Atlas O American Car & Foundry three- and six-bay cylindrical covered hoppers

orange covered hopper

American Car & Foundry three- and six-bay cylindrical covered hoppers Scale: O (1:48) Price: $82.95 (undecorated, $77.95) Era: 1961 to present (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Atlas O, 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, 908-687-0880, shop.atlasrr.com American Car & Foundry three- and six-bay cylindrical covered hoppers features: Sprung, die-cast metal 100-ton roller-bearing trucks with rotating […]

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Atlas International Car Co. NE-6 center-cupola caboose

illustration of red caboose

International Car Co. NE-6 center-cupola caboose Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $39.95 (undecorated, $34.95) Era: 1940s to 1980s+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, 908-687-0880, shop.atlasrr.com International Car Co. NE-6 center-cupola caboose features: Accumate couplers Brake line detail End rails, smokestack, and ladders Friction- or roller-bearing caboose trucks New York, […]

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KCS de Mexico receives 10-year extension to operating concession

Red, black, and orange locomotive at head of freight train

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern de Mexico’s exclusive operating concession for its routes in Mexico have been extended by 10 years as part of an agreement with the Mexican government to invest in a new rail bypass route. The agreement with the Mexican Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) extends the concession […]

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Missouri, Amtrak relaunch second ‘River Runner’ round trip

Man with TV camera watching passenger train

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — Well-wishers who turned out Monday morning to welcome the restored second daily Missouri River Runner at the venerable Kirkwood train station, and other stops from St. Louis to Kansas City, Mo., included travelers riding train No. 311 west for the first time since it last operated on Jan. 3, 2022, when state […]

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STB may seek to continue collecting expanded railroad performance data

Man speaking at podium

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Some of the more detailed metrics the Surface Transportation Board has begun collecting as it tracks the rail industry’s service issues could become part of the STB’s regular regulatory oversight, board member Patrick Fuchs said Tuesday. “I do think that some of the service numbers that we have collected are extraordinarily […]

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Caltrain runs first test with eletrified equipment

Electric commuter rail equipment on test track

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The first Caltrain electric trainset has seen action on the San Francisco-San Jose corridor, although at a significantly slower pace than will eventually be the standard. The commuter rail operator reports the trainset was pulled by a diesel at 5 mph between the Santa Clara and Tamien (San Jose) stations, a […]

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Officials approve $1.5 million for Tampa Union Station rehab

Brick building with arched windows

TAMPA, Fla. — City of Tampa officials have voted to spend $1.5 million to refurbish Tampa Union Station, a 1912 structure which remains in use for Amtrak service. WTSP-TV reports the funds will go for updating restrooms, repairing windows and doors, and replacing the intricate façade. Once those repairs are complete, the city plans to […]

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MBTA submits plans to address FTA safety directives

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is slated to have submitted plans by today to address safety directives issued by the Federal Transit Administration, Streetsblog Mass reports. Corrective action plans were required to respond to the four directives issued by the FTA in June [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains […]

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Union Pacific engineer laments high level of misrouted freight cars

Freight train in valley at dusk

WASHINGTON — Pressure to reduce terminal dwell figures has prompted some Union Pacific yards to routinely depart trains that include misrouted cars simply to get them moving, a UP engineer alleges in a letter sent to federal regulators. Michael Lindsey, a veteran engineer based in Pocatello, Idaho, used a train he ran to Nampa, Idaho, […]

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60-foot Pullman-Standard flatcar from Walthers

yellow flatcar

60-foot Pullman-Standard flatcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $34.98 Era: mid-1960s to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218, 414-527-0770, walthers.com 60-foot Pullman-Standard flatcar features: Decks match different prototype configurations Board pattern with wood grain and bolt details Brake wheel cutout as appropriate 70-ton roller bearing trucks 33” turned-metal wheelsets […]

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National Steel Car 73-foot center-beam bulkhead flatcars from Rapido Trains

seven paint schemes for a flatcar

National Steel Car 73-foot center-beam bulkhead flatcars Scales: HO (1:87.1) and N (1:160) Price: HO scale – single car, $59.95; six-pack, $359.70. N scale – single car, $44.95; six-pack, $269.70 Era: 1987 to present Manufacturer: Rapido Trains Inc., 500 Alden Road, Unit 21, Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5 Canada, 905-474-3314, rapidotrains.com NSC HO scale 73-foot center-beam bulkhead […]

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California feed and poultry producer seeks extension of Union Pacific emergency service order

Train rounds curve in late afternoon sunlight

WASHINGTON – Union Pacific has been delivering unit grain trains as scheduled to a major California poultry and feed producer since federal regulators issued an emergency service order last month. But Fowler Farms, the largest chicken producer in the West, is seeking a 90-day extension of the emergency service order, which expired on July 17. […]

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