TransmetriQ introduces Asset Manager software

Logos for Transmetric and parent company Railinc

CARY, N.C. — TransmetriQ, the rail software brand of data and information firm Railinc, has introduced Asset Manager, designed to provide railcar fleet owners with single-source information on location, status, and health of their equipment. “Asset Manager helps car owners get to the insights they need faster than any other product on the market,” TransmetriQ […]

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Bay Area’s SMART reports no issues with DMU brake discs

Silver and green DMU trainset

PETALUMA, Calif. — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, which operates Nippon Sharyo diesel multiple-unit passenger trains similar to those that led to a weekend shutdown of Toronto’s Union Pierson Express, has inspected its equipment and found no problems, a SMART spokesman tells Trains News Wire. The brakes on the two fleets are slightly different, Matt Stephens, […]

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Altoona museum adds PRR baggage car to K4s restoration project

Maintenance-of-way car is lifted by crane for move by truck

ALTOONA, Pa. — The Railroaders Memorial Museum has acquired a former Pennsylvania Railroad baggage car for use in a planned exhibit train to accompany K4s No. 1361, currently undergoing restoration. In a post on its Facebook page, the museum reports the car — a model B60b baggage car built in the 1920s — was donated […]

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Silvis update: UP passenger cars being repaired

Steam locomotive under repair

SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America reports it is making significant progress on repairs to former Union Pacific passenger rolling stock at its Silvis, Ill., shop complex. In an email to donors, RRHMA President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg said in the coming weeks former Southern Pacific business car Stanford will be sandblasted […]

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Toronto’s UP Express resumes operation

Two-car diesel multiple-unit trainset passes high-rise building

TORONTO — Union Pearson Express rail service resumed this morning (Sunday, Feb. 12) with 30-minute frequencies after all operation were cancelled Saturday, according to the UP Express website. The trains between Union Station in downtown Toronto and the city’s Pearson Airport, which normally operate on 15-minute headways, have been operating on reduced frequencies since cracks […]

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Toronto airport rail service halted after brake issues found throughout equipment fleet (updated)

Silver two-car DMU trainset on bridge

TORONTO — Toronto’s Union Pearson Express rail service, which operates between downtown and the city’s airport, has been replaced by bus service as of Saturday, a day after CTV News reported 14 of 18 cars in the service’s equipment fleet had been sidelined by cracks in their brake discs. As of Saturday evening, a notice […]

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Riding the rails with the Lionel Hobo Sound Boxcar

the Lionel hobo boxcar side view with figures

It’s time to go riding the rails with the Lionel Hobo Sound Boxcar. Initially offered in the Lionel 2021 Volume II catalog, it was confined to half of page 47. Perhaps uncertain of how the product would be received, the manufacturer only offered it in two road names: Erie (pictured, No. 226010); and Rock Island […]

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Hitching a ride on the Lionel Hobo Sounds Boxcar

the Lionel Hobo Sounds Boxcar with Chris Montagna

Chris from Chris’s Trains and Things on YouTube takes us inside the Lionel Hobo Sounds Boxcar. This is the Erie version, originally released with a companion Rock Island model in the 2021 Volume 2 catalog. They were delivered in fall 2022. Why review this car? The best part of it is the sounds that come […]

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Pullman Railroad Days to again feature historic railcar displays

Exterior of pasenger car in Illinois Central brown and orange paint scheme

CHICAGO — Historic Pullman Foundation is gearing up for its second Pullman Railroad Days, set for May 20-21 at Pullman National Historical Park. It will be the first such celebration since Pullman gained National Historical Park status at the beginning of the year. As was the case last year, one facet of Railroad Days will […]

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The Atlas O Premier Snow Plow rolls out

Atlas O Premier Snow Plow

The Atlas O Premier Snow Plow is here, and just in time for winter! It seems like whenever a fresh delivery of blue Atlas boxes hits the hobby shop shelves it’s like Christmas morning. I feel this way for two reasons: first, Atlas produces some of the finest rolling stock in the industry; and second, […]

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