STUART, Fla. — The Florida East Coast Railway drawbridge over the St. Lucie River was rendered impassible to marine traffic today (Saturday, Sept. 30) after being struck by a tugboat pulling a barge, according to information from Brightline posted on the Martin County Board of County Commissioners Facebook page. The tugboat struck the northwest fender […]
Dirt and N scale layouts: A locomotive model won’t run if current doesn’t pass from the rails to the pickup wheels. “Duh,” you may say, but that fact isn’t necessarily obvious, especially to younger people who haven’t tinkered with mechanical or electrical devices to the extent previous generations did. Filthy track can look clean The […]
MONTREAL — The builder of Montreal’s light rail system has announced measures it says will address noise complaints that have arisen since the new Réseau express métropolitain system launched service on July 31. The Montreal Gazette reports CDPQ Infra — the construction arm of provincial pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Québec — […]
TORONTO — Loose or broken bolts that held the electrified power rail in place were the cause of the derailment that led to the permanent closure of the Scarborough Rapid Transit line, according to a Toronto Transit Commission report. The CBC reports the initial investigation into the July derailment found “failed reaction rail anchor bolts” […]
Q What is the meaning of tank car color schemes? Is there a color code? Some tank cars have a contrasting horizontal stripe on the middle section of the tank, while other tank cars are painted a solid color. Since some tank cars carry hazardous or toxic chemicals while others carry edible materials, are the […]
POINT CLEAR, Ala. —The launch of two daily Amtrak round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., depends on when design and construction of a pocket track at Mobile is completed and 3 miles of positive train control is installed through CSX’s Gentilly Yard east of New Orleans. But that means service will not come […]
WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory calling on railroads to use wheel impact load detectors to properly identify and replace freight car wheels that could significantly damage track and lead to derailments. The advisory was issued yesterday in response to the Feb. 21 derailment of a Union Pacific coal train […]
LOCARNO, Switzerland — The trains are new, modern, run on time, and everyone uses them to go everywhere. Clearly, I’m not at home. In fact, and as the dateline has given away, I am in Switzerland. This is night two of my second trip here, this time a three-week adventure. And while I am badly […]
First of two parts EFFINGHAM, Ill, —What happens when electrical current connected with signal systems doesn’t reliably travel from one rail to another when a train passes? Dispatchers “lose” the train — it disappears from their screens — and warning lights don’t flash or gates don’t lower at highway crossings as the train approaches. The […]
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The worker who died in an Aug. 4 accident on state-owned tracks in Great Barrington was operating a leaf blower on those tracks when he was struck by a maintenance-of-way machine, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary accident report issued on Thursday. The accident victim was identified in […]
If you have LEGO trains, you probably have LEGO train track. Different kinds of LEGO train track have appeared in train sets from the very beginning and have evolved to the gray track that we have today. What parts can you buy in the store today? Come along on this journey as I share all […]
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Amtrak is temporarily increasing the number of its trains that will cross-honor tickets for Connecticut’s Shore Line East commuter service because of Shore Line East schedule changes to accommodate an Amtrak maintenance-of-way project. Shore Line East service will be reduced during that project. The schedule changes and cross-honoring are effective Sept. […]
