Roberts becomes CEO at Savage

Upper-body shot of man in blue blazer

SALT LAKE CITY — Jeff Roberts has become CEO of Savage Cos., the multifaceted supply-chain company whose businesses include short line railroads and other rail operations and logistics. Roberts becomes just the fourth CEO in the history of the privately held company established in 1946. He replaces Kirk Aubry, who announced plans to retire in […]

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Terminal dwell is (mostly) down across Class I railroads as service recovery continues

Container train with orange locomotives

CHICAGO — Remarks from top railroad officials during the most recent round of earnings calls have been encouraging and analysts, without direct ties to railroads, agree. With railroads reporting its weekly performance to the Surface Transportation Board, the numbers don’t lie. As 2025 arrives, railroads have showed improvements to terminal dwell, and train speeds are […]

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Engineers’ union ratifies Berkshire & Eastern contract

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a five-year contract with Genesee & Wyoming’s Berkshire & Eastern Railroad, the union announced this week. The contract, ratified unanimously, includes wage increases totally 22.5% over the life of the contract: 5% at signing, 5% in 2025, 4% in 2026, 4% […]

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Train Life: A Railway Simulator | Product Overview

Host Bryson Sleppy takes train watching in a different direction, as he examines the world of “Train Life: A Railway Simulator,” a captivating railway simulator/game. Developed by Simteract (released in 2022), the game offers an immersive experience across Europe’s major cities like Berlin, Zurich, and Amsterdam. Unlike traditional train simulators, “Train Life” takes you beyond […]

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Classic Toy Trains new products for January 2025

boxcar on layout

Locomotives & rolling stock E-Z Catch, 5 Tysen St., Staten Island, NY 10301, is selling a custom-run MTH C30-7 as part of the RailKing line (30-21271-1). The engine features Proto-Sound 3.0 and requires O-31 curves for operation. Expected delivery in February 2025. Price: $429.95. Website: e-zcatch.com The New Jersey Hi-Railers are offering a custom-run MTH […]

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News Wire’s stories of the year, 2018-2024

Train with black locomotives with steel mill as backdrop

Welcome to a new year. As we wait to find out what 2025 has in store for us, here’s one final look at our top stories of 2024, as well as a review of previous top stories, to give this year’s events some context. Norfolk Southern ends up in the top spot for the second […]

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Exclusive Layout Extra | Farewell to the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy

Farewell to the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy | As hosted by Senior Editor Cody Grivno, this salute to Model Railroader magazine’s renowned MR&T (a.k.a “Myrt”) 28 x 54-foot model railroad (Mark II) in HO (1:87) scale, captured historic insights from several influential modelers with firsthand experience working on the treasured layout. Enjoy exclusive clips of the […]

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News Wire top stories of 2024, No. 1: Turmoil at Norfolk Southern

Front view of black locomotive entering curve

For Norfolk Southern, 2024 was the second turbulent year in a row that the railroad probably would like to forget. As the year began, NS executives held private meetings with a Cleveland-based activist investor that sought seats on the company’s board and wanted the railroad to improve its lagging financial performance in the wake of […]

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CPKC train derails in eastern North Dakota

CPKC logo

CUBA, N.D. — No injuries were reported when 17 cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed Monday (Dec. 30, 2024) near the town of Cuba. The derailment occurred just before noon. Barnes County Emergency Manager Jessica Jenrich told KFGO Radio that the cars involved were either empty or carrying sand. Cuba is about […]

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News & Products for the week of December 30th 2024

A black and red model locomotive

News & Products for the week of December 30th 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of December 30th […]

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Top stories of 2024, No. 2: Federal infrastructure spending

Illustration of double-track bridge with lift span in middle

  For the second straight year, federal infrastructure spending lands on our review of the year’s top stories (last year, it was tied for No. 6). Some of the dollars awarded in 2023 are part of the 2024 story, as big-ticket projects began moving forward after long waits for financial support, with impacts that will […]

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