Greenbrier receives 5,500 railcar orders in current quarter

Greenbrier Companies logo

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — Rail equipment supplier Greenbrier announced it has received order for 5,500 railcars, valued at more than $530 million, since the start of the current quarter on June 1. Cars on order include intermodal, boxcars, tank cars, covered hoppers and gondolas. “Greenbrier continues to see momentum in our markets as we navigate […]

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What is Free-mo?

Two men holding throttles operate trains on a modular layout in a convention hall

Most modelers have heard of modular railroading, or even practice it themselves. Modular railroading is an easy and practical way for a hobbyist (be they a beginner or more experienced) to create a mobile, and sometimes more manageable, layout. Modular layouts are built to a set of standards that allows an individual unit to connect […]

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RTD approves new study of Denver-Boulder-Longmont rail line

Denver_RTD

DENVER — The Regional Transportation District has approved an $8 million study to revive and revise plans for the commuter rail B Line, a Denver-Boulder-Longmont, Colo., route approved by voters in 2004 that had been pushed back to 2050. It was originally scheduled for completion by 2014. The RTD board also approved a formal response […]

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FRA calls halt to work on new Ann Arbor, Mich., station

Passenger train passes platform with handicap boarding facilities

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Federal Railroad Administration has halted work on a long-proposed new passenger station for Ann Arbor, citing high cost and unacceptable design features. MLive, the Ann Arbor News website, reports a letter from Jamie Rennert, director of the FRA’s Office of Infrastructure Development, told the city the agency would discontinue work […]

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Weekly rail traffic shows drop from 2020 figures

Weekly table showing U.S. rail traffic statistics

WASHINGTON — Reversing the trend for most of 2021, the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads show U.S. rail traffic declined for the week ending Aug. 21 when compared to the comparable week in 2020. Traffic totaled 501,273 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.6% decrease from the 2020 figure. It also represented a […]

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CP Pacific type

Trains line up side-by-side at urban passenger station

CP Pacific type One of Canadian Pacific’s 173 G3 Pacifics steams east out of Calgary station with a regional train in June 1949. One track over, a mountain observation car has just been added to the westbound Dominion’s tail. Walter H. Thrall Jr. photo […]

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Amtrak passenger trains (14) help you see the U.S.

Passenger train near station among trees in fall.

Amtrak passenger trains you can ride Amtrak offers 14 passenger trains in each direction serving end points that allow for overnight travel, most of them operating daily but some on a triweekly basis. In the east, the Lake Shore Limited offers nightly service between New York and Chicago, with a separate section serving the Boston-Chicago […]

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Big Boy Mississippi crossing, August 2021

  The Union Pacific Big Boy Mississippi River crossing is one for the history books. So far as Trains editors know, this is Union Pacific Big Boy 4014’s first foray to the “Big Easy,” New Orleans! Join Trains contributor Steve Smedley for this portion of Big Boy’s 2021 tour through Texas and the Mid-South with […]

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