A northbound Amtrak Acela tiptoes through the turnouts, exiting high-level Track 20, passing K Tower at Washington Union Station. Doug Riddell Author and retired Amtrak engineer and company photographer Doug Riddell (left) and former Amtrak President Joseph Boardman pose at an inaugural train event in 2009. Doug Riddell A friend of mine asked for advice […]
Today, Promontory Summit is home to the recreated Golden Spike Historic Site, home for two replica 4-4-0s: Union Pacific No. 119, shown, and Central Pacific Jupiter. Jim Wrinn Most school children learned that the Transcontinental Railroad was completed May 10, 1869, at “Promontory Point,” where the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific met, and where […]
Joe Boardman, Amtrak’s second-longest-serving CEO, on a Southwest Chief inspection trip in 2016. Bob Johnston The Amtrak P42 “Salute to Veterans” locomotive named for former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman, who died Thursday at age 70. Bob Johnston ROME, N.Y. — Joseph H. Boardman, Amtrak’s second-longest-serving president and CEO, has died. Boardman, 70, suffered a stroke […]
This rendering shows the vehicles for the proposed Boring Co. project to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The company is being recommended for a new transit project in Las Vegas. The Boring Co. LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Elon Musk’s Boring Co. may get another chance to build an express-tunnel transit system. The Associated Press reports that Las […]
Joe Boardman, near his home in Rome, N.Y., in 2018. Bob Johnston Reactions to the passing of former Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman, who died Thursday at age 70 From Rail Passengers Association President and CEO Jim Mathews: “Joe Boardman believed in his bones that all Americans should have the ability to choose to […]
A Brightline train passes through Lantana, Fla. The company, now Virgin Trains USA, is seeking bonds to help finance its expansion to Orlando, but a meeting on the bond proposal adjourned Wednesday without resolution. TRAINS: David Lassen ORLANDO, Fla. — A meeting to review Virgin Trains USA’s request for $2.7 billion in private activity bonds, […]
LAWRENCE PARK, Pa. — Locomotive laborers will soon be back to work under a 90-day agreement reached late Wednesday between Wabtec Freight and members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Locals 506 and 618. The Erie Times-News reports that the deal is only for 90 days to allow locomotive work to progress […]
Former Amtrak President Joe Boardman seated at his former office in Washington, D.C. Bob Johnston EDITOR’S NOTE: This Q&A interview was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Trains Magazine. It is being re-published on news of his death in March 2019. Since retiring as Amtrak’s president and CEO in 2016 after eight years […]
Also in this issue: Big boy inside and out, pg. 21 Cutaway drawings show the guts behind the king of steam’s glory […]
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 2, as well as volumes for February 2019. U.S. railroads originated 999,978 carloads in February 2019, down 2.7 percent, or 28,238 carloads, from February 2018. U.S. railroads also originated 1,094,499 […]
NEW YORK — Railroads can only regain traffic lost to the highway if they can provide dependable, trucklike service, CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote says. A typical carload customer — be it plastics, chemicals, paper, or lumber — might send only 60 percent of its business via rail, while the rest goes by truck, Foote […]
WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Rail photographer and historian, Alan Thomas, 85, of Woodstock, N.H., passed away Feb. 3, 2019. Not only was Alan a talented rail photographer, he was generous about allowing others to use his work, said Trains author Chuck Bohi. “I met Alan while chasing a B&M train at Bath, N.H., and benefited from […]
