WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has joined the list of those scheduled to testify at next week’s Surface Transportation Board hearing, Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service, leading to an adjustment of the schedule for the two-day hearing. The board said in a press release that Buttigieg is scheduled to speak first on […]
1950s EMD customer relations: At the height of dieselization circa 1950, the volume of orders pouring into Electro-Motive Division was sufficient to require three production locations: La Grange, by far the largest; Plant 2, a former Pullman Co. facility in South Chicago; and Plant 3, the ex-Cleveland Engine Corp. facility in Cleveland, Ohio. However, by […]
CARSON CITY, Nev. – The Nevada State Railroad Museum will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad July 1-4 with the “Great Western Steam Up,” slated to include 17 steam locomotives, with nine operating locomotives representing six Nevada railroads. “We are excited to offer a lineup of historic steam locomotives unlike anything […]
The Shay locomotive was a widely used North American geared steam locomotive, built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who is credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Shay’s early locomotives differed from later ones, but there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shays were especially […]
Increase traction of PIKO switcher: I bought a PIKO America GE 25-ton engine for my railway. As I ran the little diesel on my layout, it went around a couple of times nicely over the trestle and under the tunnel. I hooked two cars to the engine, and sent it on its way again. As […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation is proposing to amend its emergency service regulations to allow immediate relief for shippers in situations requiring such action, including clarifying that the board may act on its own initiative to require emergency service. “The rail service challenges shippers are currently experiencing are amplified by certain recent conditions but are […]
How to buy a toy train is a subject I’m frequently asked about. My focus is on trains and accessories from the post-World War II era, but I venture into the prewar and modern periods, too. In the past 25 years, Atlas, K-Line, Lionel, MTH, Williams, Weaver, and others have produced locomotives and rolling stock […]
ABOARD THE SILVER STAR — It took almost 10 years to complete Amtrak’s latest sleeping-car order. The 25 Viewliner II cars, manufactured by CAF USA in Elmira, N.Y., faced issues with meeting construction specifications before Amtrak agreed to accept them. But the latest arrivals are now operating alongside what had been the newest rolling stock […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has postponed its planned tour this summer for Big Boy No. 4014, citing a need to “focus on efforts to ease supply chain congestion.” The trip to the Pacific Northwest via Northern California had been scheduled to begin June 26. The railroad said it would announce updated plans once service […]
HO scale details and accessories Skeletal logging truck: It is a generic skeleton logging truck. You can order just the truck, or with 3 logs or 6 logs. Logging railways used three basic types of log cars, the disconnect, skeleton and the flatcar. Skeleton cars were the most common, basically consisting of a wooden reach […]
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County has reinstated its own mask requirement for public transit and transportation sites such as airports, even though the federal mask mandate was struck down earlier this week by a Florida judge. The Los Angeles Times reports the rule went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today (Friday, April 22), with […]
TORONTO — The latest update on commuter rail ridership between London, Ontario, and Toronto continues to show limited ridership, but provincial transit agency Metrolinx says it’s difficult to gauge the pilot program’s success because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transit. The CBC reports total ridership for the first six months of […]
