Super Chief lounge car free to a good home

Stainless steel passenger car coupled to baggage car

LOS ANGELES  — An original Santa Fe Super Chief lounge car is being made available at no cost to any group interested in it. The catch? The new owner must handle the shipping and handling. The San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society, known for its operation restored Santa Fe 4-8-4 steam locomotive No. 3751, is seeking […]

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MBTA state-of-good-repair needs grow to $24.5 billion

Work crew on rail line at night

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority needs a massive infusion of $24.5 billion to address state-of-good repair needs, more than twice the figure from its last estimate of such maintenance needs in 2019, the agency said in a report issued today. The figure — up from $10 billion in the 2019 assessment — includes […]

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First of many battery trains enter service in Germany

Blue multiple-unit passenger train at simple shelter station and platform

KIEL, Germany —  The first of what will be multiple fleets of new battery-electric multiple-unit, or BEMU, trainsets have entered passenger service in northern Germany. The Stadler-built, two-car FLIRT trains debuted two weeks ago. They are designed to replace diesel multiple units and operate as regular electric trains when running on electrified lines. Each of […]

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Alstom plans asset sale, layoffs as a result of cash-flow concerns

White and blue power car for high-speed train on factory floor

SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, France — Alstom, the world’s second-largest rail rolling stock manufacturer is seeking to sell up to 1 billion euros in assets (about $1.09 billion) and cut 1,500 jobs as it faces a negative cash flow and a massive drop in stock value, Reuters reports. The company is also considering a capital increase. The company, […]

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Pennsylvania Trolley Museum opens $15 million interpretive center

Three trolley cars in front of building

WASHINGTON, Pa. –  Capping a seven-year campaign that was delayed and made 40 percent more expensive by the pandemic, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum opened its $15 million, 21,000-square-foot Welcome and Education Center here last week. Featuring history exhibits, interactive kiosks, a theater, a classroom, a store, offices and event rooms, the facility is the centerpiece […]

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News report says new Acela delays have cost Amtrak $140 million

NEW YORK — Delays in launching Amtrak’s next-generation Acela fleet have cost the passenger company $140 million so far, and the figure continues to grow, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in a paywalled article. The figure includes the growing maintenance costs of keeping the current Acela trainsets — the first of which entered service […]

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New York set for annual Holiday Nostalgia Train subway rides

Vintage subway train in station

NEW YORK — The New York Transit Museum has set its annual Holiday Nostalgia Train operation with vintage subway equipment for every Saturday in December. Trains will operate Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and are available for the cost of a regular subway fare. They will operate […]

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Converting to body-mounted N scale couplers

Photo showing N scale freight car underbody and tap in pin vise.

Prototype locomotives and freight cars have body-mounted couplers, but that hasn’t always been the case on N scale models. Truck-mounted couplers were the standard for many years. Today, almost all N scale locomotives and most newly tooled freight cars have body-mounted N scale couplers. The primary reasons for making the switch from truck-mounted couplers to […]

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Altoona museum gets SD60I for university engineering students (corrected)

Aerial view of large blue diesel locomotive and small centercab switcher on turntable

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Altoona Campus of Penn State University has donated a former Conrail SD60I road freight locomotive to the Railroaders Memorial Museum for continued use by undergraduate engineering students. Recently moved into the museum, the 3,800-horsepower unit is now available for public viewing in the Harry Bennett Memorial Roundhouse, near the restoration work […]

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State of New Hampshire seeks to sell ‘Flying Yankee’ streamliner

Streamlined passenger train in snow

LINCOLN, N.H. — The state of New Hampshire is looking to sell the Flying Yankee, the 1935 articulated New England streamliner built by Budd Co. for the Boston & Maine Railroad that is virtually identical to Burlington’s Pioneer Zephyr. The Concord Monitor reports the state has issued a Request for Proposals for sale of the […]

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News photo: Montreal commuter cars delivered to museum

Two passenger cars and diesel locomotive

MONTREAL — The last two remaining Bombardier MR-90 commuter railcars have been delivered to Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, on Saturday, Oct. 28, following donation by commuter railroad Exo. They are shown heading south on the CPKC Adirondack Subdivision in LaSalle, Que. These MU cars served on the Deux-Montagnes line from 1995 […]

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Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum sets first excursions with ex-New Haven RDC

Aerial view of RDC in front of station

ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum will run its first excursions with former New Haven Budd Rail Diesel Car this weekend, as RDC-1 No. 41 runs on Past Peak Fall Train Rides this Saturday, Oct. 28, and Halloween Costume trains on Sunday, Oct. 29. Trains will run on the Adams Branch, departing from […]

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