $159.98; with dual-mode ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder, $219.98. Era: 1976+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com Walthers Electro-Motive Division F40PH features: Based on Phase-2b prototype Factory-installed vertical handrails […]
RIDGELAND, Miss. — A federal grant seeks almost $179 million to fund improvements for Amtrak Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., while CSX Transportation will pay almost $10 million toward the matching funds for those improvements, according to a news report. The non-profit news site Mississippi Today reports the Alabama State Port […]
The big six Class I railroads are not of one mind regarding taking conductors out of the locomotive cab and redeploying them to pickup trucks. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern told the Federal Railroad Administration this week that they are negotiating with unions about testing the concept, which would involve having conductors assist trains in […]
WASHINGTON — Class I railroads, short lines, and rail labor staked out familiar positions during the Federal Railroad Administration’s public hearing on its proposed two-person crew rule on Wednesday. The Association of American Railroads said there’s no safety data to back a rule that would require two people to be in the cab of a […]
HAMILTON, Ohio — The much-discussed, long-delayed move of the first portion of the Hamilton, Ohio, railroad station is at hand. As of Wednesday, Dec. 14, the two-story station building — one of two structures involved in the city preservation effort to move the station from CSX Transportation property to city-owned land — had been jacked […]
ScaleTrains has released a second run of its HO General Electric ES44AC diesel locomotive. The modern six-axle road unit is decorated for Canadian Pacific (with and without Lord Strathcona’s Horse stencil), Citirail (silver, blue, and yellow), CSX (armed forces, first responders, and law enforcement schemes in one road number each), Ferromex (original red, white, and […]
MOBILE, Ala. — Amtrak expects to begin operating passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., sometime in 2023, but virtually all other details of the operation remain undisclosed after a meeting of the Southern Rail Commission, the Al.com news site reports. The commission held its quarterly meeting Friday in Mobile. The news site notes […]
Amtrak roomette tips The journey begins If you’ve taken a trip on Amtrak before, some of this may already resonate with you. But as a newcomer, I’ve not had the pleasure of traveling roundtrip via the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Cumberland, Md. before. After two completely different experiences (for me), Model Railroader Associate Editor […]
Large scale boxcars and graffiti in an art exhibit: The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA) opened its Art in the Streets show on April 17, 2011. It is the first major US museum exhibition on the history of graffiti and street art, tracing its development from the 1970s to the global movement […]
