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Investors onboard to develop three stations for planned Texas Central high-speed rail system

Oct 20th, 2021

Artist’s rendering of the Dallas station on Texas Central’s high-speed rail system. – Texas Central Railroad

Terminals set for Dallas, Bryan/College Station and Houston

Texas high-speed rail investors plan to form an entity to develop train stations in Dallas, Houston and Grimes County near College Station, where the Texas Central Railway’s high-speed rail line terminals will be built.

The Texas High-Speed Rail Station Development Corp. (SDC), independently owned and separate from Texas Central, will build three stations along the planned line from Houston to Dallas.

SDC will undertake planning, design, development, construction, improvement, commissioning, operation, maintenance and funding of the terminals, station sites, platform surfaces and circulation area. The company will engage with governmental agencies and private companies seeking to deliver high-speed rail to Texas.

The company, to be led by investors John Kleinheinz and Jack Matthews, is an offshoot of Cadiz Riverfront Holdings and Cadiz Development Houston, LLC. SDC owns approximately 52 acres south of downtown Dallas, approximately 45 acres in Houston formerly known as Northwest Mall and approximately 59 acres in Grimes County.

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New agreement in place as Kansas City Southern, Canadian Pacific resume merger pursuit

Sep 20th, 2021

As expected, Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern last week re-entered into a merger agreement under which CP will acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction representing approximately $31 billion USD.

The agreement follows a Surface Transportation Board ruling earlier this month that rejected Canadian National’s request to form a voting trust agreement in an effort to acquire KCS. Also, KCS terminated CN’s offer of $33.6 billion last weekWednesday to pursue the deal with CP.

CP and KCS agreed in March to form Canadian Pacific-Kansas City (CPKC), but KCS backed out when CN put in a higher offer the following month.

Keith Creel – Courtesy Todd Korol

Like the previous deal, CP will assume $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt. The transaction, which has the unanimous support of both boards of directors, values KCS at $300 per share, representing a 34 percent premium, based on the CP closing price Aug. 9, 2021.

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Kansas City Southern, Canadian Pacific Railway resuming negotiations for proposed merger

Sep 8th, 2021

The proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger is regaining momentum.

Talks are back on after a Surface Transportation Board decision stalled Canadian National Railway’s attempts to take over KCS, and CP issued a new proposal to merge with the nation’s smallest Class I railroad.

The STB recently rejected CN’s request for a voting trust agreement to pursue its $33.6 billion bid because it was inconsistent “with the public interest standard under the board’s merger regulations.” The announcement followed CP’s upgraded $31 billion offer in stocks and cash to acquire KCS earlier in the month.

A Kansas City Southern manifest freight train rolls through Englewood Yard in Houston in 2014. – Cowcatcher Magazine

CP’s latest proposal represents a better deal than what the railroads agreed to in March, according to company officials. Terms are similar to those in the CN merger agreement but offer “significantly higher regulatory certainty than the proposed CN merger and significantly higher value than our previously agreed combination.”

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Siemens Mobility awarded $34 billion to design, manufacture multi-powered trains for Amtrak

Jul 8th, 2021

Siemens Mobility has been awarded $34 billion in contracts in the United States to design, manufacture and technically support 73 multi-powered trains for Amtrak, the company said this week. There is also a possibility for up to 140 additional trains and further maintenance agreements.

The order is Amtrak’s latest endeavor to acquire the most sustainable and efficient trains on the market, which include dual powered and hybrid battery vehicles.

The trains will operate across the Northeast Corridor and various state-supported routes, including those in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. With expanded capacity and the ability to shorten trip time, Amtrak expects the new trains will add over 1.5 million riders annually.

“These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40-to-50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment,” said Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn. “This investment is essential to preserving Northeast Regional and state-supported services for the future and will allow our customers to travel comfortably and safely, while reducing carbon emissions.”

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Red River RPM meet kicks off return of prototype modeler gatherings in Texas and Missouri

Jun 25th, 2021

Prototype modelers will be out in force in Texas and Missouri in June and July.

Saturday’s Red River Railway Prototype Modelers Meet in Forest Hill, TX, is one of two events on tap for rail fan purists and modelers this summer. The event − which features clinics, discussions and modeling of prototype railroading − is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is the first of its kind in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Red River RPM was originally scheduled for last spring, but covid-19 put on the brakes. Since then, organizer Jacob Damron has canvassed the RPM community, and modelers from around the country are expected to attend at the Forest Hill Civic Center.

“We’ve gotten pretty strong response,” he said. “I’ve got prototype modelers coming out of the woodwork.”

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  • Re-Discovery

    Just about every weekend, Ron Natinsky mans the Model Train Garden, unofficially the OBGT (Our Big Garden Train), on a small plot a stone’s throw behind the Butterfly House at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas. It has been his labor of love for four years, since agreeing to donate his time and what was left of his G-scale collection to create a public garden railroad experience. Each year, about 25,000 people visit the railroad at Fair Park.

     

  • Expanding a small oil company

    On the N-scale Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad, the Ozark Oil Co. has provided small-batch petroleum products for Whitehurst, Pine Ridge and Van Buren since 1961. Until recently, two small tanks were enough for Ozark to manage its customer base. But the arrival of Walthers’ Cornerstone Oil Storage Tank Kit signaled additional capacity to meet growing demand.

     – Cowcatcher Magazine

     

  • ‘Loose car’ deliveries

    Incorporating “loose car” deliveries is applicable for railroads large and small in modeling railroads in any era. An example is a small family-owned lumber company in Houston. The lumber transfer and storage facility near downtown is on the former Southern Pacific Sunset Route mainline and receives regular deliveries of centerbeam cars. It is a perfect fit for anyone looking to model a modern small industry served by a big railroad, either on a permanent layout or a module.

  • PLUS…

    The Rocky Mountain Train Show returned with gusto in early April after being sidelined in 2021 because of the pandemic. …

     

    Canadian railroads make the grade on Amtrak’s annual host railroad report card, but some U.S. freight railroads fell short. …

     

    The Monon’s Thoroughbred was the Hoosier Line’s racehorse and the “lifeline of Indiana” on the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway. …

     

    THESE STORIES AND MORE, PLUS A FULL CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS AND THE BUSINESS PULSE OF THE RAILROAD INDUSTRY!

     

  • Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad





    Visit the new N-scale Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad, the official model railroad of the Cowcatcher Magazine, and track progress. All aboard!
  • Product News & Review

    Athearn EMD SD70ACu Locomotive

     

     

    The Cowcatcher reviews Athearn Trains’ newly released HO-scale SD70ACu diesel locomotive in the March/April 2022 issue. The Canadian Pacific model sent for review is highly detailed and rugged, with plenty of gusto to pull a lot of cars.

     

    More product reviews!

     

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