CLEWISTON, Fla. — Short line South Central Florida Express and its parent company, U.S. Sugar, have named Bob Lawson vice president of South Central Florida Express and general manager of U.S. Sugar Railroad Operations. Lawson has served as general manager of harvest and railroad operations since 2011 and general manager of railroad operations since June […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic improved slightly over 2024 levels for the week ending Aug. 30, 2025, according to the Association of American Railroads. Weekly rail traffic was 521,502 carloads and intermodal units, a 0.9% increase over the same week a year ago. That ended a two-week interlude in which traffic was slightly below previous-year […]
New York Central 4-8-2 2952 storms through Waterloo, Indiana, 367 miles west of Buffalo, with a westbound freight in 1948. NYC called its 600 4-8-2s “Mohawks” after the river the road’s main line followed across New York state. Photo by Robert A. Hadley […]
ELKO, British Columbia — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is dispatching investigators to the site of a CPKC derailment on Tuesday night, Sept. 2, 2025, the agency announced. The TSB’s brief announcement said a team of investigators “will gather information and assess the occurrence.” The CBC reports the derailment occurred about 8 p.m. Tuesday […]
Lionel’s No. 2159W GG1 Freight Set for 1950 often has received criticism from collectors for being less than outstanding. In fact, this O gauge outfit generally has been assessed as a disappointment because it came with some common items. Admittedly, the locomotive included with the five pieces of rolling stock outshines these freight cars and […]
Alco RSD5 572 leads the Milwaukee Road’s local freight to Sparta and Viroqua, Wisconsin, out of La Crosse in October 1971. At right is Grand Crossing tower, guardian of a tangle of tracks that includes the Chicago–Twin Cities main lines of MILW and Burlington Northern. Photo by J. W. Schultz […]
News & Products for the week of September 2nd 2025 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 September 2nd, […]
WASHINGTON — An incorrectly lined switch led to an Aug. 5 collision between a BNSF Railway train and standing railcars at Denver’s Globeville Yard, a collision that seriously injured the train’s conductor, according to a preliminary investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The incident occurred about 12:11 a.m., when BNSF Train H-LINDEN1-02A, which […]
WASHINGTON — Members of the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department, or SMART-MD, have unanimously ratified a new contract with Union Pacific, the union announced today (Sept. 2, 2025). The agreement, based on terms of deals with other freight railroads, includes annual wage increases totaling 17.5% (more than 18.75% compounded); paid vacation for new-hire employees […]
The history of the tank car dates back more than 150 years. Coworker Carl Swanson from Trains Magazine wrote an article about their history if you’d like to learn more. This car is a single-domed version, lettered for the East Broad Top Railroad (No. RMT-96899-12). I was surprised to learn that the EBT owned one […]
Atlas HO CNCF 5000 boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $59.95 Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Atlas HO CNCF 5000 boxcar features: 33” metal wheelsets Body-mounted metal couplers Detailed underbody with air reservoir, brake cylinder, control valve, levers, brake rods, cylinder pipe, and auxiliary and emergency reservoir pipes […]
SQUAMISH, British Columbia — The mayor of Squamish is asking British Columbia’s Minister of Transportation and Transit to convene consultations over Canadian National Railway’s plan to end operations on 214 miles of its former BC Rail line through Squamish. In Canada, consultations are a formal process to gather information and opinions from affected parties and […]
