Participants line up to bend STB’s ear at rail growth hearing

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will hear from more than three dozen participants during its two-day hearing next month regarding recent trends and strategies for growth in freight railroad traffic. The hearing, set to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 16 and 17 in the board’s hearing room, will be livestreamed on the STB’s […]

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Port of Virginia completes rail yard expansion

NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation double-stack service to the Midwest will benefit from the newly expanded central rail yard at the Port of Virginia. The port recently the expanded yard is fully operational, lifting annual rail capacity to 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. “Modernizing and expanding the capability at NIT’s […]

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News & Products for the week of August 12th 2024

News & Products for the week of August 12th 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of August 12th […]

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Atlas N scale EMD GP40-2

Atlas Model Railroad Co. has released a new run of Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP40-2 diesel locomotives in N scale. The model, part of the Master Line, features plastic and die-cast metal construction, a Scale Speed motor, and body-mounted Accumate couplers. Prototype history Between April 1972 and November 1986, EMD built 903 GP40-2 diesel locomotives. The […]

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EBT 0-6-0 No. 3 leaves Pennsylvania for new home in Alabama

MOUNT UNION, Pa. —  East Broad Top Railroad’s last remaining standard-gauge 0-6-0 switcher, a 1923 Baldwin Locomotive Works engine, on Wednesday left the only place it has called home for 101 years aboard a specialized heavy-haul low-boy trailer. The 68-ton locomotive is destined for display at a park in Red Bay, Ala., more than 800 […]

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What’s next for Amtrak Gulf Coast service: Analysis

MOBILE, Ala. — The Super Bowl will be played in New Orleans at Caesars Superdome on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. Mardi Gras’ Fat Tuesday celebration, perhaps the biggest event in both Mobile and the Crescent City, happens to be late next year: March 4. The race is now on to begin Amtrak Gulf Coast service […]

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Carload Considerations: It’s okay to lower freight rates

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Railroads’ success is often defined by service metrics like car dwell, velocity, or the operating ratio. These measurements are snapshots documenting how long railcars idle or how quickly trains move between points. Better velocity means more profitability. These subjects have been a growing part of the conversation since Precision Scheduled Railroading was […]

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Groups sign contract to purchase Saluda Grade

CAMPOBELLO, S.C. — The organizations seeking to turn the Saluda Grade, once the steepest rail main line in the U.S., into a 31-mile trail, has signed a contract with Norfolk Southern to purchase the right-of-way. The Greenville Journal reports the Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy announced it signed the contract on Monday, Aug. 5. Terms of […]

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