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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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, […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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, […]

Read More…

New Mexico Rail Runner receives grant for new shop facilities

NMRAilrunnerMarch2018Wrinn

WASHINGTON — The agency overseeing the New Mexico Rail Runner commuter operation has received a $22.4 million grant for a new maintenance facility. The grant, from the Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, is among nine announced Monday (Jan. 13, 2025) by members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation. Also […]

Read More…

AAR sees ‘uncertainty’ for US railroads in 2025

Orange locomotives pass barn-like commuter rail station

The first word in the Association of American Railroad’s annual Rail Industry Outlook is “uncertainty,” as a slew of economic and policy issues weigh on the business in 2025. To further temper optimism, the report says that uncertainty is more pronounced amid cyclical factors and expectations for policy changes in the year ahead. “Potential shifts […]

Read More…