Facts and features Name: Pennsylvania RR Panhandle Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 41 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia panhandle Era: late 1940s and early 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 24″ (branch) Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 5 (branch) Maximum […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has unveiled an F40 locomotive painted to honor the Boston & Maine Railroad, the first of three recently overhauled diesels honoring predecessors to the commuter rail service offered today by the MBTA. The three units are the last of 37 F40PH locomotives built between 1987 and 1991 to […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit has exercised options to purchase an additional 200 Multilevel III commuter railcars and 12 ALP45 dual-power locomotives from Alstom, the manufacturer has announced. The purchase, valued at approximately $1.05 billion, had been authorized by the NJ Transit board in May. “Service reliability and safety is one of my highest priorities, […]
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Hitachi Rail opened its new $100 million railcar factory in Maryland on Monday (Sept. 8, 2025), designed to deliver up to 20 railcars per month. The 307,000-square-foot factory, which will employ 460 workers and is credited with supporting 1,300 jobs in total, features more than $30 million in digital enhancements, including artificial […]
BALTIMORE — Tyler Horner has been named as CEO of Canton Development Corp. and its subsidiaries Canton Railroad Co. and Freestate Logistics Services. Horner will succeed Paul Barnes, who the company said is moving on to pursue other challenges after turning around the organization and bringing it to a more efficient level of performance. The […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has approved the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s request to use up to $394 million in future capital funding to continue operators. In a brief press release today (Sept. 8, 2025), the Shapiro administration said the funds will be used to maintain transit service for two years, using future […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority plans to restore all service it had cut as of Sept. 14, and will also enact its delayed fare increase at that time, the agency said today (Friday, Sept. 5). The agency has asked the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to approve its use of capital funds to pay […]
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge has ordered the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to restore the service it cut beginning Aug. 24, but will allow a fare increase to move forward. The order on Thursday (Sept. 4, 2025) from Judge Sierra Thomas-Street of the Court of Common Pleas calls for SEPTA to “immediately cease and desist” […]
HANOVER, Md. — The Maryland Department of Transportation has awarded $1.2 million in funding as part of the inaugural awards under its Freight Rail Grant Program launched this year. Five projects have received funding under MDOT’s Office of Rail and Intermodal Freight as part of a program to help preserve railroad corridors, support economic development, […]
WASHINGTON — Delays principally caused by faulty door activation and slower running over what are normally the fastest portions of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor have tempered the generally warm reception the “Next Generation” Acela trainsets received when they debuted last week. But the trainsets are now offering passengers a welcome — and long overdue — alternative […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has called for on-track rail maintenance equipment to be equipped with collision avoidance technology that can detect people or objects prior to a crash. The recommendation came as part of the final investigation report released today (Sept. 3, 2025) on an Aug. 4, 2023, accident in Great Barrington, […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will take over operation and maintenance of the light rail River Line from current contract operator Alstom, a process beginning today, the agency and company have announced. The decision came “after several years of working closely together to assess the conditions of the River Line,” NJ Transit and Alstom said […]
