IOWA CITY, Iowa — A proposal to launch battery-electric commuter train service between Iowa City and North Liberty, Iowa, appears to be dead after the railroad involved said it would not allow use of its trackage. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway, or CRANDIC, told those involved with […]
DERBY, England — Ticket sales have resumed for Alstom’s event at its Derby factory celebrating the 200th anniversary of railroading, after initial demand crashed the servers of the third-party ticketing company. A new company is handling the ticketing, the BBC reports. The three-day “Greatest Gathering” event, Aug. 1-3, will open Alstom’s Litchurch Lane Works to […]
Trains.com host David Popp invites you along for this initial overview of Model Railroader magazine’s emerging HO scale (1:87.1) project layout, the East Troy Industrial Park Railroad! To get things started, David shares how 1:1 scale operations of a Class III railroad (as featured in the Trains.com Video Series “Taking Care of Business: SMS Rail […]
CHURCHILL, Manitoba — The Canadian government will provide more than Ca$43 million for rehabilitation of the Hudson Bay Railway, while the province of Manitoba will invest an additional Ca$36.4 million in the railway and the Port of Churchill, the governments announced Tuesday (Feb. 4, 2025). The federal funds will go the Arctic Gateway Group, a […]
Q: I’m working on adding lineside details to my freelance model railroad. I’d like to add station signs to help my operators identify various locations on the layout. Though I’m not modeling a specific prototype, I want the signs to look realistic. Where can I find information on prototype station signs? — Bobby T. A: […]
We’re turning the clock back to the 1960s on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route for our latest product review video. This time around we’ll take a look at the N scale Alco RSD5 from Atlas. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the six-axle road switcher and Atchison, […]
We’re turning the clock back to the 1960s on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route for our latest product review video. This time around we’ll take a look at the N scale Alco RSD5 from Atlas. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the six-axle road switcher and Atchison, […]
EMO, Ontario — Fourteen cars of a Canadian National potash train derailed today (Feb. 4, 2025), the CBC reports. No injuries were reported. The derailment occurred about 7:30 a.m., CN said in a statement to the broadcaster. The railroad said the cause is under investigation. The Township of Emo said in a Facebook post that […]
WASHINGTON — If you thought Federal Railroad Administration grant programs for things like passenger service, shortline track maintenance, and grade crossing elimination projects would be the least likely place to become a front in the culture wars, think again. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Jan. 29 issued a memo ordering Department of Transportation agencies to […]
NEW YORK — The agency overseeing construction of the new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan on Monday awarded a $1.8 billion contract for the connection on the tunnel’s New York side. NorthJersey.com reports that the Gateway Development Commission awarded the contract to a joint venture of Frontier, Kemper, Tutor, and Perini because of […]
Invisible Giants — inside the Van Sweringen brothers empire Railroading is a multi-faceted industry. Depending on your interest or the discussion at hand, the relationship between different facets will be emphasized. For this discussion, let’s simplify railroading into two dimensions. There is the steel wheel meeting the rail — what can be viewed trackside. The […]
WASHINGTON — Four House members have introduced a new version of the Railway Safety Act to mark the second anniversary of the East Palestine derailment that sparked the original legislation. U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) and Michael Rulli (R-Ohio) are sponsoring the new version of the bill, introduced on […]
