The westbound Canadian is running 15 hours late on Oct. 14, 2018, as it meets its eastbound counterpart in this shot from the eastbound train. VIA Rail Canada has again adjusted the 2019 Canadian, addressing sightseeing and intermediate-stop issues. Bob Johnston A comparison of VIA’s current and 2019 schedules for the Canadian (click to enlarge). […]
Read More…
CHICAGO – Canadian National plans to bring back its employee-center Santa Train for the 2018 with a broader reach. The railroad made the announcement with a Facebook post on Thursday: “CN is delighted to announce it is expanding a decades-old tradition with a 2018 Santa Train that will provide more employees, their families and friends […]
Read More…
NEWARK, N.J. — Thousands of people have applied to become locomotive engineers for NJ Transit, addressing the transit agency’s shortage of people to operate its commuter trains. But relief will be far from immediate. NJ.com reports that more than 5,000 people have already applied to become engineers, with the deadline for applications arriving on Friday. […]
Read More…
NEW YORK — Norfolk Southern is approaching Precision Scheduled Railroading differently than CSX Transportation, with a much slower timetable and no appetite for disruptive change. But NS sees no reason why it can’t close productivity and operating ratio gaps with its more efficient eastern rival, Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Earhart says. “The biggest difference for […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has addressed some flaws in conducting background checks as part of its hiring process, but some issues remain, according to a report by Amtrak Office of Inspector General. Most notably, according to the report issued Nov. 1, reviews of applicants’ education and employment histories are insufficient, and the company does not ensure […]
Read More…
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — R.J. Corman’s family of shortline railroads now includes a significant part of Nashville’s shortline railroading scene. R.J. Corman announced this week it has finalized an agreement to purchase the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Corp.; Nashville & Western Railroad Corp.; Transit Solutions Group, the operator of Nashville’s Music City Star commuter railroad; and […]
Read More…
OMAHA, Neb. — The first phase of Union Pacific’s shift to an operating plan based on the principles of Precision Scheduled Railroading appears to be going smoothly. Federal regulators have not received shipper complaints about service and are satisfied that the railroad is keeping its customers informed as it methodically rolls out operational changes on […]
Read More…
At InnoTrans, Turkish manufacturer Tülomsas displayed a mid-1980s-vintage Turkish State Railway DE11000 diesel loco, rebuilt to run on either diesel or batter power. Keith Fender Bombardier’s battery-powered Talent 3 EMU after a demonstration run at Hennigsdorf, Germany. Keith Fender BERLIN — If there was one recurring theme at the 2018 InnoTrans rail trade fare, it […]
Read More…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s bullet train dodged its second fatal projectile Tuesday in less than a week when voters overwhelmingly elected Democrat Gavin Newsom as high-speed rail champion Jerry Brown’s successor as governor. With 53 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Newsom held a 58 percent to 42 percent lead over Republican candidate John Cox, […]
Read More…
Skookum 2-4-4-2 Martin E. Hansen GARIBALDI, Ore. — The wait list is over. The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad is now taking reservations for a second Trains Magazine photo charter with logging railroad locomotive 2-4-4-2 Skookum. Trains and the railroad made the announcement late Tuesday. This photo charter will happen March 14 and 15, 2019, in […]
Read More…
An Adirondack Scenic Railroad passenger train to Thendara, N.Y., prepares to depart the station at Big Moose, N.Y. Alex Mayes UTICA, N.Y. — The ongoing battle over whether parts of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad will become a rail trail is likely to intensify in December, when the state agency that oversees New York’s Adirondack State […]
Read More…
NEWMAN, Western Australia — Media outlets are airing videos that better show the extent of the damage done to a runaway iron ore train that crashed in the Western Australia desert on Monday. The Guardian, Australian Broadcasting Corp., and others are showing hand-held cell phone videos of the BHP Billiton train that became a runaway […]
Read More…