History of the Illinois Central Railroad Illinois Central Railroad dated from 1851 when it was chartered by its home state to build a line from Cairo, at Illinois’ southern tip — the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers — to Galena, in the northwestern corner of the state and at the time a mining […]
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian, luxury cruise train Rocky Mountaineer, and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight have had their operations disrupted by western wildfires, with trains running over only part of their routes because of fire damage. The wildfire that decimated the town of Lytton, B.C., halted last week’s westbound Canadian about 100 miles […]
Oakland Pier The California Zephyr’s signature sleeper-observation-dome car, complete with neon tail sign, gleams in Southern Pacific’s Oakland Pier station 10 minutes before departure on June 15, 1958. John C. Illman photo […]
It was a warm, sunny day in May 1942. I was a stenographer-clerk in Missouri Pacific’s Traffic Department at Poplar Bluff, Mo. I recently had enlisted in the Army Air Corps, passed their aptitude tests for Aviation Cadet, and was waiting to be called for training. My boss, Mr. Waldo Ahrens, was out in […]
PADUCAH, Ky. — New Brunswick Southern Railway SD70M-2, the first of six locomotives slated to be refurbished for the Canadian railroad, awaits departure from the Paducah & Louisville yard on June 26, 2021, following the completion of work by Progress Rail at its Mayfield, Ky., facility. New Brunswick Southern is one of three J.D. Irving […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Seven projects will receive a total of $4.05 million in grants from the Minnesota Department of Transportation under its Minnesota Rail Service Improvement program. The seven, chosen from 21 applicants, were selected for their ability to aid economic development throughout the state. “The number of applicants for the 2021 MRSI grants […]
KANSAS CITY — Kansas City Southern and Midstream Texas Operating are combining to build a new transload facility for petroleum and petrochemical products in Corpus Christi, Texas, for shipment into Mexico, the companies announced this week. The facility will be built by MTO on property leased from KCS. When operations begin, which is expected to […]
Scenic views Curved windows along the edge of the roof give the Santa Fe El Capitan’s Hi-Level lounges a bright, airy feeling; a smaller lounge-buffet is below. Budd Co. photo […]
Intermodal analyst Larry Gross has gone out on a limb. In his latest “Intermodal in Depth” report, Gross predicts the demise of TOFC, or trailer on flatcar service, within the next four years. In some ways, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Trailers have become a smaller and smaller part of the intermodal world as […]
If you’ve been trackside in the past five or six years, you’ve probably noticed blue metal signs at grade crossings. These are called Emergency Notification System signs, or ENS for short. The top two lines of the sign read “Report problem or emergency.” Hazard may be used in place of problem in some instances. Below […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The State of California is planning to provide $20 million to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to help the agency recover from the May shooting in which nine VTA light rail workers were killed by another employee. The San Jose Spotlight reports the funding — included in budget bills making […]
PUEBLO, Colo.— Efforts to create a passenger rail service along Colorado’s densely populated corridor between Fort Collins and Pueblo took a major step forward Wedneday, as Gov. Jared Polis has signed the bill creating a special taxation district to help fund the project. Senate Bill 238 does not guarantee funding for the project, as state […]
