MADISON, Wis. — The final design phase of the project to add a second Amtrak passenger train between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul has begun, with public comments now being accepted and public meetings to show plans for the service expected to be held this fall. The design phase for what is known as the Twin […]
MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum hosted its annual Railroad Days event Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18, 2022, drawing hundreds of people to the museum in central Illinois. The event featured Southern Railway Consolidation No. 401 pulling a coach passenger train; Wabash F7 No. 1189 pulling a three-car train; a caboose hop powered by […]
NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Mid-Continent Railway Museum will restore Montana Western gas-electric railcar No. 31 — built in 1925 by Electro-Motive Corp. — to operating condition, the museum has announced. The car, one of the oldest surviving pieces of equipment built by Electro-Motive, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in August, was built for Great Northern […]
Anyone who spent much time at all as an “excepted” (non-union) employee could expect, sooner or later, to be required to work railroad strike duty. This was especially true if he was a supervisor in the mechanical, engineering, or operating departments. Your personal feelings were inconsequential when these events occurred–you did what you had to […]
The EMD RS1325 light road switcher. Someone at EMD must have thought, “here’s an idea that can’t miss!” We’ll offer a modern light road switcher for railroads needing a little bit more oomph than a standard end cab unit that don’t need a heavier and more complex traditional Geep or RS-series locomotive. The concept […]
ST. LOUIS — The 133-year-old Merchants Bridge celebrated its official reopening on Thursday, marking completion of a $222 million project to replace the vital structure connecting Missouri and Illinois near downtown St. Louis. The Mississippi River crossing dating to 1889 owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis serves six Class I railroads and […]
WASHINGTON — The failure of the pilot and caption of a tow vessel to correctly identify a caution area on a river chart was the probable cause of a November 2021 collision between the towing vessel Baxter Southern and a BNSF coal train near Galland, Iowa, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in an accident […]
CLINTON, Iowa — The Clinton City Council has given preliminary approval to a $1 million agreement with Canadian Pacific to address potential impacts of CP’s merger with Kansas City Southern. The Clinton Herald reports that at a Wednesday meeting, the council voted unanimously to advance the agreement, meaning it will vote on formal acceptance at […]
Pullman-Standard 60-foot flatcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $34.98 Era: 1960s to present (depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com 60-foot Pullman-Standard flatcar features: Detailed decks for different prototype configurations Board pattern with wood grain and bolt details Brake wheel cutout as appropriate Detailed brake gear […]
Three great paint schemes A paint scheme on a locomotive is the visual face of a railroad. It’s what the public sees, and field employees work on and around daily. Some schemes may appeal to some but not others. I’ll run down what I find appealing trackside within the Class I rosters today and explain […]
DAVENPORT, Iowa — The second in a series of comment sessions on the draft environmental report for the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger was held Tuesday evening in Davenport, with Iowa residents questioning whether the report from the Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Assessment accurately reflected the impact on their communities. The Quad […]
Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs. Burlington Northern (BN) had more than 2,000 diesel locomotives on its roster. With a fleet of that size, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there were more than a few Burlington Northern locomotive one-offs. Paint scheme variations, wreck rebuilds, and test subjects were among the examples I found when searching […]
