Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Hitch’s Garage

A gas station with a sign that reads "Hitch's Garage" on a model railroad layout with a train passing behind the gas station

As the mechanic at Hitch’s Garage tends to a disabled car, an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe NW2 rumbles past with a switch run. Jay Miller took the photo on Chuck Hitchcock’s HO scale Argentine Industrial District. You can read more about Chuck’s layout in the February 2007 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Model Railroader‘s […]

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Canada Infrastructure Bank helps fund Cando terminal expansion

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Canada Infrastructure Bank has reached financial close on a $72.1 million (U.S.) loan to Cando Rail & Terminals for expansion of its Sturgeon Terminal in the Alberta Industrial Heartland. The project will double the size of the terminal, which currently handles car supply for a dozen industrial customers in the Edmonton […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic drops

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed one of its biggest single-week dips compared to 2024 for the week ending Sept. 6, with volume down 2.4% compared to the same week a year ago. According to the Association of American Railroads, volume for the week was 467,880 carloads and intermodal units. That included 214,383 carloads, down […]

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Board members engaged at Amtrak online meeting: Analysis

Passenger train pulled by electric locomotive on long straight

WASHINGTON — Though outsiders were not permitted to comment or ask questions, the online Amtrak board of directors meeting today (Wednesday, Sept. 10) was much more informative than the previous edition, in large part because of interrogation by board members following company executives’ presentations and candid admission of where results are falling short. The last […]

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NS CEO says the rail industry has turned corner on service

Freight train at diamond with bridges in background

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George says the rail industry is ready to put periodic service crises in the rearview mirror — and regain market share lost to trucking in the process. “We went through … more than a decade where service crises happened every couple of years,” George told an investor […]

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SMART-TD, NCCC reach tentative agreement on contract for yardmasters

Logo of SMART-TD union

WASHINGTON — The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division has reached a tentative agreement with the bargaining group representing major railroads for a new five-year contract for yardmasters, SMART-TD has announced. The agreement with the National Carriers Conference Committee calls for annual wage increases totaling 17.5% through 2029, with a […]

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TSB investigating new CPKC derailment in British Columbia

CPKC logo

JAFFRAY, British Columbia — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate a CPKC derailment that occurred Tuesday (Sept. 9, 2025). near the community of Jaffray, the agency has announced. TSB investigators will gather information at the scene and assess the occurrence, the second in the area in about a week. The Canadian Press reports […]

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WalthersProto HO Amtrak Viewliner I sleeper

Color photo showing vestibule end of HO scale modern passenger car with metal finish; tinted windows; and red, white, and blue graphics.

WalthersProto HO Amtrak Viewliner I sleeper Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Unlighted, $109.98; lighted, $124.98 Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com WalthersProto HO Amtrak Viewliner I sleeper features: 36” metal wheels on plastic axles Detailed underbody with air and waste tanks, battery and equipment boxes, HVAC ducts, transformer […]

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