WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has launched merger resources pages on its website just a day after Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern confirmed that they are engaged in advanced talks over a combination that would create the first U.S. transcontinental railroad. UP and NS said their talks may not result in a deal. The […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec yesterday reported strong second-quarter results, with double-digit earnings growth and rising profit margins fueled by strength in its transit business and recent acquisitions. Operating income rose 9.7%, to $472 million, as revenue grew 2.3%, to $2.71 billion. Earnings per share rose 19.5% compared to a year ago. Wabtec sees the potential for […]
Palmer, Mass., gives rail enthusiasts a front-row seat to both regional and shortline railroading. As Southern New England NW2 no. 279 spots a loaded bulkhead flatcar at M&M Lumber Co., Central Vermont RS-11 no. 3603 leads a freight in the background. Lou Sassi took the photo on Jason Fontaine’s HO scale New England-themed model railroad. […]
WITTMANN, Ariz. — BNSF Railway has asked Maricopa County officials to delay a vote until November a vote on its proposed $3.2 million logistics and intermodal hub near Phoenix. The Arizona Republic reports a letter requesting the delay from a planned zoning vote scheduled for Aug. 20 did not offer a specific reason, but says […]
SEATTLE — Sound Transit could open the next addition to its light rail network as soon as late this year following board approval of a phased approach for opening extensions currently under construction. The Federal Way Link Extension, an 8-mile addition from Angle Lake — the current southern end of the North-South Line 1 — […]
Join the Trains.com staff visiting the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The club, established in 1934, boasts the country’s longest-running model railroad in the same location. Housed in a former train station built around 1917, the club’s O scale (1:48) layout, largely unchanged since 1950, operates as a “living museum”. Members once included a […]
WASHINGTON — An R.J. Corman Railway Gorup conductor suffered a serious injury to his left foot when he was pinned between couplers on two railcars, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report on an accident that occurred during switching in Guthrie, Ky., on June 26, 2025. The accident occurred about 5 p.m. […]
Pacific Fruit Express class R-40-27 and R-40-28 ice cooled refrigerator cars are now available in HO scale from Rapido Trains. The models, offered for the first time in plastic, are scaled from prototype blueprints and field measurements. Product features include wire grab irons; prototype-specific brake wheel, running boards, and cooling fan housings; and body-mounted Lincoln-Washington […]
GOLETA, Calif. — A 16-day project to replace a Union Pacific bridge beginning Aug. 1 will shut down the route used by two Pacific Surfliner round trips that extend to San Luis Obispo, Calif., as well as Amtrak’s Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight. Replacement of the 127-year-old La Cañada Honda Bridge over Honda Creek in northern […]
Combining Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern into the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. would create a 52,215-mile colossus that could offer seamless service from coast to coast, bypassing longtime interchange choke points in Chicago and at gateways along the Mississippi River. The two railroads confirmed today that they are in advanced merger discussions. The […]
I found this manuscript from the late John Grams in our manuscript files. There was no date on the envelope but it’s likely from the early 1990s. The article discusses 12 Lionel products that, while great inventions, were fraught with problems or didn’t work exactly as advertised. He included the following disclaimer: “Lionel trains were […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland’s TriMet has become the latest U.S. transit agency to announce plans for significant service cuts to address a funding shortfall, announcing plans to reduce frequency on some bus lines this November in the first phase of a process that would eventually include an 18% reduction in MAX light rail service. The […]
