LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec — The Lac-Mégantic bypass will not be completed by its 2023 target date after the Canadian government extended the period for negotiations with landowners, Omar Alghabra, Canada’s transport minister, has announced. In a March 24 statement, Alghabra said the negotiation period has been extended until Aug. 12, 2022, at the request of the […]
ROCKWELL, Iowa — Thirty-five cars of a Union Pacific grain train derailed in Iowa’s Cerro Gordo County, KIMT-TV reports. No injuries were reported. A Union Pacific representative told the station on Friday that the locomotives and railcars involved in the Thursday derailment had been cleared from the right-of-way, and track repairs were in progress. Restoration […]
Athearn announces brand consolidation: Athearn Trains announced this morning that it will be consolidating its product brands. The company will now be using the Athearn, Athearn Genesis, and Athearn Roundhouse names for its HO and N scale locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, vehicles, and train sets. “We listened to our most important focus group, you,” […]
CHICAGO — Shared trainsets, running through between Washington D.C. and San Antonio, Texas, via Chicago, are part of the plan when the Texas Eagle and Capitol Limited resume daily operation on Monday, March 28. This will end a reduction to five-day-a-week departures that began in January. The Eagle, between Chicago and San Antonio, and the […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Ongoing riverbank-stabilization work in Cuyahoga Valley National Park is leading to some changes in departure locations for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s “Steam in the Valley” excursions set for May. The excursions, featuring the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765, are set for May 13-15 and May […]
WASHINGTON — The DC Metrorail system is facing a lengthy process in returning its sidelined 7000-series railcars to service, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said at a Thursday board meeting, with reduced service expected to continue through the summer. The website DCist also reports the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport […]
IRVINE, Calif. — LA-area commuter rail operator Metrolink is hoping to build a maintenance facility in Irvine on 21 vacant acres owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority near the city’s Great Park, the Orange County Register reports. The OCTA is leading environmental review and approval for the project, expected to cost about $4.8 million. […]
Menards O scale Sacred Heart Hospital: One thing I’ve noted about a lot of O gauge railroads is that while they may have plenty of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances, they tend to be a bit short on the hospital or clinic side. The Sacred Heart Hospital helps solve that situation by offering good […]
Back in the steam era, many railroads had a particular locomotive that symbolized that railway in the minds of the public. The New York Central had the 4-6-4 Hudson, the Milwaukee Road had its streamlined Hiawatha 4-4-2 Atlantics, and the Pennsylvania – which branded itself The Standard Railroad of the World – had the K4 […]
LOS ANGELES — A construction worker was killed Wednesday at the site of a future LA Metro subway station when he was struck and killed by a work train. KCBS-TV reports the accident occurred at the site of the Wilshire and La Brea station. Firefighters were called just after 4:50 p.m. to a report of […]
Several of the largest steam heritage railways in Britain have announced reduced schedules or postponed special events involving multiple locomotives. The reason: a shortage of suitable coal because of transport or supply problems following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Britain once boasted the world’s largest coal export ports. Railways around the world relied on coal […]
CLEVELAND — The two unions who were blocked from striking over new BNSF Railway attendance policies imposed by BNSF Railway seek to overturn those rules through arbitration. In a statement Wednesday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division said they would “proceed as […]
