MORGAN, Minn. — If you’ve attended a railroad hobby show or flea market in the Midwest in the past few decades, you couldn’t help but see the signs and tables for Perry’s Hobbies. Based in tiny Morgan, Minn., southwest of the Twin Cities, owner Perry Becker established the business in 1966. Becker, 90, died of […]
MADISON, Wis. — The owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the heritage rail operation in Spooner, Wis., which gained significant attention for its efforts to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for failure to pay employment taxes. Greg Vreeland, 55, of Springbrook, Wis., was sentenced […]
UPDATE: The image has been clarified for the evacuation area of half-mile radius. https://t.co/lTpcF0Ni9U pic.twitter.com/Mv66wHwCss — Hamilton County EMA (@HCEMA) September 24, 2024 CLEVES, Ohio — An evacuation order was lifted this evening (Wednesday, Sept. 25) in the area where a tank car began leaking the toxic, flammable chemical styrene on Tuesday. The order was […]
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — At age 123, the former Santa Fe branch between Williams and Grand Canyon National Park will not hesitate in challenging Grand Canyon Railway’s steam and diesel locomotives as they navigate the sharp curves and 3.5% grades. The fleet’s flagship, 2-8-2 No. 4960, was no exception on Sept. 21, 2024. Commemorating the first […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is temporarily combining the Capitol Limited and Silver Star trains to create the new Floridian. Amtrak says the change is due to the upcoming East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project in New York. During this project, one tunnel tube will be closed at a time, minimizing service impacts, maximizing construction access and modernizing the tunnel infrastructure to […]
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Funding is secured for municipally owned Columbia Terminal to upgrade track following the securement of a $3.2 million federal grant, KOMU-TV reports. The city will also contribute $800,000 to bring the project total up to $4 million. “We’re replacing some of the track into a heavier grade track that can carry […]
DETROIT – The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan will acquire ownership and control of the Detroit QLine streetcar, Detroit Free Press reports. The deal was approved on Sept. 19 and will be effective Oct. 1. The QLine began as M-1 RAIL, a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to lead the design, construction, and […]
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — The Federal Railroad Administration has approved the pending South Shore Line Michigan City quiet zone. Horns in the city will cease on Oct. 21. “We are pleased to finally have the approval for the Quiet Zone,” Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch says. “This is something I helped champion for our […]
CLEVELAND – Ohio’s Democratic Senator urges CSX to reconsider its decision to reduce its crew base at Collinwood Yard in Cleveland and reassign workers to terminals at Willard, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y., saying the decision is bad for railroaders and operations. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, in a letter to CSX President and CEO Joseph Hinrichs, […]
DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has restored a former Erie Mining hi-rail car — a 1957 Pontiac — to service. The Pontiac Chieftain station wagon was put into service in 1957 on Erie Mining Co.’s 74-mile main line between Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor. The vehicle traveled an estimated 110,000 […]
Four decades later, I still chuckle when I think about the grouchy old farmer who jumped on my locomotive at a central Iowa grade crossing, cast iron fry pan in hand, and cussed me out like he was a drunken sailor! It was summer 1979. I had been a qualified Chicago & North Western Railway […]
Gerry is back to reworking the river scene on his HO scale Bona Vista HO scale double-deck model railroad. As he heads for the homestretch, our host shares tips and tricks for making the new river bed easy to install (and remove); modifying bridge abutments; building the bridge itself; and then finally forming the river […]
