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ATLANTA – Former Canadian National CEO Claude Mongeau has been appointed chair of Norfolk Southern’s board of directors, the railroad announced today. The board unanimously chose Mongeau to lead the board, which has five new members — including three who were nominated by activist investor Ancora Holdings as part of its proxy battle with the […]
CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC has released a revised schedule for the return trip of Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 and the Final Spike Steam Tour, including a new display date in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The revised schedule accommodates the planned excursion with the locomotive on June 29 between Silvis and Bureau Junction, Ill., on the Iowa […]
After making its public debut on May 18 at a Final Spike Steam Tour event in Kansas City, CPKC ES44AC No. 9375 — the first locomotive to wear the railroad’s new paint scheme — is now in revenue service. Paired with sister ES44AC KCS No. 4805, also repainted into the new scheme, the locomotive was […]
WASHINGTON — The five members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to address the lack of a safety inspector for the state in the wake of the April derailment of a BNSF freight train near the New Mexico-Arizona state line that closed Interstate 40 for more than two days. The […]
Photography has been my hobby since I retired as Amtrak’s company photographer in December 2012. In addition to trains, I shoot events of all kinds. There never fails to be at least one self-deprecating soul who grins at me and says, “Careful, I might break your camera.” Imagine their surprise when I respond, “Someone already […]
WASHINGTON — Two workers struck and killed by a PATCO train on the Benjamin Frankin Bridge in Camden, N.J., had entered the right-of-way before a track outage for maintenance work had been established, the National Transportation Safety Board said in determining probable cause as part of its final report on the Oct. 14, 2022, incident. […]
I bought a set of Williams tinplate cars that duplicated scarce Lionel products from the 1930s in an online auction (photo above). I planned to run them on my period layout and was pleased to find the cars to be in like-new condition when they arrived. However, when I placed them behind my Lionel No. […]
Simulated concreted-block retaining wall In real life, large concrete blocks (2′ x 4′) are often used to build retaining walls above and below roadways. To represent such a wall, start with a 1″ x 5″ gray colored piece of Trex or similar “plastic” wood. Cut it to your required width and length. With a table […]
Cold weather and limited train events keeping you indoors running trains? Well, we can relate. If you choose to give your favorite pastime a break for the summer to enjoy the weather with friends and family, then we suggest doing the following to ensure a smooth transition back into the hobby come those chilly, fall […]
As part of our 90th anniversary celebration, we’re featuring never-before-published articles from our archives on Trains.com. This story is from 1994. Products mentioned in the article may no longer be available. I’ve had an active interest in model railroading for more than 45 years. My ultimate goal was to build a layout of my own […]
Although some units proved long-lived, the EMD NW5 sold just 13 copies. Although the pre-World War II EMD NW3 was not a stellar seller, after cessation of hostilities in 1945, the builder was keen on revisiting the idea in order to mine the light switcher market dominated by the Alco RS1 and Baldwin […]
Q: What causes a steam locomotive chuff sound? — Tom Huckaby A: Whether you call it a chuff (the railroader’s term), puff, or chugga-chugga, that distinctive sound is made by spent steam and exhaust smoke escaping through the smokestack of a steam locomotive. For a more detailed explanation of what’s going on in a steam […]
