ATLANTA — Efforts to address the company’s carbon footprint and those of its customers are highlighted in Norfolk Southern’s Environmental, Social, and Governance report, releases today (Aug. 10, 2022). The company’s sustainability efforts include creating a carbon calculator for shippers, designed to help them reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains; a sustainability summit at […]
2-8-0 steam locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin plug, $214.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Econami sound decoder, $284.99 Era: 1890s+ Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com 2-8-0 steam locomotive features: See-through cab windows Separate, factory-applied wire-form details Smokestack Boiler-mounted bell Light-emitting diode lighting Heavy die-cast metal frame RP-25 contour wheels Minimum […]
Pullman-Standard 85-foot bi-level commuter cars Scale: HO (1:87:1) Price: Standard, $89.98; lighted, $99.98 Era: Mid-1950s through mid-1980s Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com Features: 33” turned metal RP-25 contour wheels Factory-installed grab irons Gallery car interior configuration Light-emitting diode interior lighting (lighted cars only) Proto-Max metal couplers […]
DESHLER, Ohio — After years of neglect, the former Baltimore & Ohio railroad station in Deshler, the community known as “Crossroads of the B&O,” is coming down. The building last saw a passenger train in 1971, has been closed since the 1990s, and was damaged by a coal hopper in an April 2002 derailment. The […]
Blunami sound decoders Scale: HO and small S scale models Price: $169.95 Manufacturer: SoundTraxx, 141 Burnett Dr., Durango, CO 81301; 970-259-0690; soundtraxx.com SoundTraxx Blunami features: Dimensions: 41.9 x 18.8 x 6.8mm Six function outputs 2 Watt, 8-Ohm load audio amplifier 16 sound channels Maximum motor stall current of 2A Maximum function current of 100mA per […]
MIAMI — Brightline Holdings has received clearance to sell up to $1 billion of tax-free debt to finance its expansion to Orlando, Bloomberg reports. The board of the Florida Development Finance Corp. approved the financing Monday. Brightline, backed by Fortress Investment Group, expects to sell $785 million in short-term debt but could sell the full […]
BATON ROUGE, La. — The cities of Baton Rouge and Gonzales will receive $20 million in federal funding for stations for the proposed Baton Rouge-New Orleans passenger service, members of the Louisiana congressional delegation have announced. The funds, sought jointly by the two cities, will go toward land acquisition, design, and construction of the stations. […]
EUREKA, Calif. — Short line Mendocino Railway, which purchased the California Western Railroad and its Skunk Train operation after that company went bankrupt, has filed suit in federal court to over efforts by the City of Fort Bragg, Calif., and California Coastal Commission to apply state and local regulations to the railroad. The railroad is […]
PORT ARTHUR, Texas — The Port of Port Arthur has received a $13.6 million grant to turn an inactive rail yard into a new multimodal freight facility. The Port Arthur News reports the funds from the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program will covert 25.5 acres of the rail yard into […]
MONTREAL — Exo, the Montreal-area commuter rail operator officially known as Réseau de transport metropolitan, will retire its remaining single-level passenger cars, 24 Bombardier-built 700-series cars similar to NJ Transit’s Comet II cars. The cars are currently used only on the 15.9-mile, nine-station Candiac line, but Exo’s social media advisor informed railfans this week that […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern has added “Crown Class” service to its Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway with the debut of coach No. 450, The Pagoda, a 1920s-vintage six-axle heavyweight coach built for the Illinois Central Railroad. The car, purchased in a bankruptcy auction of equipment of a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings, […]
Book: Fairbanks-Morse Locomotives Vol. 1: Diesels Price: $35 Publisher: SilverLake Images LLC, available from Ron’s Books, P.O. Box 714, Harrison, NY 10528; 914-967-7541; ronsbooks.com Fairbanks-Morse Locomotives Vol 1 features: 50-page softcover reproduction of two Fairbanks-Morse publications (Fairbanks-Morse Train Master: 2400 Horsepower Diesel Locomotive and Lackawanna Story) Train Master features look at the power plant, transmission, fuel […]
