Texas Coastal Bend Railroad, newest Watco line, begins operations

Blue locomotive with light blue curving stripe

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Watco’s newest short line, the Texas Coastal Bend Railroad, is scheduled to begin operation today (Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022), taking over 12 miles of trackage owned by the Port of Corpus Christi along with 8.5 miles of Union Pacific trackage rights. The railroad unveiled two locomotives with the port’s logo at […]

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DC Metro hires new chief operating officer

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

WASHINGTON — The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has hired a new chief operating officer, replacing the official who resigned in the fallout of the agency’s failure to maintain certification for its train operators. The Washington Post reports Brian Dwyer, whose three decades in public transportation most recently include three years at consulting firm WSP, […]

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House bill would expand STB’s authority over railroad service

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board would get more teeth under a shipper-friendly bill that would reauthorize the agency that regulates freight railroads. The Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, introduced Tuesday, would give regulators more authority to deal with service emergencies, require railroads to include service standards in contracts with customers, and give shippers […]

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Which Trains Magazine issue has an article on the Kansas City Southern line from Kansas City to Shreveport, La.?

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Cody answers this question in this video of Ask Trains. Click the link to order a downloadable copy of the August 1979 issue, “Kansas City Southern and Amtrak.” Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more about full-size trains? Send us an email at: AskTrains@trains.com ………………………………… Ask Trains is a regular video feature […]

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How are wood-chip gondolas unloaded?

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If there is no opening on the bottom, how are wood-chip gondolas unloaded? Cody answers this question in this video of Ask Trains. Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more about full-size trains? Send us an email at: AskTrains@trains.com ………………………………… Ask Trains is a regular video feature of Trains.com for magazine subscribers […]

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Steam Railroading Institute launches campaign for C&NW 175

Steam locomotive on turntable with large group of railroaders

OWOSSO, Mich. — The Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) has launched a fundraising campaign for the restoration of Chicago & North Western R-1 class 4-6-0 No. 175, which the museum acquired in 2018 from the Mineral Range Railroad in Ishpeming, Mich. Built in 1908 by American Locomotive Co. at its Schenectady Works, the 175 was one […]

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European rail line caught up in geopolitics stemming from Ukraine war

Flat-front European diesel locomotives in yard

A rail line through the small European country of Lithuania has become the site of serious geopolitical wrangling between the Lithuanian government, the European Union, and Russia. The rail line connects the otherwise isolated small Russian region of Kaliningrad with the rest of Russia, via both Lithuania and Russian ally Belarus. Financial and other sanctions […]

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British trains stopped by giant tortoise

Giant tortoise in the middle of a railroad track

THETFORD, England — Passenger trains of British operator Greater Anglia were disrupted for about an hour Monday afternoon because of an escaped giant tortoise on the tracks. Yes, you read that correctly. The BBC reports that the animal, about 2½ feet long, had escaped from pet and aquarium store Swallow Aquatics on Sunday. It was […]

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