Brightline on-board workers vote to join union

people serving food

WASHINGTON — Onboard attendants at Brightline have voted to join the Transport Workers Union, the union announced Tuesday (Jan. 14, 2025). Mail-in voting concluded Tuesday after beginning on Nov. 27, 2024. The approximately 100 workers who sell food and beverages onboard trains and provide other services between Orlando and Miami voted in favor of unionization […]

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Rapido HO EMD GP38 diesel locomotive

Title screen of product review video showing HO diesel in orange, green, and yellow paint with BNSF lettering.

Hey folks, it’s time for another product review video! This time around we’ll take a look at the Rapido HO EMD GP38 diesel locomotive. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of the Electro-Motive Division road unit and BNSF Ry. 2157; points out the various detail parts; and demonstrates […]

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Adhesives for attaching roadbed

Color photo of man in dark red sweater attaching cork strip to model railroad.

Q: What is the best adhesive to use for attaching cork roadbed to wood or extruded-foam insulation board? — Ronald Jaeger A: In Basic Trackwork for Model Railroaders — Second Edition (Kalmbach Books, 2014), Jeff Wilson wrote, “Cork can be nailed in place, but glue is a much neater option. I prefer white glue for […]

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Rapido HO EMD GP38 diesel locomotive

Title screen of product review video showing HO diesel in orange, green, and yellow paint with BNSF lettering.

Hey folks, it’s time for another product review video! This time around we’ll take a look at the Rapido HO EMD GP38 diesel locomotive. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of the Electro-Motive Division road unit and BNSF Ry. 2157; points out the various detail parts; and demonstrates […]

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STB greenlights Canadian National’s acquisition of Iowa Northern

Canadian National and lease locomotive with Iowa Northern locomotives on bridge

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has approved Canadian National’s acquisition of 218-mile regional Iowa Northern Railway. The board’s decision today (Jan. 15, 2025) also imposed several conditions to offset potential anticompetitive aspects of the $230 million deal. Among them: The development of a scheduled local service plan, keeping gateways open on commercially reasonable terms, […]

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Illustrator Bob Wegner was the go-to guy for railroad maps

Men working at desks in windowless room

It was my bittersweet duty last week to write an obituary for illustrator Bob Wegner, one of the all-time greats from the heyday of Kalmbach Publishing Co. He was a versatile illustrator and (best of all from my perspective) a railroad mapmaker extraordinaire. Bob put in more than 40 years at KPC, turning out hundreds […]

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Wabtec to acquire Evident’s Inspection Technologies for $1.78 billion

Man with inspection device checking rail

PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. will acquire the Inspection Technologies division of Evident Scientific for $1.78 billion, Wabtec announced today (Jan. 14, 2025). The acquisition adds advanced automated inspection capabilities to Wabtec’s portfolio. Inspection Technologies provides nondestructive testing, remote visual inspection, and analytical instrument products. The company has more than 1,300 employees at four engineering and […]

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Reading & Northern buys Penn Valley passenger cars (updated)

SUNBURY, Pa. — After 27 years of running holiday passenger trains, fund-raising excursions, and shipper specials, owner Jeff Pontius of Penn Valley Railroad LLC has sold his fleet of seven passenger cars to the Reading & Northern Railroad. R&N announced that it would receive the cars today (Jan. 14, 2025) and outlined the planned move […]

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BLM approves sale of federal land for BNSF Barstow project

Rendering of large intermodal terminal

BARSTOW, Calif. — The federal Bureau of Land Management has approved sale of almost 30 acres of public land to BNSF Railway for its planned Barstow International Gateway intermodal and logistics facility. The Victorville Daily Press reports the land, valued at $98,000, was ruled to be suitable for private sale. The propery is isolated, surrounded […]

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Bill requiring disclosure of Amtrak bonuses passes House

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — A bill that would require Amtrak to disclose information on base pay and bonuses for some of its executives has passed the House of Representatives. H.R. 192, sponsored by U.S. Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.), would require the bonus information to be available on Amtrak’s website, along with the criteria used to determine bonuses, […]

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