MBTA returns first CRRC trainset to service after March derailment

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

MEDFORD, Mass. — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has returned one of its new rapid-transit trainsets to service after sidelining the equipment as a result of a derailment in March. WCVB-TV reports the Orange Line train built by an affiliate China’s CRRC at a Springfield, Mass., facility was returned to service on Friday after the […]

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Soldier Summit

Streamlined passenger train rolls into valley alongside yard tracks filled with hoppers

Soldier Summit The eastbound California Zephyr catches the morning sun at Soldier Summit, Utah, in August 1959. Ahead: a full day of breathtaking scenery on the Denver & Rio Grande Western, which the train used for 570 miles of its 2,518-mile, three-railroad route. Fred Matthews photo […]

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A visit to John Staschak’s O gauge layout

Overview of John Staschak's toy train layout with superimposed cover of September 2021 Classic Toy Trains

John’s layout appears in the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. It features tremendous trackwork and wonderful scenery (see the plan here), in addition to some spectacular modern trains. Watch and hear freight and passenger consists work their way around it. […]

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A visit to John Staschak’s O gauge layout

Overview of John Staschak's toy train layout with superimposed cover of September 2021 Classic Toy Trains

John’s layout appears in the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. It features tremendous trackwork and wonderful scenery (see the plan here), in addition to some spectacular modern trains. Watch and hear freight and passenger consists work their way around it. […]

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East Broad Top group acquires 1934 standard-gauge PRR boxcar

Boxcar being lowered by cranes

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The East Broad Top Railroad reached one of its preservation goals Thursday, Aug. 19, with the arrival of a period standard-gauge, 40-foot steel boxcar to illustrate how the historic common-carrier narrow gauge line once hauled larger cars on interchange trucks. Loaded on a flatbed trailer on Wednesday at the Kiski Junction […]

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Grain, the old-fashioned way

Men load bags of grain from platform into open boxcar

Grain, the old-fashioned way Through the end of the 1800s, a lot of grain was shipped in 100-pound sacks. Here, workers load grain sacks into wood boxcars in Minneapolis around 1900. Minneapolis Public Library collection […]

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Roosevelt Road

Multi-colored diesels move passenger train under signal bridge and out of downtown landscape

Roosevelt Road Evidence of Penn Central’s pre-1968 legacy — New York Central, Pennsylvania, and PC-painted units — is clearly visible in this 1970 view of LaSalle Street Station. Chicago’s famous Roosevelt Road provided a great view of the downtown passenger terminals. Harold A. Edmonson photo […]

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‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’

Rear of passenger in underground terminal

‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’ High Iron Co. observation car Mountain View brings up the markers on the Golden Spike Centennial Limited prior to departure from Track 34 at New York’s Grand Central Terminal on May 3, 1969. The car once ran on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broadway Limited. Don Wood photo […]

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‘Powhatan Arrow’

Workers stand beside streamlined passenger rail car

‘Powhatan Arrow’ Railroad employees shine up the Tuscan red exterior of the Powhatan Arrow’s dining car at Williamson, W.Va. The new streamliner started operations April 28, 1946, on a 15.5-hour westbound timing over the 676-mile route from Norfolk to Cincinnati. Norfolk & Western photo […]

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