News & Products for the week of March 31st 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 March 31st, […]
In southwest Indiana, well-kept caboose 101 brings up the rear of a train on the Algers, Winslow & Western, a 16-mile coal-hauling short line, in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]
CHICAGO – Amtrak continues to reshuffle its equipment to address the loss of its Horizon car fleet, sidelined suddenly earlier this week because of corrosion issues. That effort has decreased the number of train cancellations. The hardest-hit area remains the Pacific Northwest, where six of seven Amtrak Cascades round trips have been replaced by buses […]
A newly tooled Budd dome coach is now available in N scale from RailSmith Models. The injection-molded plastic lightweight car features tinted dome window glazing, metal wheel stubs mounted on plastic axles, and truck-mounted Accumate knuckle couplers. Prototype history The RailSmith car is based on a dome coach built by the Budd Co. in 1955 […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak will begin restoring Borealis service between Chicago and St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday, March 27, using Superliner equipment in place of the Horizon cars sidelined because of corrosion issues. Meanwhile, bus substitution for about half of the trains on the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha route will continue “until further notice.” Some 70 Horizon coaches […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak trains on several routes have been cancelled after the company removed its fleet of Horizon passenger cars from service because of concerns over corrosion, raising the possibility of long-term service disruptions. In a statement issued at 9 a.m. today (March 26, 2025), the company said, “We discovered corrosion in several Horizon railcars […]
BOONTON, N.J. — The long-lost New Jersey car from the post-World War II “Merci Train” has been rediscovered and will be returned to the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey for restoration. The URHS reports the car has been donated by the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. It was […]
News & Products for the week of March 24th 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 March 24th, […]
Frank Kotnik was introduced to toy trains as a child. Someone gave his father a secondhand Lionel set and accessories from the early 1950s. When Frank was three, around 1963, his dad surprised him with a simple tabletop layout. The engine captivated the young tot, sparking a lifetime interest in the hobby. Frank is a […]
SEATTLE — Amtrak maintenance issues that caused cancellation of Sounder commuter service spilled over into Cascades intercity departures, with buses substituting for Seattle-Eugene, Ore., service because of a shortage of serviceable equipment. Meanwhile, Amtrak’s eastbound California Zephyr tried to fight its way through a dangerous Nebraska blizzard — and lost. Those were among the operational […]
BUSSNANG, Switzerland — Flooding that affected production at plants in three countries delayed completion of almost $400 million in orders, resulting in a significant drop in earnings for Swiss-based rail equipment manufacturer Stadler, the company said in announcing annual financial results on Wednesday, March 19. Still the company continued to gain orders, increasing its order […]
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — Global electrical technology firm ABB will collaborate with Stadler on its passenger trainset orders for Metra and Caltrans, ABB said this week. ABB will supply traction converters and batteries for the eight two-car battery-electric trainsets Metra ordered last year [see “Metra signs deal with Stadler US …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 21, […]
