Gravel spilled in Ohio shortline derailment

Derailed hopper cars and damaged track

SARDINIA, Ohio — Ten railcars of gravel derailed on a Cincinnati Eastern Railroad train Tuesday afternoon, with two cars overturning, according to WCPO-TV and WXIX-TV. No injuries were reported. A grade crossing at Cowboy Road was blocked as a result of the derailment; Eastern Joint Fire and EMS District estimates the road will remain closed […]

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Spaces to Places IV | Town development, part 2

The new town of Westcott has moved from concept to construction. Watch as host Gerry Leone shares how he initiated the development by laying out the town on a sheet styrene template. Learn helpful tips for arranging city streets, structures, and even rail-served industries. Plus, you’ll also glean insights for working with styrene or similar […]

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Spaces to Places IV | Town development, part 2

The new town of Westcott has moved from concept to construction. Watch as host Gerry Leone shares how he initiated the development by laying out the town on a sheet styrene template. Learn helpful tips for arranging city streets, structures, and even rail-served industries. Plus, you’ll also glean insights for working with styrene or similar […]

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ASLRRA honors Pacific Harbor Line with two awards

Two black and silver locomotives with strings of containers

NEW ORLEANS — Southern California’s Pacific Harbor Line was recipient of two awards Monday — the inaugural Environmental Award and the Veterans Engagement Award — at the American Short Line and Regional Rail Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition. Also, the ASLRRA posthumously awarded its Schlosser Distinguished Service Award to Jack Parliament, retired from the D&I […]

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2-8-0 with a fraught history

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Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 16, pictured without her smokebox door inside the short line’s enginehouse in September 1954, went into a river in 1916, was caught in a wildfire in 1918, and was inside the old enginehouse when it burned down in 1952. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Minnesota legislators consider rail safety legislation

Firefighters watching burning railcars

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Friday, the day after a derailment and fire involving hazardous materials in the south central part of the state, Minnesota legislators heard testimony on a rail safety bill in the state Senate Transportation Committee. Unlike recent legislation elsewhere, however, SF 3187 focuses more on emergency preparedness than railroad regulation. The […]

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Nickel Plate Road’s major components

Map of the Nickel Plate Road’s major components

The Nickel Plate Road’s major components were all in place by 1949.     The Nickel Plate, formally the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, was conceived in 1881 as a Buffalo-Chicago project to compete with the parallel Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (later New York Central) of William H. Vanderbilt. To thwart rival […]

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