There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes-work to make the cover of Classic Toy Trains. Here’s an inside look into how the image came about for the Jul-August 2023 issue. The feature story showcases the 41×60-foot O gauge layout built by the Train Masters of Babylon club in Farmingdale, N.Y. The image, shot by Kalmbach Media Co.’s […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Monday passed a wide-ranging bill on rail regulations at the state level, sending the measure on to the state Senate for consideration. HB 1028 passed by a 141-62 vote, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting 39 Republicans joined all 102 Democrats in voting for the bill. The legislation […]
In May 1950, a lone 2-8-0 runs west across the Lackawanna Railroad’s bridge across the Delaware River, one of many concrete structures built as part of the road’s early 20th century line improvements. William D. Middleton photo […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak today has announced applications for nearly $7.3 billion in Federal Railroad Administration funds for 14 projects to improve infrastructure and service on the Northeast Corridor, as well as $716 million for 16 projects to address long-distance network needs and expand service. The two announcements come the day before Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner […]
Facts & features Name: Norfolk & Western Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 12 x 25 feetPrototype: Norfolk & Western with Baltimore & Ohio and Chesapeake & OhioLocale: Virginia and West Virginia Era: 1950sStyle: Around-the-wallsMainline run: 240 feetMinimum radius: 22″Minimum turnout: No. 4Maximum grade: 4%Benchwork: open gridHeight: 38″ to 66″ Roadbed: corkTrack: Atlas code 100 flextrackScenery: Plaster-impregnated paper […]
ROANOKE, Va. — Norfolk & Western steam locomotive No. 611 returned to its hometown of Roanoke for the first time in nearly 5 years. The J-class 4-8-4 steamed into the yard of the Virginia Museum of Transportation on June 2 after extended stays at both the Strasburg Rail Road in Ronks, Pa., and the North […]
BALTIMORE — Baltimore’s Board of Estimates, which awards contracts and supervises city spending, will vote this week to settle a lawsuit by CSX Transportation over a water main failure that caused a 2019 derailment in the Howard Street Tunnel. The Maryland Daily Record reports the board will vote Wednesday, June 7, on a proposed $245,000 […]
NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden’s location and boundaries are no longer compatible with the operation of Penn Station, the station’s three passenger operators say — a statement likely to complicate the effort by the arena’s owners to extend their permit to operate the structure. The current Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, was […]
BOSTON — The incidents that led federal officials to reject a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority safety plan included one in which a track worker was hospitalized after being struck by a 2,000-pound counterweight, the Boston Herald reports. The Herald reviewed documents with details on six incidents that caused the Federal Transit Administration to order the […]
WASHINGTON — “Amtrak Operations: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities for improving Efficiency and Service” is the topic of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing set for Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. EDT. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify; the other is Mitch Warren, Northeast Corridor Commission executive […]
Amtrak E44 electric locomotives are eight roster oddities that likely never turned a wheel in revenue service for the passenger carrier. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired 66 of the 5,000-hp, six-axle E44 electric locomotives from General Electric, Nos. 4400-4465. Built at Erie, Pa., between 1960 and 1963 the motors were 69-feet, 6-inches long and […]
BOSTON — Major improvement in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rail operations will take a year or more, MBTA board chair Thomas Glynn said in an online forum Thursday. “I think people will see a different T a year from now,” Glynn said, according to a Boston Herald report, “but I don’t know if they’ll see […]
