Motorcycle special recalls Amtrak’s era of experiments

Motorcycle rider waiving while driving.

  In the 1990s Amtrak managers sought to use mail and express business to bolster revenue. A byproduct of that initiative, which involved beefing up baggage handling facilities and acquisition of boxcars, was aggressively seeking ways to use equipment. New Hampshire-based motorcycle event promoter Charlie St. Clair was a member of Amtrak’s Customer Advisory Committee […]

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The NIMBY factor in train capacity

Canadian Pacific train heads north on connection from Union Pacific to Metra-owned line in Northbrook, Ill.

Not in my backyard. The unofficial rallying cry of opposition— to anything from low-cost housing to a railroad line — has made NIMBY a familiar acronym and led to the expectation that someone, somewhere, will oppose almost every effort to build or expand. Railroads and transit agencies are well aware that if financial and environmental […]

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Digest: New York to increase overnight subway service

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Tuesday morning rail news: MTA to open subway for two additional hours overnight The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will increase overnight New York subway service, cutting the time the subway is closed nightly from four hours to two as of Feb. 22. The system, currently closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. for nightly cleaning, will […]

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Railroad Development Corp. wins contract to operate battery regional trains in Germany

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  RDC Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp., has won a contract to operate brand new Stadler-built battery-electric multiple unit regional trains on five routes in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein. RDC won the contract over German national rail company Deutsche Bahn, which currently runs the routes. RDC Deutschland’s “RDC Autozug […]

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Ask MR: Why are car wheelsets one solid piece?

Spare car wheel sets in a Union Pacific yard accumulate snow during a snowstorm

Q: Have the model railroad manufacturers ever considered making the wheels on car trucks free-wheeling, or more specifically, independent of the axles? It seems to me that trucks would bind less on tighter radius curves if each wheel could rotate independently. – Wilt Nelson, Leesburg, Fla. A: Wheels and axles on model trains are solid […]

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