Operation Toy Train sets record for toy donations

Collage of photos showing toy donation totals

Operation Toy Train, the annual series of train trips to collect toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation, set records for toys collected and toys collected in a day, the organization has announced. The expanded operation — with collection efforts on 10 railroads in five states, covering 52 stops in 48 cities — […]

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Eye for detail

A worn wooden railroad crossing warning sign.

Sometimes successful photography depends on cultivating an eye for detail. There are train chasing days where the action seems almost endless. One train whips by only to be followed by another. Nirvana. Almost. There are also days when the weather is not cooperating. The sun is consistently in the wrong spot and as you look […]

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High-horsepower, standard-cab road locomotives become rare

Black locomotives on freight train

High-horsepower, six-axle road locomotives are generally regarded to be units making between 3,800 to 4,400 hp. Over the last four decades the horsepower output has steadily grown to the high end of this range for the majority of the North American locomotives built. When this threshold was first reached with EMDs SD60 at 3,800 hp […]

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Mexican president opens final segment of Maya Train

Three people cutting white ribbon

CHETUMAL, Mexico — Saying that “only in Mexico can you build a train of more than 1,500 kilometers … in just four years,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Saturday and Sunday marked the opening of the final section of the Maya Train project on the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as the first anniversary of the […]

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Automatic Train Operation returns to DC Metrorail

Portion of Washington-area transit mpa

WASHINGTON — Automated train service returns today (Sunday, Dec. 15) on one DC Metrorail line, the first time in 15 years the Automatic Train Operation system will be used on any portion of the six-line, 129-mile system. Initially, the ATO system will be used only on the Red Line, the roughly U-shaped route between the […]

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Stadler, Caltrain sign technical support agreement

Low-angle view of commuter train in San Francisco

SALT LAKE CITY — Stadler and Caltrain have signed an agreement covering technical support for the commuter operator’s fleet of Stadler-built electric multiple-unit trainsets, the manufacturer has announced. The Technical Support and Spare Supply Agreement, or TSSSA, covers on-site technical support, maintenance management software, material management for preventive and corrective maintenance, and diagnostic assists. It […]

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