LONDON — Sir Roger Moore, the English actor who played secret agent James Bond in seven different films, died this week in Switzerland at the age of 89. The BBC reports the actor died following a brief battle with cancer. While film fans will remember Moore for his roles in “Live and Let Die” and […]
Section: News & Reviews
Unusual Utah Railway units find new home on Kyle Railway NEWSWIRE

Utah Railway MK50-3 No. 5001 on the Utah Railway near Helper, Utah, in June 2015. Chase Gunnoe PHILLIPSBURG, Kan. — With the decline in coal traffic on the Utah Railway, Genesee & Wyoming has moved six Utah Railway units to its Kyle Railroad. BNSF Railway moved the MK50-3 units from Utah to Kansas this spring. […]
Watco opens rail training center in Alabama NEWSWIRE

Watco team members gather with local officials to celebrate the opening of the company’s employee training center in Birmingham, Ala., this week. Watco Cos. Watco’s new training center in Birmingham is equipped with locomotive simulators, classroom space, and other hands-on equipment. Watco Cos. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Watco has opened a new state-of-the-art employee training center […]
Rapido Trains HO scale New Haven 8600 series coaches

Rapido Trains HO scale New Haven 8600-series coach The model features realistic simulated stainless steel sides. The interior features individually painted seats and overhead lighting. Weather or no, go Rapido. With its highly detailed New York, New Haven & Hartford RR 8600-series coaches, it seems the Canadian manufacturer has adopted the popular New England railroad. […]
UPDATE: The numbers behind CSX Transportation’s hump shutdowns NEWSWIRE

CSX Transportation Yard hump map CSX Transportation NEW YORK — CSX Transportation CEO E. Hunter Harrison has said that hump yards can justify their existence only when they classify more than 1,400 to 1,500 cars per day. One glance at the volume levels at CSX’s top 10 terminals shows why the railroad is quickly moving […]
New “Mustang” taconite pellet means steady ore business for Canadian National NEWSWIRE

United Taconite’s first train of “mustang” pellets on May 19. David Schauer FORBES, Minn. — Northern Minnesota railroaders are used to the “boom or bust” cycle of the iron ore business on the Mesabi Range. But in a sign of confidence in the region’s mining future, Cliff Natural Resources began shipping new “Mustang” flux taconite […]
Norfolk Southern to end Chattanooga hump yard operations NEWSWIRE

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern will do away with its hump yard operations at its DeButts yard in Chattanooga, the Times Free Press reports. The decision to close down its hump yard operations will result cut about 74 of the 495 jobs assigned to the facility. The job cuts affect 42 car repair employees, 23 […]
New products from the July 2017 issue of Classic Toy Trains

SMART DEVICE CONTROL: MTH Electric Trains 2017 starter set line now comes ready to run with your Apple or Android smartphone or Apple iPad. Outfits will come with a 75-watt 5 amp power supply and a DCS TIU-1 receiver with Wi-Fi. Just download the free MTH DCS app and you are ready to roll. The […]
CSX Transportation idles hump at Cumberland, Md. NEWSWIRE

Cumberland, Md. Google Maps CUMBERLAND, Md. — CSX Transportation this week converted its former Baltimore & Ohio hump yard in Cumberland, Md., to a flat-switching facility, the fifth such move since E. Hunter Harrison became the railroad’s CEO in March. Harrison’s view on yards is different than how CSX has historically viewed its terminals, Frank […]
Automated turnout control with the Azatrax D2T dual infrared train detector
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Report: Medical condition often forces Hunter Harrison to work from home NEWSWIRE
CSX CEO E. Hunter Harrison Associated Press BOSTON — E. Hunter Harrison has an undisclosed medical condition that has frequently forced the 72-year-old CSX Transportation chief executive to work from home, The Wall Street Journal reports. The disclosure could complicate the advisory vote on Harrison’s request to be reimbursed for $84 million in salary and […]
Surfers get wish for board space on Metrolink NEWSWIRE

LOS ANGELES — To the cry of “All Aboard!” you can add “Surf’s Up!” as Metrolink now accommodates surfboards on all of its trains. After yielding to public requests to change its policies, Metrolink modified its bicycle cars to include mesh-wrapped carriers that can handle up to five boards on a first-come, first-served basis. The […]