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SAN DIEGO — The effort to determine a new rail route through Del Mar, Calif., will repeat a step — and has a new twist, as well. At a Friday, Feb. 28, meeting, the San Diego Association of Governments restarted the run-up to developing an environmental assessment of the project, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. […]
MIAMI — Three counties served by commuter operator Tri-Rail are being asked to pay $10 million each to cover a $30 million annual deficit, with the possibility looming that deficit could reach $90 million per year. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports in a paywalled article that the executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation […]
Robert “Bob” Brasseur died on February 27, 2025 at the age of 88. Bob was well known in the toy train hobby. In the early 1970s, he started repairing trains in his family’s basement, eventually becoming a Lionel Authorized Service Station in 1974. “Dad was very passionate about Lionel trains,” said his son Dean in […]
For many years, operators of mainline steam locomotives knew they had a valuable friend in Jim Schwinkendorf, a veteran railroad manager who oversaw several high-profile special movements in his years at BNSF Railway, including supervision of the railroad’s Employee Appreciation Specials. James Alden “Jim” Schwinkendorf, of Pacific, Mo., died Feb. 21, 2025. He was 81. […]
LA GRANDE, Ore. — Eleven single-stack container cars of a Union Pacific train derailed west of La Grande on Thursday evening, Feb. 27, Union County Emergency Services reports. The derailment occurred about 9 p.m. No injuries were reported and Union Pacific confirmed no hazardous materials were involved. Two grade crossings — at Fire and Greenwood […]
NEW YORK — The federal government says March 21 will mark the end of Manhattan’s congestion pricing program, but New York State officials are indicating they expect tolling to continue. A letter from Federal Highway Administration executive director Gloria Shepherd sent on Feb. 20 — the day after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Department […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Port Authority and CSX Transportation broke ground on a new inland port intermodal facility in Montgomery that will be capable of handling 30,000 containers for transfer between trains and trucks. The $94 million Montgomery Intermodal Container Transfer Facility or ICTF, was announced in 2022 [see “Alabama Port Authority announces …,” […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun a pilot program with a division of Google that uses smartphones to help detect potential subway track defects. The program announced Thursday, Feb. 27, builds on TrackInspect, a prototype developed with the Rapid Innovation Team at Google Public Sector. Tested on the subway A line of […]
An Electro-Motive Division GP38 diesel locomotive is now available in HO scale from Rapido Trains. The four-axle road switcher features plastic and die-cast metal construction, railroad-specific details, and body-mounted metal couplers. Prototype history Electro-Motive Division produced the GP38 from January 1966 through December 1971. During the course of the production run, 733 units were built […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has initiated a two-step process to seek a “delivery partner” for the Dallas-Houston high speed rail project, the former Texas Central effort it joined in 2023. A notice on the company’s procurement website says that partner “will be responsible for facilitating Amtrak’s delivery of the project.” The company selected “will provide advice, […]
NEW YORK — Metro-North’s latest heritage locomotive, honoring predecessor New York, New Haven & Hartford, will make its operating debut on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, the commuter railroad has announced. The locomotive will debut on train No. 1841, a 7:51 a.m. departure from Danbury, Conn., arriving at Grand Central Terminal on 9:55 a.m. “The Heritage […]
Colorado’s Royal Gorge Route Railroad has returned its F7A and F7B locomotives to service. With an impressive plume of smoke, F7A No. 403, built for the Chicago & North Western in 1949, and former Alaska Railroad F7B No. 1503 led a train out of Cañon City, Colo., on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. It was the […]
