Railroading and the 1967 Chicago snow storm: My week off, and a visit home to the Detroit area, had been planned. That its timing, at the end of January 1967, turned out to allow me to view the aftermath of Chicago’s heaviest 24-hour snowfall ever, and ride one special train and photograph another, was coincidental. […]
Rail photography with Google Earth 3D: Anyone who has been exposed to the internet has undoubtedly found themselves snooping around neighborhoods on Google satellite maps or through the search engine’s Google Earth platform. Certain rail photographers have likely logged more hours than they care to admit on the platform. In earlier trip planning days, I […]
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – It’s been decades since the last Chicago & North Western freight train rumbled through Eden Prairie on former Minneapolis & St. Louis tracks, and even longer since the M&StL depot stood along the right-of-way. Yet if you look along that right-of-way today, there’s a new “station” – a replica of a […]
Three GP9s head a freight across the Nickel Plate Road’s double-track lift bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland in the late 1950s as the caboose of another train leaves the bridge. Herbert H. Harwood Jr. photo […]
CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra will introduce a major upgrade to its SouthWest Service schedule as of Jan. 16, increasing the number of weekday trains from 12 to 30 as part of a pilot program. “As we have done on other lines, we are adjusting the schedule on the SouthWest Service to meet increasing […]
ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — The National Railroad Museum’s site plan for a 32,040-square-foot addition to its Lenfestey Center received unanimous approval at a Jan. 3 meeting of the Ashwaubenon Site Plan Review Committee, the Green Bay Press Times reports. Approval allows the museum to move forward with the expansion plan as long as it meets conditions […]
BOCA RATON, Fla. — CSX Transportation put a lot of effort into upgrading newly acquired property Pan Am Railways in 2022. That effort will continue this year, Ed Sparks, the railroad’s chief engineer, bridges, design, and construction, said Saturday. The plans for the former Pan Am trackage in New England was just one part of […]
CHICAGO — The well-publicized snows that buried Buffalo, N.Y., and resulted in a lengthy cancellation of the New York/Boston-Chicago Lake Shore Limited haven’t been this winter’s only disruptor of Amtrak’s national network. Extreme weather since late December has also been responsible for two significant Amtrak long-distance train cancellations in the west. Flooding truncates Starlight The […]
SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America crews have taken the first steps toward returning Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985 to operation this week by stripping parts off the 4-6-6-4. Today crews lifted the cab off the locomotive. “RRHMA crews have been making good progress all week striping down [No.] 3985,” says Steve […]
EVANSTON, Wyo. — While restoration of Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985 and 2-10-2 No. 5511 in Silvis, Ill., has grabbed headlines, there are at least two other Union Pacific steam locomotives currently undergoing return to operating condition. One that has really flown under the radar is UP S-4 Class 0-6-0 No. 4420 at the UP […]
BISMARCK, N.D. – Bakken Energy, a developer of affordable clean hydrogen, announced a memorandum of understanding with BNSF Railway to collaborate on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub. In collaboration with the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana, Bakken Energy is working on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a regional […]
SISSETON, S.D. — The Sisseton Milbank Railroad, owned by Twin Cities & Western Railroad, is seeking $24.7 million in grant funds to rebuild the railroad, the Watertown (S.D.) Public Opinion reported. The former Milwaukee Road branch line was built in 1893 and still has 75-pound rail. The railroad can’t handle 286,000 pound cars and […]
