In Memoriam: Bob Phelps

Photo of three men, one holding an award.

Bob Phelps, former principal product design engineer at Pritchard Patent Product Co. Ltd. (Peco), passed away at his home in France on March 24. He was 84 years old. Phelps joined Peco in 1964 as a product designer. Steve Haynes, sales manager at Peco, said, “Bob was a huge American model railroading fan and a […]

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Norfolk Southern donates Norfolk & Western archives to Virginia museum

Logo of Norfolk & Western Railway

RICHMOND, Va. — Norfolk Southern has donated its complete collection of documents and archives from predecessor Norfolk & Western Railway to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, NS announced on Wednesday. Along with the collection, which dates to the 1840s, the company will donate $750,000 in support digitization, cataloging and preservation of the materials. […]

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News photos: British locomotive receives Ukraine paint scheme

Locomotive with yellow and blue paint scheme including Ukraine flag

EASTLEIGH, England — British container freight operator GB Railfreight has outshopped a locomotive specially painted to honor the people of Ukraine. The Class 66 locomotive, named “Glory to Ukraine,” is shown at the Arlington Fleet Services shop near Southampton in Southern England. The dual-cab locomotive was built at EMD’s General Motors Diesel factory in London, […]

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RDC’s Duggan retires as vice president of operations

Man on back platform of office car

PITTSBURGH — Veteran railroader William J. (Bill) Duggan, has retired from his position as vice president of operations at Railroad Development Corp. Duggan’s career began as a motor car repairman’s helper at Illinois Central and was interrupted only by two tours of duty in Vietnam; he also worked at Iowa Interstate before joining RDC, where […]

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March rail traffic remains below 2021 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. rail carload traffic plus overall intermodal figures

WASHINGTON — Overall U.S. rail traffic in March was down 3% from 2021 levels, with reduced intermodal traffic accounting for the decline. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show the month’s carload traffic was up 1.2%, a total of 13,456 carloads, while intermodal traffic decreased by 6.4%, or 92,170 containers and trailers. The overall […]

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Five members reappointed to VIA Rail Canada board

VIA Rail Canada logo

OTTAWA — Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, has reappointed five members of the VIA Rail Canada board of directors. Reappointed were chairwoman Francoise Bertrand of Montreal, for a term of 18 months; directors Jonathan Franklin Goldbloom (Montreal) and Gail Louise Stephens (Victoria, British Columbia), for four-year terms; Naella-Kathy Baig of Montreal, for three years; […]

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CN to work with Port of Montreal on new container terminal

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — The Montreal Port Authority and Canadian National will work together to develop rail facilities at the port’s new Contrecœur container terminal, the port and railroad have announced. Along with the private firm that will build and operate the terminal, the railroad and port develop the technical aspects of the intermodal facility. A CN […]

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NS, Commtrex partner to improve access to transload facilities

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and rail logistics information platform Commtrex are combining to improve customer access to transload facilities on the railroad’s network, the companies have announced. NS customers will be able to use the Commtrex database to find rail-served facilities by location, commodities handled, or other parameters. NS has 32 transload facilities in its […]

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Trackside Photos: A Great Northern steamer, an Iowa Interstate grade crossing, a Zephyr on a bridge, and more

A Great Northern 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive crosses a steel deck truss bridge over a creek in wooded mountains.

Send us your photos Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to http://fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact senior associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@kalmbach.com. […]

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Reading & Northern runs test trip with No. 2102

Steam locomotive blowing out steam

PORT CLINTON, Pa.  — Reading & Northern 4-8-4 No. 2102 made its first mainline run in 31 years today (April 6), as it shoved a short train south 16 miles from Port Clinton to North Reading. The move culminates a 6-year, $1.7 million rebuilding of the former Reading Co. locomotive, built in the railroad’s Reading, Pa., […]

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Reading T-1 4-8-4 2102 steam locomotive profile

Large, black steam locomotive under power and steaming.

Reading T-1 4-8-4 2102 is a steam locomotive of the Reading Company T-1 class locomotives built by the Reading in the 1940s. No. 2102 is expected to return to service in 2022 on passenger excursion runs in eastern Pennsylvania on lines operated by its owner on his railroad, the Reading & Northern. Periodic updates are […]

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