SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]
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MIAMI — After four months of operation between Orlando and Miami, Brightline has dramatically increased patronage and revenue every month, especially for the component it designates as “long distance.” These are passengers who take the train to or from South Florida. A closer look at monthly data shows the company is actively managing the demand-influenced […]
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Meet Chris Esposito My first train set (or locomotive) was…? I started playing with my dad’s Lionel No. 2533W set (1959) when I was 2. My first official set was bought for my 10th birthday in 1988. My dad and I went to Madison Hardware in NYC (where we lived at the time) to purchase […]
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SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will build a wall to protect Surf Line tracks at the site of the landslide that has halted passenger rail operations since Jan. 24, OCTA and Metrolink announced on Friday. The decision comes a day after a state emergency declaration made $10 million in funding available […]
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The Model Railroader Hall of Fame, which we introduced in our 90th anniversary issue, is intended to honor those who have made a substantial and lasting impact on our hobby. We introduced three more nominees in February’s issue. The Model Railroader Hall of Fame March nominees include three model railroaders who will be well known […]
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah counties backing the proposed Uinta Basin Railway have asked the state to help fund an appeal of recent court decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition has asked for $750,000 from the state’s general fund, with Keith Heaton, the coalition’s […]
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LINCOLN, Neb. — A filibuster has halted the Nebraska Legislature’s consideration of a proposal requiring two-person train crews within the state, the news site Nebraska Examiner reports. The filibuster, carried out over parts of three days, stalled the bill when a Friday vote was unable to obtain the 33 votes needed to invoke cloture, the […]
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CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association has reached a milestone in restoration of Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100, conducting the first hydrostatic test on the locomotive, the 501c3 non-profit organization reports. The locomotive is also known as AFT 250 because of plans for it to wear an American Freedom Train paint scheme […]
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The San Diego Garden Railway Society will be hosting a 2024 West Coast Regional Meet from August 10-15, 2024. The event will feature open houses of garden railways, operating sessions, clinics, and a farewell luncheon. According to a press release sent to Garden Railways, the clinic sessions will include: • Succulents and Plants for Garden […]
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WASHINGTON — The parties involved in the agreement to allow the launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service have filed a joint update on that agreement requested by the Surface Transportation Board, asking that the board scrap a hearing planned for Feb. 14 “as the Parties have no further information to offer.” The STB last month […]
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The Lionel 2024 Big Book catalog is here! At 228 pages, there’s a lot of products to sort through. I’ve given it a good luck and have thoughts and observations. Maybe you do too. If so, leave a comment or send an email to editor@classictoytrains.com Roger Carp explained the history of when Lionel releases catalogs […]
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OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska man has been sentenced to a year in prison for trying to sabotage a Union Pacific grade crossing, KETV-TV reports. Allen Love Jr., 50, of Arlington Nebraska will also receive two years of supervised release. In September 2019, a Union Pacific employee found a 6-foot metal pipe lodged between the […]
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