News & Products for the week of May 20th 2024 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 20th […]
Type of Train: Freight
CSX and Wounded Warrior Project honored with awards for best employee program
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX’s Pride in Service initiative was awarded Gold in Engage for Good’s 22nd Annual Halo Awards for Best Employee Engagement Initiative and Silver for Best Direct Service Initiative. The honor recognizes CSX’s partnership and support for Wounded Warrior Project’s drone training program. The program provides veterans with initial training to become certified […]
CPKC Final Spike Steam Tour | Upper Midwest Chase
The chase is on! Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 is on an epic journey from Canada to the U.S. to Mexico – all to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the CPKC railroad! After the vintage locomotive steamed crossed the U.S. border, Trains.com staff members (Lucas Iverson, Bryson Sleppy, Sean Kirby, and others) were there to […]
FRA issues final rules requiring training certification of dispatchers and signal workers
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration today announced final rules that will require railroads to develop certification and training programs for train dispatchers and signal employees. Unlike with conductors and locomotive engineers, there previously have been no federal regulations mandating specific training requirements, safety and knowledge checks, and verification of safety records for dispatchers and […]
A rebuttal: Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena on one-person crews
Well, I put a bee in Jim Vena’s bonnet when I wrote that railroads should thank the Federal Railroad Administration for its new two-person train crew rule. The thrust of that column last month: Service would suffer if the Class I railroads were to go to engineer-only operation because of delays related to having ground-based […]
Lionel learned from Athearn’s Rock Island boxcar
Lionel brought out its first No. 6464 near-scale boxcars in 1953. The models it developed were strongly influenced by what Athearn, a manufacturer of O scale trains, had already been doing, especially with a Rock Island prototype. Little wonder that toy train enthusiasts of every age praised the four new 6464 boxcars. Experienced O gauge […]
Australian mining railroad reopens after autonomous train collision
KARRATHA, Western Australia — Rio Tinto has fully reopened its mining railroad in Western Australia’s Pilbara region after the collision last week involving two autonomous trains, with the Australian Financial Review reporting the mining company has suspended a procedure known as “on-site override” while investigation into the incident continues. One line of the two-track main […]
How to pack trains for moving
At some point in your life, you will most likely move. For some it may be to a new residence across town. For others it might be several states away, or perhaps another country. In addition to moving furniture, clothes, and other household items, you’ll need to prepare your trains for transport. In this article, […]
TSB report details runaway-car incident in CP Toronto Yard
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — A Canadian Pacific crew applied an insufficient amount of force during a hand-brake test, and therefore did not set enough hand brakes to prevent a runaway-car incident at CP’s Toronto Yard, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its investigation into a March 13, 2022, incident. The board released its […]
NTSB releases preliminary report on April BNSF derailment that closed I-40
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the April 26 derailment of a BNSF Railway train near the Arizona-New Mexico state line — an incident that led to a breach of tank cars carrying propane and fire that closed Interstate 40. No one was injured in the incident. Interstate […]
ScaleTrains HO Trinity refrigerator car
ScaleTrains has added a Trinity 82-foot, 7,883-cubic-foot capacity mechanical refrigerator car to its Rivet Counter line. The modern era car, offered with and without sound, features an injection-molded plastic body, prototype-specific details, and die-cast metal couplers. The prototype The samples we received are decorated as BNSF Ry. 793303 and 793324, part of the railroad’s 793000 […]
Communication error led to Union Pacific yard fatality, NTSB determines
WASHINGTON — A communication breakdown over granting permission for a train movement into the yard, as well as regarding placement of a portable derail device, was the probable cause of the August 2022 fatality of a Union Pacific conductor at a yard in El Paso, Texas, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in its final […]
