CLEVELAND — OmniTRAX’s Newburgh & South Shore has purchased a battery-electric locomotive, becoming the first short line in Ohio to deploy such a unit. The GP9-based locomotive from AMPS Traction features 1,700 gross horsepower, reduces fuel consumption by half, and cuts NOx emissions and particulate matter by 77%, removing 4.2 tones of nitrogen oxide from […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is moving to pass a law that would require Union Pacific to use yard locomotives powered “wholly by a hydrogen fuel cell or electric power” in Salt Lake City no later than Jan. 1, 2028 — despite the railroad’s contention that the bill mandates an action not yet technologically […]
The 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn was built in 1875 and in 1928 electrified its double-track line along the shore north of Boston. Business was brisk at first, as attested by this scene at Crescent Beach, Mass. Nevertheless, the BRB&L was abandoned in 1940. General Electric photo […]
One of the North Shore Line’s two Electroliner trains pauses at the North Chicago station on a southbound run one snowy night in the 1950s. William D. Middleton photo […]
Baltimore & Ohio box-cab electric No. 10 shifts cars on the constricted trackage near the Baltimore waterfront in September 1949. In 1954, after B&O shut down its trolley system, the little fellow retired to the B&O Railroad Museum. H. N. Proctor photo […]
Featured HO locomotives Amherst 2022: These HO Scale locomotives are what manufacturers tell Model Railroader that they are featuring at the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show Jan. 29 and 30. Athearn Electro-Motive Diesel/Progress Rail SD70ACU diesel locomotive Electro-Motive Diesel/Progress Rail SD70ACU diesel locomotive. Canadian Pacific (Army Arid Regions and Navy schemes in one road […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will purchase 20 battery-electric locomotives to test in yard service, the largest commitment to date for the technology by any rail operator. In separate announcements Friday, the railroad announced purchase of 10 Wabtec FLXdrive locomotives and 10 of Progress Rail’s EMD Joule locomotives. The railroad said the cost of the […]
Three of Pacific Electric’s big interurban cars, known as “Blimps” for their great size, lay over at Long Beach circa 1950. Linn H. Westcott photo […]
ScaleTrains four-axle locomotive announcement is set for this weekend. Officials with ScaleTrains say they’ll unveil the new HO Scale model during the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, January 29. Attendees will be able to see the unveiling live at booth BLC No. 34A. More details will be available from […]
SCOTTSVILLE, Texas — Add shortline company Watco to the list of those exploring battery-electric locomotive technology. Watco is teaming with Medha, an India-based manufacturer of locomotives and rail-related electronics, to convert two end-cab switchers into battery-electric units. The SW1200 and SW1500, based in Texas, had been out of service for repairs, according to an article […]
BHP Western Australia Iron Ore has placed orders for battery-electric locomotives from both Wabtec and Progress Rail, becoming the first company to order battery-electric units from both major North American manufacturers. BHP will purchase two of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives, becoming the second Australian firm in a week and third overall to purchase those units, […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec has secured its largest order to date for its FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives, with Australian mining company Rio Tinto ordering four of the units for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The locomotives will help Rio Tinto’s effort to reach a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by […]
