Amtrak deals with Cascades mechanical woes, snowbound California Zephyr

SEATTLE — Amtrak maintenance issues that caused cancellation of Sounder commuter service spilled over into Cascades intercity departures, with buses substituting for Seattle-Eugene, Ore., service because of a shortage of serviceable equipment. Meanwhile, Amtrak’s eastbound California Zephyr tried to fight its way through a dangerous Nebraska blizzard — and lost. Those were among the operational […]

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Flooding sets back Stadler earnings

Red train next to highway

BUSSNANG, Switzerland — Flooding that affected production at plants in three countries delayed completion of almost $400 million in orders, resulting in a significant drop in earnings for Swiss-based rail equipment manufacturer Stadler, the company said in announcing annual financial results on Wednesday, March 19. Still the company continued to gain orders, increasing its order […]

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Wabtec to acquire Sweden’s Dellner Couplers

Side view of European-style automatic couplers

PITTSBURGH — Wabtec will acquire Dellner Couplers, manufacturer of equipment and services for passenger rail rolling stock, in a $960 million deal, the companies announced today (March 18, 2025). Dellner, based in Sweden, has an 84-year history in train connection systems, with about 100,000 couplers and 12,500 gangways installed worldwide. It has production, assembly, and […]

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News & Products for the week of March 17th 2025

An orange model locomotive

News & Products for the week of March 17th 2025   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of March 17th, […]

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Built by Others: Adam Palmer’s San Juan Central Version 2

A model railroad layout assembled at a convention center

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. Malcolm Furlow’s HOn3 San Juan Central layout first appeared in a multi-part series in the pages of Model Railroader between 1983 and 1984. Adam Palmer’s San Juan Central V2 […]

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Metra’s SD70MACHs working well, chief operating officer says

Blue locomotive on commuter train under clear blue skies

CHICAGO — Metra is having “great luck” with its fleet of SD70MACH locomotives, Chief Operating Officer Kevin McCann told the Sandhouse Rail Group today (Wednesday, March 12, 2025). McCann and Chief Engineering Officer Scott Schiemann updated those attending the Northwestern University Transportation Center event at Metra headquarters on a wide variety of projects and initiatives […]

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News & Products for the week of March 10th 2025

A blue and white model lcocomotive

News & Products for the week of March 10th 2025   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of March 10th, […]

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Amtrak adds color coding to railcar paint scheme

BEAR, Delaware — Amtrak is adding color coding at the entries to its railcars to guide passengers to the correct location to board its trains. The first cars introducing this system — which uses green near the doors to denote coach, blue for business class, and red for first class — were to be released […]

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