OTTAWA, Ontario — No timeline has been set for resuming service on Ottawa’s light rail Confederation Line, officials said during a Tuesday press conference. The line was shut down Monday afternoon because of equipment concerns [see “Ottawa light rail line shut down …,” Trains News Wire, July 18, 2023]. Discovery of a bearing issue on […]
Repairing older N scale handrails: Back in the early days of N scale – the 1970s and ’80s – most N scale diesel locomotives had oversized handrails. In fact, they were often so outlandish we called them stovepipes. N-scalers have always been a clever bunch, and this was just one of the colorful and humorous […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Ottawa’s O-Train light rail Confederation Line has been shut down until further notice because of a bearing issue discovered during a routine equipment inspection. OC Transpo announced the service interruption about 4:30 p.m. Monday. CTV News reports transit services general manager Renée Amilcar informed city officials the move was made “in an […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has published Requests for Qualifications for maintenance facilities in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, part of a program build or upgrade more than 20 sites nationally for new trainsets. Two requests are currently active. One is for Seattle, where Amtrak is hoping to gain permission to close a street, […]
Garden railroad in Australia: I have been a model railroader in both N and HO scale, and then I discovered large scale. My other pastime is the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, so I knew my theme would be the Wild West. Space was limited on my inner-city block, so I set up a basic […]
The Lionel 2023 Volume 2 catalog is here! Sometimes Christmas does come twice a year, in the world of toy trains this celebration is typically associated with a catalog drop. For Lionel, that takes place in January and July. I typically can find something in each catalog that gets me excited for what’s to come. […]
OSCEOLA, Wis. — Trains Magazine has announced an exclusive photo charter to be held Sept. 11-12 at the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway featuring three historic diesels. The tentative schedule for the two-day event includes a Sept. 11 passenger train with freshly painted Great Northern SDP40 No. 325 and Great Northern […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Railcar pooling company TTX will move its headquarters to Charlotte, the City of Charlotte announced Tuesday. TTX, currently based in Chicago, will invest at least $13.8 million and create 150 jobs in Charlotte’s central business district. “We believe Charlotte presents a unique opportunity for TTX that provides for strategic partnerships to strengthen […]
TORONTO — VIA Rail Canada has broken ground on a new maintenance facility for its fleet of Quebec City-Windsor corridor trains. Groundbreaking for new facilities at VIA’s Toronto Maintenance Centre was held Monday. The project involves demolition of part of an existing structure; construction of a new state-of-the-art facility; infrastructure improvements throughout the maintenance yard; […]
Rail preservation efforts often can come full circle. For 29-year-old Aaron Farmer, his career has circled back to the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) in Owosso, Mich. From the beginning as a young volunteer to now being employed as the Master Mechanic of Rolling Stock for the non-profit organization, his journey involves understanding the value of […]
SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) continues to make progress on several projects at its former Rock Island shop in Silvis. The group is planning to return to service former Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985, 2-10-2 No. 5511, and “Centennial” DDA40X diesel No. 6936. National Railway Equipment, which shares the Silvis shop complex […]
CLEVELAND — Siemens Mobility will build 24 light rail vehicles to replace the equipment currently operationg on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Red Line, the manufacturer announced today (July 10). The GCRTA board had previously given preliminary approval to the Siemens proposal but needed to complete funding before finalizing the order [see “Cleveland RTA […]
