New model trains for the week of February 9, 2017

Fox Valley Models HO Soo Line Fond du Lac, Wis.-built 50-foot 7-post plug-door boxcar

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F45 diesel locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (“Kodachrome” scheme); Burlington Northern (Great Northern patchout); and Great Northern. Three road numbers per scheme. Road-number-specific details, Flexicoil-C truck sideframes with high brake cylinders, and 4,000-gallon fuel tank. Direct-current model with 8- and 9-pin connectors for Digital Command Control decoder, $179.98; with […]

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O gauge Premier line GE 44-tonner by MTH

MTH GE 44 ton switcher

O gauge Premier line GE 44-tonner by MTH Price: $449.95 (no. 20-20466-1) Min Curve: O-27 Cmd Low: 3.04 smph Cnv Low: 3.25 smph High: 65.4 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 7 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, ProtoSound 3.0 command and sound system, coil couplers Current production road names: Baltimore & Ohio; Boston & Maine; Great […]

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O gauge LionChief Plus EMD GP20 by Lionel

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O gauge LionChief Plus EMD GP20 by Lionel Price: $339.95 (no. 82172) Min Curve: O-31 Cmd Low: 2.32 smph Cnv Low: 3.7 smph High: 80.8 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 11 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, LionChief Plus command system, RailSounds RC sound system, fan-driven smoke unit, coil couplers (operable only with remote), command- or […]

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CSX takes delivery of first SD40E3 ‘Eco’ units NEWSWIRE

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CSX SD40E3 No. 1700 idles at the railroad’s Tilford Yard in Atlanta in January 2017. James F. Jackson ATLANTA – CSX Transportation is the latest Class I railroad to take possession of six-axle ‘Eco’ locomotives for use in local and yard service. Progress Rail recently rebuilt 13 former CSX EMD SD40-2 locomotives into a new […]

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CSX eyes major new Chicago intermodal ramp NEWSWIRE

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Crete, Ill. Google Maps CHICAGO — The perennial problem of train and truck congestion in the Chicago region might have a major new safety valve if plans proceed for a new CSX Transportation intermodal ramp in the region. CSX is planning for a new ramp outside of the village of Crete, 33 miles south of […]

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UPDATE: Amtrak to take over ‘Hoosier State’ by March 1 NEWSWIRE

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The Hoosier State passenger train with its Iowa Pacific consist. Don Nickel INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa Pacific Holdings is dropping its popular Hoosier State passenger train after only 20 months of operation. Amtrak will take over the service on March 1, according to Amtrak officials and the Indiana Department of Transportation. Officials said that Iowa Pacific […]

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2017 Railroad Hobby Show report

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive HO scale locomotives Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive. Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (Montreal’s commuter agency). Details, release date, and price to be announced. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, www.atlasrr.com Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotive Bombardier Transportation ALP-45DP dual-mode […]

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Communication a factor in fatal Amtrak accident NEWSWIRE

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Amtrak ACS64 No. 627 shortly after it crashed into a maintenance-of-way backhoe that was fouling a track on the Northeast Corridor near Chester, Pa., in April 2016. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — Faulty communication between maintenance workers appear to have played a significant part in last year’s fatal collision between an Amtrak train and […]

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AAR balks at two-person crew legislation NEWSWIRE

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WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads says it will fight legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, that would require two crew members on all freight trains. On Jan. 17, the Republican Congressman joined Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers’ Transportation Division officials by re-introducing the Smart Freight Act that would require […]

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CP agreement: Hunter’s open options include CSX, NS, and KCS NEWSWIRE

E. Hunter Harrison Associated Press CALGARY, Alberta – Former Canadian Pacific CEO E. Hunter Harrison is barred from heading to Canadian National, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific, CP disclosed in a regulatory filing today. That leaves open the possibility that Harrison could seek management opportunities at CSX Transportation — as reported — or Norfolk Southern […]

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UPDATE: Nippon Sharyo lays off 100 more workers in Illinois NEWSWIRE

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A bilevel passenger car mock-up stands gleaming under shop lights at the Nippon Sharyo’s Rochelle, Ill., plant in May 2014. Bob Johnston ROCHELLE, Ill. — Another 100 workers have lost their jobs at Nippon Sharyo’s Rochelle manufacturing plant leaving an unknown, but likely small, number of workers at the facility. “This difficult decision is the […]

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