Senate committee to look into DC Metrorail wheel defect

WMATA (DC Metro) logo

WASHINGTON — The leadership of the U.S. Senate committee responsible for transit policy has asked the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for detailed information on the wheelset defect that has sidelined the majority of the DC Metrorail car fleet. The Washington Post reports Sens. Sharrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), the chairman and […]

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U.S. Steel, NS, Greenbrier announce new lighter-weight gondola design

Computer illustration of black gondola car

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — U.S. Steel, Norfolk Southern, and carbuilder Greenbrier have combined on a new gondola car design which will reduce the weight of each car by up to 15,000 pounds through use of a high-strength, lighter-weight steel. NS will receive 800 of the cars in an initial order. The new steel has the […]

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Lionel 6464 boxcars, including a New York Central version

6464-125 New York Central Pacemaker, Cataloged 1954-56

  Lionel 6464 boxcars help Lionel Corp. mark 1953 as a turning point. Yes, a year after blazing a new trail with classic streamlined passenger cars, the engineering and sales teams at Lionel fielded near-scale models of a modern flatcar, a triple-dome tank car, and a porthole caboose. Perhaps most important of all, the company […]

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Back to business travel aboard Amtrak

Travel aboard a long-distance train for business? Before you set your time machine back to 1951, you might want to consider the perks of booking an overnight trip on a present-day Amtrak train! That’s precisely what Trains.com staffers did when they needed to get themselves, plus all their photography and video gear, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, […]

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Back to business travel aboard Amtrak

Travel aboard a long-distance train for business? Before you set your time machine back to 1951, you might want to consider the perks of booking an overnight trip on a present-day Amtrak train! That’s precisely what Trains.com staffers did when they needed to get themselves, plus all their photography and video gear, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, […]

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VIA unveils first new corridor trainset

Passenger train on curve with cab car leading

OTTAWA, Ontario — VIA Rail Canada has provided the first detailed look at its new equipment for corridor service, unveiling the first full trainset at the Ottawa station. A total of 32 Siemens-built trainsets will serve the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor. Testing of the first trainset will begin this month, with the first of the […]

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Moloco announces HO scale American Car & Foundry 50-foot hi-cube double-plug-door boxcar

Moloco HO scale Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe American Car & Foundry 50-foot high-cube double-plug-door boxcar in April 1972 as-delivered scheme

Moloco, a manufacturer of HO scale freight cars and detail parts, is now accepting reservations for its latest car, an American Car & Foundry (ACF) 100-ton 50-foot hi-cube double-plug-door boxcar with exterior posts. The HO scale model is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2022. The boxcar, based on a prototype used for […]

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Minnesota museum saves Soo Line caboose

red caboose resting inactive

MINNEAPOLIS – The Iron Horse Central Railroad Museum has acquired a 110-year-old Soo Line caboose that has been a landmark in Minneapolis for 46 years. The caboose was owned by the Broadway Bar Pizza Restaurant, and has stood at the intersection at Broadway Avenue and East River Road since 1975. In 2020, the pizza shop’s […]

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Friends of the 261 acquires private car ‘Caritas’

rear of train with orange passenger car with people seated on the rear

MINNEAPOLIS – The Friends of the 261, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, has purchased well-known private car Caritas, Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg tells Trains “News Wire.” Sandberg says the group acquired the car in a bankruptcy auction from the bankruptcy court […]

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Montreal light rail system sees flaws with new railcars

Rail transit vehicle in snow

MONTREAL — Light rail equipment for Montreal’s Réseau Express Métropolitain system shows manufacturing flaws that could put passengers at risk, the Montreal Gazette reported, citing a French-language report by Radio-Canada. The report says the first group of light rail vehicles delivered to Quebec from construction in India shows wiring, assembly, and finishing exhibiting “a breach […]

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A visit to Len Smith’s O gauge Reading layout

Len Smith's layout and the cover of the November 2021 Classic Toy Trains

Take a ride on Len Smith’s O gauge Reading RR featured in the November 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Modern locomotives and rolling stock plus great scenery make this layout a terrific tribute to his favorite fallen flag. Have a look at the track plan here. […]

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Convert a large-scale LGB passenger car into a dining car

Model figures in a dining car

By Frederic Williams Rohm and Brian Michelson I grew up in central Pennsylvania where my family had been long-time residents. My garden railroad is based on the Pennsylvania Railroad circa 1900; my grandfather and uncles worked on the PRR. The premier Pennsy passenger train of this era was the Pennsylvania Limited, which began making the […]

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