FRONTENAC, Quebec — The town of Frontenac has voted in resounding fashion against the planned bypass to remove Canadian Pacific’s rail line from Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, but the results of the referendum apparently will not change the plans for the project. The CBC reports 92% of those in the community of 1,600 who cast ballots in […]
Genset locomotive Everything has an origin. For the modern genset it is Union Pacific UPY 2005. Coming in a variety of designs and sizes, gensets are designed around the concept of “power on demand.” With few exceptions, humming under their long hoods are multiple diesel truck engines — usually two or three. These engines are […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — East Broad Top Railroad’s freshly restored 2-8-2 Mikado locomotive No. 16 delighted admirers over the weekend by pulling a full schedule of eight passenger trains and two photo freights for the road’s annual Winter Spectacular. All trains were sold out. The event was a landmark in several ways. First, No. 16 […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will ask Congress to increase the maximum fine for railroad safety violations, Buttigieg said Sunday in a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw. In another development stemming from the Feb. 3 derailment and fire of a NS train in East Palestine, Ohio, the chair of the Senate […]
PHOENIX — A bill to limit the length of freight trains in the state of Arizona has cleared its first legislative hurdle, advancing through the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Friday by a 10-0 vote with one abstention. HB 2531 would limit trains to 8,500 feet. Capitol Media Services reports that Rep. Consuelo […]
WASHINGTON — Four federal legislators from Illinois have repeated a call for the Surface Transportation Board to delay a decision on the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger until the STB undertakes a separate assessment of the merger’s impact on the Chicago area. That decision could come as soon as the end of this month. The […]
CHICAGO — Colonial Crafts, built in 1949 for the Pennsylvania Railroad, has joined the lineup of Pullman-built cars set to appear at Pullman Railroad Days, May 20-21 at the Pullman National Historical Park. The car will appear with New York Central No. 3, a private car built in 1928, and observation car Royal Street, constructed […]
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw made his second visit to East Palestine today (Saturday, Feb. 18), visiting the ongoing cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment and chemical release, as well as meeting with Mayor Trent Conaway, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, and other officials. WBKN-TV reports Shaw said the controlled release of […]
Build an HO scale weed sprayer Building an HO scale weed sprayer car was not just enjoyable; it was downright fun! It all started when my friend Paul Weiss declared that he was going to run a weed sprayer maintenance-of-way train at an upcoming operating session on his Central Vermont Ry. (www.cvrailroad.com). Five days before […]
Have questions about getting started in garden railroading? Start here. What are large scale trains? “Large scale” is a term that denotes trains that are larger than 0 scale (1:48) but smaller than the trains that are large enough to ride on. Large-scale trains generally run on gauge 0, gauge 1, or gauge 3 track. […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has removed one of its new Orange Line trains from service after a passenger was momentarily able to open a car door while the train was in motion, the Boston Globe reports. It’s the latest incident involving the new rapid-transit cars built by Chinese manufacturer CRRC at the […]
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan tried to reassure residents during a Thursday visit to the area concerned about the aftereffects of the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train, saying he would feel comfortable returning to the area based on results of ongoing air and water testing. “I […]
