Lionel’s postwar No. 97 Coal Elevator

model coal elevator toy

I found this manuscript from the late John Grams in our manuscript files. There was no date on the envelope but it’s likely from the early 1990s. The article discusses 12 Lionel products that, while great inventions, were fraught with problems or didn’t work exactly as advertised. He included the following disclaimer: Lionel trains were […]

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CPKC says local service continues to improve on former KCS

Two red locomotives and one blue locomotive on freight train with grain silo in background

WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City says its service continues to improve in former Kansas City Southern territory, where a May 3 computer system cutover led to congestion, delays, and missed switches. Local service performance on the former KCS rose to 88% in the week ending June 27, CPKC said in an update to the […]

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Norfolk Southern donates to West Virginia flood relief

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has donated $25,000 to support recovery efforts from June 14 flash flooding in West Virginia. The July 1 donation to the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley will support the foundation’s Disaster Response and Recovery Fund, assisting nonprofit organizations involved in relief efforts, including supporting individuals affected. A storm brought 4 […]

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Reading & Northern promotes passenger department’s Knadler

Man in cab of black F unit with gray and red trim

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Jeff Knadler has been promoted to assistant vice president-passenger at the Reading & Northern, the railroad has announced. Knadler, who started with the R&N as a freight conductor in 2007 and advanced to designated supervisor of locomotive engineers, has most recently served as senior director of the passenger department. In that […]

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U.S rail traffic down narrowly for week ending June 28

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — By a tiny margin, U.S. weekly rail traffic was back below 2024 levels for the week ending June 28, 2025. According to the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 491,424 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.2% from the same week a year ago. That included 225,227 carloads, up 0.05%, and […]

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Wabtec completes acquisition of Evident’s Inspection Technologies division

Man with inspection device checking rail

PITTSBURGH — Wabtec has completed its $1.78 billion acquisition of the Inspection Technologies division of Evident Scientific, the company announced this week. The acquisition of the company, which makes nondestructive testing, remote visual inspection, and analytical instrument products, was announced earlier this year [see “Wabtec to acquire …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 14, 2025]. “Today, […]

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Rapido Trains HO PC&F 5241 boxcar

Color photo jade green boxcar with silver roof and white graphics on white background

Rapido Trains HO PC&F 5241 boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Single car, $54.95; three-pack, $164.85; six-pack, $329.70 Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St, Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Rapido Trains HO PC&F 5241 boxcar features: Factory-installed and painted wire grab irons Full underbody detail Multiple road numbers for each scheme Rapido semi-scale metal couplers Roller-bearing […]

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NTSB releases report on Union Pacific conductor fatality

Aerial view of scene of fatal accident at Chicago-area rail yard

WASHINGTON — The probable cause of a July 2024 fatal collision at Union Pacific’s Proviso Yard was an inexperienced conductor’s failure to alert the engineer to stop the train at a designated point during a shove move in unfamiliar territory, the National Transportation Safety Board said today (July 2, 2025). The conductor — who was […]

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