WASHINGTON — Responding to an Amtrak request from late last year, the Surface Transportation Board announced today (July 11) it will open an investigation into Sunset Limited timekeeping issues. Today’s board decision also outlines the framework for the process — a detailed procedure that will continue well into 2024. Establishment of that framework is necessary […]
SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) continues to make progress on several projects at its former Rock Island shop in Silvis. The group is planning to return to service former Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985, 2-10-2 No. 5511, and “Centennial” DDA40X diesel No. 6936. National Railway Equipment, which shares the Silvis shop complex […]
BILL, Wyo. — Twenty-one cars of a Union Pacific coal train derailed today (July 10), blocking UP’s route to ship coal out of the Powder River Basin. Cowboy State Daily reports the derailment occurred about 6:30 a.m. approximately 4 miles southeast of Lusk, Wyo., which is 130 miles north of Cheyenne. No injuries were reported. […]
Tom Piccirillo started building scale models at age 12 after discovering a copy of the April 1964 issue of Model Railroader magazine at a local corner store. After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering in 1974, he pursued a management career in well-known industries, such as Burroughs Corp. and Ohaus Scale, and holds patents on […]
The agreement Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX Transportation reached last month to create a new corridor linking the Southeast with Texas and Mexico via Meridian, Miss., is not a new idea: More than two decades ago Kansas City Southern CEO Mike Haverty sought to tie his cross-border railroad to CSX by having the companies […]
Did you ever wonder how a railroad goes about building a train schedule? It’s more complex than you may think. Train schedules have intrigued me since my father returned from a 1966 business trip with a present of current public timetables from 13 railroads. To 11-year-old me the timetables were like windows to a new […]
What is the largest radius curve on your layout? If you said anything less than 24”, you won’t be running 85-foot passenger cars any time soon. Even then, a 24” curve is extremely tight for those cars to navigate. Fear not, I have the solution for your long passenger car dilemma: short steam era passenger […]
Signaling has entered a golden age in the hobby. More options exist now than have ever existed before for modelers to add signals to their railroads. Resources and online groups allow access to information and photographs at an unprecedented level. Possibilities cover the full range of options from a single stand-alone manual signal to a […]
Trains in movies Trains in movies: Looking for a brief retreat that is fun, fairly inexpensive, and easily accessible all year round? Try exploring the world of trains from the comfort of your own home. Enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly in railroad movies from the past. Robberies, explosions, romance, comedy, suspense … […]
ROCKFORD, Ill. — With an 1880s bridge over the Rock River supporting a Metra train as a backdrop, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other officials announced Thursday that Chicago commuter operator Metra had been selected to partner with Union Pacific to provide two daily rail roundtrips between Rockford and Chicago by 2027. The estimated $275 […]
When my wife and I had another couple over for dinner back in April, the cork was barely out of the wine bottle when our friends popped the question: What on earth is going on with railroads? In the wake of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and intense media coverage […]
Big Boy’s story We all know the old tried and sometimes true saying, “bigger is better.” Yes, a significantly enlarged bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day is better. Finding out that your car repair bill is larger than anticipated … well, not so good. In the eyes of the Union Pacific Railroad, […]
