WASHINGTON — While it is less than a definitive document, Amtrak has outlined its five-year plan for its equipment fleet, indicating the locomotives and cars it aims to replace or refurbish, as well as indications of how it would use that fleet. Amtrak’s “Five Year Equipment Asset Line Plan,” issued last week, is presented as […]
A northbound Canadian Pacific empty ethanol train passes through floodwaters of the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, on Saturday, March 23, 2019. Steve Smedley DAVENPORT, Iowa — Canadian Pacific’s former Milwaukee Road lines in the Midwest have suffered damage from recent flooding. In Davenport on CP’s Davenport subdivision, floodwaters from the Mississippi River are over […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has asked Amtrak about the possibility of leasing electric locomotives for testing on its commuter rail service, the Boston Globe reports. Joseph Aiello, chairman of the Fiscal and Management Control Board that oversees the MBTA, mentioned the request at recent event, but an MBTA spokesman said the discussion […]
ARCADE, N.Y. — Visitors to one of New York State’s few tourist railroads have one more shot at a rare mileage trip. On Saturday March 23, the Arcade & Attica ran its first trip to North Java, N.Y., with an excursion train in 30 years. This trip was part of the New York State Maple […]
Passengers board the southbound City of New Orleans at Greenwood, Miss., on Sept. 10, 2015. Rural and mid-sized communites could lose intercity passenger service under the corridor-focused plans put forward by the Trump administration and Amtrak. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — More details have emerged from President Donald Trump’s proposed Amtrak cuts in the 2020 federal […]
The increased use of locally mined frac sand in America’s largest shale oil field, the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, is rapidly crowding out rail-hauled sand from the Midwest. On Union Pacific, for example, frac sand volume was down 45 percent this year through the first week of March, a trend the railroad […]
Norfolk Southern C40-9W No. 9625 leads westbound loaded rail train 917 at the NS Bristol Yard at Bristol, Va., on the NS Pulaski District on June 23, 2011. 11193-11 Jonathan McCoy Question: How many slots of rail can a Norfolk Southern rail train hold and how many cars normally make up a rail train? — […]
Big Boy steam locomotive 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 is in tow between two Union Pacific diesel locomotives in April 2014 near Rock Springs, Wyo. Small cities along the route of the Big Boy this year say they’ve not specifically prepared for tourists. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn EVANSTON, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s move of restored Big Boy No. […]
DENVER — Colorado has become the fifth state in the U.S. to pass a law requiring at least two people in the cab of a freight train. The bill, which was passed in both houses of the state legislature earlier this month and was signed into law on Thursday, was backed by the Brotherhood of […]
PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council voted this week to formally delay planning for the proposed West Phoenix Transit Corridor light rail line and divert $153 million to street repair instead. The West Phoenix line would extend from the existing Valley Metro line at Camelback Road and North 19th Avenue, but was already in doubt […]
Walla Walla, Washington Google Maps WALLA WALLA, Wash. — A small operator of short lines plans to extend the reach of one of them in southeastern Washington. CWW LLC has filed with the Surface Transportation Board to operate on 55.56 miles of UP track in two segments, one running south from Walla Walla to Weston, […]
Watch Trains editors discuss all the rail news that’s fit to publish for the week of March 22, 2019. This week, Trains Editor Jim Wrinn and Digital Editor Steve Sweeney talk about Midwest flooding, NJ Transit’s new summer of hell, steam in the Caribbean, and more! Only from Trains! […]
