MEXICO CITY — A loose clamp on a switch led to the Maya Train derailment at the Tixkokob station on March 25, Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense said during a presidential press conference today. The incident involved the fourth car of a train en route from Campeche to Cancún, which derailed as the train entered […]
PHILADELPHIA — A truck carrying an oversized load struck a railroad bridge crossing over Interstate 95 on Monday, closing the northbound lanes of the highway indefinitely and shutting down a portion of NJ Transit’s Atlantic City commuter rail service. The Conrail bridge in northeast Philadelphia was hit about 1:30 p.m.; after railroad engineers assessed damage, […]
JUNEAU, Alaska — Little more than a week after criticizing the Alaska Railroad because it has “not built one single mile of track” in more than 40 years of state ownership, a state legislator has proposed giving the railroad a way to do just that. An amendment introduced by Rep. Kevin McCabe (R-Big Lake) would […]
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Railroad Co.., the privately run, 100% state-owned business operating 317 miles of rail lines in the state, is now offering flagging and other safety services for construction, repair, and maintenance-of-way projects in its corridor. The services offer experienced Class I and Class II railroad veterans for qualified Roadway Workers-in-Charge […]
BOSTON — A failure in a counterpin, a small switch part, led to the derailment of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Red Line train on March 23, MBTA CEO Phillip Eng told a meeting of the agency’s board on Thursday. WCVB-TV reports the failure of that small pin allowed a larger pin connecting to a […]
TORONTO — Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract by Ontario transportation agency Metrolinx to handle track, signal, and right-of-way maintenance for the Central Region of Toronto’s passenger rail infrastructure system, Siemens has announced. Siemens already has a similar contract in the West Region and handles signal and communications services at the Metrolinx Network Operations. […]
CHESTERTON, Ind. — South Shore Line rail service will resume between the Gary Metro Center and Dune Park stations on April 9, ending a bus substitution to accommodate construction for the Double Track Project that dates to February 2022, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District has announced. Initially, train service will operate using a schedule […]
BOSTON — A four-day shutdown of Massachusetta Bay Transportation Authority’s Orange Line between Jackson Square and North Station resulted in elimination of six speed restrictions, with a seventh removed over the weekend after the conclusion of the March 18-21 suspension of service, the MBTA reports. “I’m proud of the dedicated workforce that worked in a […]
When I first got into model railroading, I tried handlaying my own track and quickly discovered that it wasn’t that hard. One benefit is that buying rail, spikes, and ties in bulk is considerably cheaper than purchasing ready-made track. Handlaying also lets me to duplicate unusual track arrangements found on full-size railroads. In addition, it […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has proposed rules to protect track workers for all transit agencies, the first such effort to propose minimum national standards for track maintenance safety. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking now available at the Federal Register would require transit agencies to create a protection program for personnel who work on […]
PITTSBURGH — A seven-week closure of Pittsburgh Regional Transit light rail lines in downtown Pittsburgh is set to begin April 5, part of a newly accelerated schedule for a multi-year, $150 million project to improve the light rail network. The transit agency announced Tuesday, March 19, that it would combine multiple projects that were intended […]
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak has begun a $122 million project to improve its Harrisburg line between Lancaster, Pa., and Harrisburg, a project that will see some trains replaced by a bus bridge on that 36-mile segment four days a week for more than six months beginning April 8. Those outages, along with schedule adjustments at other […]
