Facts and features Name: Mon Yough Valley RRScale: HO and HOn3Size: model railroad: 41 x 53 feet, room: 44′-0″ x 55′-6″Prototype: freelanced Class I and short linesLocale: western PennsylvaniaEra: late 1950s – early 1960sStyle: walk around with operator aislesMainline run: combined double track main of 13.5 scale miles.Minimum radius: 32″ (main), 22″ (industrial and branch […]
WORCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has proposed a 10-year, $8 billion transportation plan including an immediate move to stabilize the finances of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority — using funds from the state’s Fair Share tax on annual incomes over $1 million while requiring no new taxes. Legislation to enact the plan, part […]
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 […]
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, […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak’s “new normal” for handling anticipated severe weather — cancelling trains rather than operating them into a region where a storm is predicted — has proven to be a significant change from decades past when passenger rail earned an “all-weather” reputation. Fewer railroad resources in far-flung locations and Amtrak’s stretched-thin equipment situation are […]
NEW YORK — Traffic in Manhattan’s Central Business District was down 7.5% in the first week of congestion tolling compared to the same week a year ago, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said today (Monday, Jan. 13), while transit ridership was up. MTA preliminary data shows approximately 273,000 cars entered the tolling area, with a 39% […]
WASHINGTON — Four state-supported Amtrak routes, Connecticut’s CTRail, and Florida’s Brightline will receive a total of more than $146 million for service improvements from the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency announced today (Friday, Jan. 10). The funding comes from the Restoration and Enhancement Grant Program. It was announced at the same time as FRA funding […]
BOSTON — Five rail-related projects are among those in Massachusetts to receive U.S. Department of Transportation funding under various Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grant programs, Gov. Maura Healey and the state’s congressional delegation announced on Thursday, Jan. 9. In all, 11 projects were selected to receive a total of more than $102 million in funding. Three […]
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Switching Services, the freight operator on the state-owned Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad, has been selected by the Maine Department of Transportation to operate and maintain the state’s Rockland Branch, a 57-mile former Maine Central line. However, a pilot program to test passenger service on the route, in coordination with the […]
PORT CLINTON, PA. — Almost 340,000 riders took part in Reading & Northern excursions in 2024, surpassing the previous mark of more than 322,000 in 2023 by 5%, the railroad has announced. The year included the opening of the new Nesquehoning Regional Railroad Station on the railroad’s Nesquehoning campus, which includes the railroad’s new shops […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its related products. The HO scale Winston-Salem Southbound Tar Branch layout project layout first appeared in the pages of Model Railroader in January of 2018, as well as the 2017 issue of […]
PITTSBURGH — New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has approved the use of new Wabtec battery-diesel hybrid locomotives for maintenance operations across its subway network, the manufacturer has announced. The MTA ordered 25 of the R255 locomotives in 2020 to replace diesel locomotives built in the 1960s and ’70s; to date, four have been delivered, beginning […]
