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NEW YORK – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday announced plans to move forward with the Interborough Express as part of her 2022 State of the State address. The Interborough Express project would use the existing right-of-way of the Bay Ridge Branch, a freight rail line that runs through Brooklyn and Queens, connecting the neighborhoods […]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — David McKenna has been named president and chief executive officer of Rocky Mountaineer. McKenna began his new duties Jan. 4. McKenna has extensive experience in Canada’s tourism industry. Prior to joining Rocky Mountaineer, he was president of the Banff Jasper Collection by Pursuit where he led tourism expansion and acquisition projects […]
PERTH, Australia — Fortescue Metals Group announced today it has purchased two new battery-operated locomotives from Progress Rail to haul ore from mine to port in northwest Australia. The new eight-axle locomotives will have an energy capacity of 14.5 megawatt-hours and will be built at Progress Rail’s facility in Sete Lagoas, Brazil. Fortescue Chief Executive […]
PHOENIX — Siding extensions and intermodal-terminal upgrades highlight the capacity-improvement aspects of Norfolk Southern’s 2022 capital spending plan, as outlined Thursday by the railroad’s vice president of engineering, Ed Boyle. The railroad has not yet announced its full capital spending plan for 2022, after spending about $1.6 billion in 2021. But plans for infrastructure work […]
PHOENIX — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz isn’t sure what direction the Surface Transportation Board will take as it considers rules for reciprocal switching, but says the decision poses real risks for the rail industry. Speaking Thursday in a “Fireside Chat” at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference, Fritz termed the proposed rule […]
WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific today won Amtrak’s support for its proposed merger with Kansas City Southern after CP and Amtrak reached a deal to expand passenger service in the Midwest and South. CP agreed to more frequent Amtrak service on the Hiawatha route linking Chicago and Milwaukee, as well as extending the corridor to St. Paul, […]
PHOENIX — Union Pacific is nearing agreements to purchase battery-electric locomotives for tests in yard use, CEO Lance Fritz says, with plans to try the locomotives in one cold-weather location and one warm-weather site. “We think you can get an 8-hour shift out of a properly designed [battery-electric],” Fritz said during a short conversation with […]
Rapido Trains is ringing in 2022 with another exciting steam announcement. Canadian Pacific (CP) Class H1a and H1b 4-6-4 Hudsons will be joining the HO scale Icons of Canadian Steam product range. The models will have road-number-specific details; separate, factory-applied handrails and grab irons; blackened metal wheels and driving rods; correct cylinders and valve gear; […]
Rapido Trains announced that the next locomotive in its HO scale product range will be the Electro-Motive Division GP38. The four-axle road locomotive will feature prototype-specific details, metal handrails with plastic stanchions, and see-through etched-metal steps. Initial road names offered on the Rapido Trains model will include Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (blue and yellow […]
BNSF Railway led the big six Class I railroads in growth in 2021, a year in which rail volume rebounded from the pandemic-related lows of 2020 yet struggled to overcome kinks in the global supply chain. BNSF’s traffic was up 7.4% for the year, with intermodal surging 8.3% and coal up nearly 11%. CSX Transportation […]
Q: I have an older Atlas HO scale GP7 that has developed a whirring sound in one of its gear towers when it runs in reverse (long hood forward). I’m guessing this sound may be caused by a lack of lubricant in the gear tower, or perhaps that the lubricant has dried out. Do you concur […]
PHOENIX — Never underestimate the value of experience and institutional knowledge. That’s one of the many lessons from Union Pacific’s Dry Canyon Bridge reconstruction project in 2022. The project, which replaced a major fire-damaged trestle in Northern California in 2021 — about a month faster than was originally projected — has been much discussed and […]
