The Hills Line host James McNab knows a good thing when he sees it! That’s why he’s eager to form the foundation for this portable HO scale layout using little more than foam insulation board commonly sold at home improvement stores. After crediting the pioneers of this technique, James shares how to work with this […]
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WASHINGTON — Carload traffic showed more of a downward tick for the week ending Aug. 12, leading to a larger overall drop than has been the case recently for weekly U.S. rail traffic. The weekly figure of 472,498 carloads and intermodal units represented a 4.2% decrease from the same week in 2022, after several weeks […]
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The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO today urged all six Class I railroads to join the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System. The Association of American Railroads on March 2 said the Class I freight railroads would join the program, which allows railroaders to report “close call” safety incidents without fear of […]
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The Gotthard Base Tunnel sustained far more damage than had previous been believed in last week’s derailment, and it will likely be early 2024 before both bores of the world’s longest rail tunnel are back in service, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced today (Aug. 16). The tunnel has been closed since Aug. 10, when […]
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WASHINGTON — A Michigan electric utility company has praised the improvement in BNSF Railway’s coal train service this year, as well as the railroad’s “accurate and timely communication” during service problems last year. Consumers Energy Co., based in Jackson, Mich., told the Surface Transportation Board this week that coal train cycle times have improved by […]
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WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has asked federal regulators to toss out a complaint that Canadian Pacific Kansas City filed this month that would allow it to route grain trains to the ports of Houston and Galveston using trackage rights over UP south of Beaumont, Texas. CPKC told the Surface Transportation Board that UP is blocking […]
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NEW YORK — The departure of two key operations executives this year won’t affect CSX’s service, Chief Financial Officer Sean Pelkey said at an investor conference today. “We’re six years into the scheduled railroading journey. It’s in our DNA. And you’ve got a team of leaders across the operations group who understand what that plan […]
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FORT WORTH, Texas — A year-old partnership between BNSF Railway and three of its labor unions has dramatically reduced injuries and derailments. The Transportation Safety Agreement between BNSF and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, SMART-TD, and Transportation Communications Union was ratified early in 2022 and mostly covers southern portions of the railway. The […]
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POCAHONTAS, Tenn. — An estimated 15 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed Sunday evening in southwest Tennesseee, WBBJ-TV reports, citing information from Hardeman County Sheriff John Doolen. No injuries were reported. The derailment occurred about 7 p.m. in a remote area near the Hardeman and McNairy county lines in the Pocahontas area. A photo […]
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BIASCA, Switzerland — The closure of the Gotthard Base Tunnel will extend beyond the original estimated reopening date of Aug. 16, SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways has announced. The latest update on the SBB website (in German, as translated by Google) reports investigators have partially released control of the accident scene within the base tunnel, […]
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News & Products for the week of August 14th 2023 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 August 14th 2023. […]
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WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board, in a 3-2 decision today, rejected BNSF Railway’s request for a partial stay of the board’s order requiring the railroad to haul Navajo Transitional Energy Co. coal from Montana to export at tidewater in British Columbia. In a 3-2 decision in June, the STB ordered BNSF to handle 23 […]
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