Golden Spike National Historical Park is the new designation for the site at Promontory Summit, Utah. Trains: Jim Wrinn WASHINGTON — Federal legislation has changed the status of perhaps the most significant railroad historical site in the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a sweeping public lands bill on Tuesday. The bill, […]
‘Old Peppersass’ Mount Washington Cog Railway BRETTON WOODS, N.H. – One of the most unique steam locomotives ever built is hitting the road next month to mark the 150th anniversary of the world’s first cog railroad. A cosmetic restoration of the Mount Washington Cog Railway’s first mountain-climbing steam locomotive – dubbed Old Peppersass because of […]
NC&StL No. 576 made its first trip in January from Centennial Park; its next trip in March will be by rail. Trains: Jim Wrinn NASHVILLE — The Nashville Steam Preservation Society has released more details about an event with 4-8-4 steam locomotive No. 576 scheduled for March 9. Festivities for Nashville Steam’s “Next Stop: Union […]
Brown, rusted rails on the lower-level tracks at NJ Transit’s Lindenwold, N.J., station attest to the lack of activity on the commuter railroad’s Atlantic City Line, closed since September 2018. Service will be restored in May, NJ Transit has announced. Ralph Spielman NEWARK, N.J. — The long wait for restoration of service on NJ Transit’s […]
A South Shore commuter train approaches the Hegewisch station in south Chicago. A new contract between South Shore and Metra covers South Shore’s service to Hegewisch, in Metra’s service area, as well as South Shore’s use of 14 miles of Metra trackage. TRAINS: David Lassen CHESTERTON, Ind. — The South Shore commuter system has approved […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has informed federal, state and local officials along the route of the daily Southwest Chief that, with the enactment of the recent full-year funding bill by Congress, it will provide matching funds to enable a federal grant to be awarded for safety and reliability upgrades on the train’s route in Kansas, Colorado, […]
At least 25 people are reported dead after this locomotive rammed into a bumper post at high speed, setting off a fire in Cairo’s main train station. Associated Press/Nariman El-Mofty CAIRO — At least 25 people have been killed and 50 injured in a fire at Cairo’s main train station, which ignited after after a […]
Big Boy 4014 near Green River, Wyo., on its way to restoration in 2014. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. — Fans of Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014, eager to make travel plans for the engine’s debut trip from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Ogden, Utah, in May, will have to wait a bit longer for […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — BNSF Railway’s bridge across the Columbia River was reopened about 5:30 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, after a late-morning fire closed the bridge to all traffic, TV station KOIN reports. The Oregonian newspaper quoted a Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman as saying the fire was started by workers using acetylene torches on […]
Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data The Class I railroad average operating ratio rose slightly in 2018 — the first increase in a decade — as congestion-related costs and an accounting rules change pushed the closely watched efficiency metric up at four of the seven big systems. CSX Transportation […]
Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel Canadian Pacific MIAMI — Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel is cheering the industry’s embrace of the Precision Scheduled Railroad operating model touted by his mentor, the late E. Hunter Harrison. “I want them all to do it … I think it’s the right way to run the business,” Creel told […]
Clinchfield No. 800 pulls a Royal Palm Railway Experience train to Mount Dora in January 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn MOUNT DORA, Fla. — What’s good for one railroad may not necessarily be good for another, and a tourist railroad in Florida will have to cope with that reality this spring. The Royal Palm Railway Experience, […]
