Atlas O Master Line 40-foot rebuilt well car

red well car

Scale: O (1:48) Price: $114.95 Era: Mid to late 1990s Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, 908-687-0880, shop.atlasrr.com 40-foot rebuilt well car features: Die-cast metal body Trucks with rotating bearing caps Detailed brake rigging Etched-metal walkways Minimum radius: 36” Available fourth quarter 2022 Road Names: Northwestern Oklahoma RR (red, white, […]

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad remembered

Black and yellow streamlined diesel locomotives on freight train

The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad was a survivor and an innovator. It weathered some very rough times, including at least five bankruptcies. It started running unit coal trains from Fort Smith, Ark., the city across the Arkansas River from my hometown of Van Buren, in the 1930s. It helped move Texas and Oklahoma oil east […]

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Johnstown America BethGon coal gondola from Athearn

illustration of black and gray gondola

Scale: N (1:160) Price: Five-pack, $174.99 Era: 1990s to 2000s (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822, 800-338-4639, athearn.com Johnstown America BethGon coal gondola features: Injection-molded plastic body Separate, factory-installed brake wheel Removable coal load Operates on Code 40, 55, and 80 rail Screw-mounted 100-ton roller bearing trucks 36” […]

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Electro-Motive Division SW1000 diesel locomotive from Athearn

green locomotive illustration

Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $219.99 (direct current with 21-pin NEM connector), $319.99 (with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder). Add $10 for Primed for Grime models. Era: Late 1960s to 2019 (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822, 800-338-4639, athearn.com Electro-Motive Division SW1000 features: Injection-molded plastic body Separate, factory-installed wire […]

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BNSF Railway earnings improve despite first-quarter volume decline

Coal train approaches with another visible in the distance

OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s revenue and profits grew in the first quarter despite a decline in volume. The railway’s operating income rose 8%, to $2 billion, as revenue increased 10%, to $6 billion, thanks to higher revenue per carload and intermodal unit, the railroad’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. BNSF’s operating ratio […]

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The Trains Interview: Outgoing Norfolk Southern CEO Jim Squires

Norfolk Southern CEO Jim Squires retired over the weekend, passing the baton to new NS President Alan Shaw effective May 1. Squires, who became chief executive in 2015, had an eventful tenure at the helm. Under Squires’ watch, NS fended off unwanted merger advances from Canadian Pacific, pared its Triple Crown RoadRailer service amid the […]

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Trackside Photos: A B&O local, a VE produce train, a C&O coal train, and more

A rusty green diesel is seen in low angle pulling a graffiti-covered reefer car past fruit groves

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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Track-repair error led to 2019 CN oil-train derailment

Diagram of derailment site in Canada showing location of tank cars and site of oil spill

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track-repair error led to a rail-joint failure, causing a 2019 derailment of a Canadian National oil train, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in its summary of a report released Friday. The Feb. 16, 2019, accident near St-Lazare, Man., led to the derailment of 37 cars of a 110-car crude […]

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BNSF train derails, catches fire in North Dakota (updated)

Black smoke rising from fire at train derailment

BURLINGTON, N.D. — Fifteen cars of a BNSF Railway intermodal train derailed early Sunday near Burlington, with some cars catching fire, closing the railroad’s Glasgow Subdivision main line just west of Minot, N.D. KMOT-TV reports that while the derailment occurred about 1 a.m., as of 3:15 p.m., the fire was still burning because firefighters were […]

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Brightline, Florida seek funds for grade-crossing safety projects

Yellow and white passenger train crosses street

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Brightline and the Florida Department of Transportation will seek a $25 million federal grant to help fund a $45 million project to address ongoing grade-crossing accidents along the passenger operator’s route in South Florida. The Palm Beach Post reports in a paywalled article that the project would make improvements at […]

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