Video via YouTube. BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Grade-crossing accidents just a mile apart that resulted in the deaths of two people in a week have the new Brightline passenger service in the crosshairs of elected officials and trial attorneys. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate. Boynton Beach officials […]
Section: News & Reviews
Kazakhstan national rail company signs $900-million order for GE locomotives NEWSWIRE

GE Transportation CEO Raphael Santana, left, shakes hands with a Kazakhstan railroad official after signing a $900-million contract for GE locomotives in the Asian nation. GE Transportation CHICAGO — GE Transportation signed two contracts, valued at more than $900 million, with Kazakhstan’s state-run railroad Kazakhstan Temir Zholy — the company’s largest international rail customer — […]
‘Pacific Surfliner’ consists expanded again NEWSWIRE

A Pacific Surfliner hugs the beach at Carpinteria, Calif., in 2013 Bob Johnston LOS ANGELES — Amtrak and the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency continue to expand the capacity of Pacific Surfliner service in response to the closure of U.S. Route 101, which severed the direct highway connection between Santa Barbara, Calif., and the rest of […]
Amtrak permanently retiring Pacific Parlour Cars NEWSWIRE

Amtrak’s Seattle-to-Los Angeles Coast Starlight crosses a trestle at Goleta, Calif. Pacific Parlour cars used in the train’s consist will soon be removed from Amtrak service. Bob Johnston The Pacific Parlour Cars, which were built by Pullman-Standard for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway as hi-level lounge cars and have been a regular part […]
CN SD60F locomotives find new homes in the upper Midwest NEWSWIRE

Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western SD60F No. 5544 leads a train at Falkirk, N.D., on Jan. 4. Erich Linser BISMARCK N.D. — Two Midwest railroads have acquired a handful of retired cowl locomotives from Canadian National. Following CNs decision to retire its fleet of 60 EMD SD60F locomotives in 2017, the 5500 series locomotives were […]
SEPTA officials looking to return regional train service to West Chester NEWSWIRE

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — It’s been almost 32 years since the last SEPTA commuter train left West Chester, west of Philadelphia. Officials with the regional commuter agency say they’re considering restoration of service to the Chester County seat. A regional planning organization working with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Transportation Authority estimates up to 2,000 people […]
‘Trains,’ Luckin to partner on Transcontinental Railroad video NEWSWIRE

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Trains Magazine of Waukesha, and Luckin Productions of Golden, Colo., have reached an agreement to produce a documentary for retail as well as public television called “Journey to Promontory, the story of the Transcontinental Railroad” and set for delivery in the fall of 2018 on the eve of the 150th anniversary in […]
New model trains for the week of January 18, 2018

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive. New paint schemes: Algoma Central (maroon, gray, and yellow), Amtrak (silver and black), Central California Traction (red), Great Northern (Empire Builder scheme), and Missouri-Kansas-Texas (green and yellow). New road numbers: Bangor & Aroostook (gray, red, and black), Belt Ry. of Chicago (gray, black, and yellow, two numbers), […]
‘There is no turning back’ NEWSWIRE

CSX CEO James M. Foote CSX Corp. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jim Foote-era at CSX Transportation began with a rumble that emphatically signaled his commitment to following through on what the late CEO E. Hunter Harrison began. In a symbolic move, Foote’s first decision after being named chief executive in December was ordering the hump […]
MRC Prodigy Advance2 WiFi

Engine Driver screenshot Smartphone apps such as Engine Driver or WiThrottle have become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional Digital Command Control (DCC) throttles. In addition to downloading the app, to turn a smartphone or tablet into a DCC throttle usually involves setting up a computer running Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI) software and a […]
Kato N scale Olympian Hiawatha train

Kato N scale Olympian Hiawatha train set Hiawatha is the name the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific, also known as the Milwaukee Road, used for its first streamlined passenger trains in 1935. By the late 1940s, there were Hiawathas providing fleet passage between many cities of the upper Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The […]
Athearn HO scale SDP40F with Tsunami2

Athearn HO scale SDP40F with Tsunami2 Athearn HO scale Amtrak SDP40F and Santa Fe SDF40-2 Athearn HO scale Santa Fe SDF40-2 Athearn SDF40-2 interior and mechanism (DC version) Amtrak’s first all-new passenger diesel joins the Athearn Genesis line of superdetailed HO scale locomotives. This model is also the first that we’ve tested to come factory-equipped […]