UNION, Ill. — A “mechanical issue” discovered during preparations for the 2025 season has led the Illinois Railway Museum to remove its Frisco 2-10-0, No. 1630, from service, IRM has announced. The museum will now begin the locomotive’s federally mandated 1,472-day inspection earlier than anticipated to address repairs and a return to service. The inspection […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit is urging customers to work from home if possible and limit travel on its system to “essential purposes only” in the event of a strike by locomotive engineers, which could come as soon as Friday, May 16. The transit agency today (April 30) released a contingency plan for a potential […]
Add carbon capture to the list of potential ways railroads could reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from their fleets of diesel-electric locomotives. Remora, a Michigan-based startup company, is developing a tender-based system that can capture carbon dioxide from locomotive exhaust, liquify the gas, and store it on board. The liquified carbon dioxide would be […]
BOSTON — A Massachusetts Senate committee has announced an investigation into the early operating issues on the South Coast Rail project that opened last month, saying responses to date “lacked specific assurances to riders and the public at large.” The Bedford (Mass.) Standard-Times reports that Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), chair of the Senate Committee […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — With transit agencies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh both warning of catastrophic service cuts without additional state funding, two Pennsylvania state senators have announced plans for legislation to help fund transit statewide. State Sens. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) and Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) are proposing creating funding from three sources: — A 6% excise fee […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — The governing body overseeing Orlando’s SunRail commuter operation has authorized a study of the Sunshine Corridor project, which would bring SunRail to Orlando International Airport and provide the first portion of a Brightline extension to Tampa. At an April 24 meeting, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission agreed to conduct a project […]
INDIANAPOLIS — A broken rail led to the derailment that sent several cars off an overpass and onto an Indianpolis roadway earlier this month, CSX Transportation told the Indianapolis Star. The broken rail in the railroad’s Hawthorne Yard in southeastern Indianapolis led to a six-car derailment about 6:35 p.m. on April 6, with five cars […]
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s legislature has passed a bill to simplify sale of state-owned rail lines, sending the legislation to Gov. Kevin Stitt for his signature. Senate Bill 341 calls for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to seek requests for proposals to purchase railroad assets owned by the state. Interested parties would have 120 days […]
The WalthersMainline HO EMD NW2, an end-cab diesel locomotive based on a Phase V prototype, switches cars on our Winston-Salem Southbound Tar Branch project layout in our latest product review video. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the switcher and Great Northern No. 158; points out the various detail parts […]
BRUNSWICK, Maine — Maine Switching Services on Monday (April 28) finalized a lease agreement with Maine’s Department of Transportation that will allow freight operations to resume on the 56.6-mile, state-owned former Maine Central branch between Brunswick and Rockland, Me. The operating entity will be known as the Cumberland & Knox Railroad (CKRR), named for the […]
PECO Model Railways has announced a new competition to honor 200 years of British railways. RAIL200 is open to modelers based in the U.K., with two simultaneous competitions focusing on different disciplines of model railroading. A press release shared with Model Railroader states: “The RAIL200 Competition aims to celebrate two centuries of railway heritage by […]
WASHINGTON— Federal regulators will determine whether BNSF Railway can use its trackage rights over Union Pacific to reach a new short line railroad in Utah. The Surface Transportation Board yesterday rejected Union Pacific’s request to dismiss the case regarding the Savage Tooele Railroad. Savage held a groundbreaking ceremony in November for the railroad [see “Groundbreaking […]
