ST. PAUL, Minn. — Legislation introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives would provide $20 million for capital improvements on the state’s short lines, which face significant costs to upgrade their infrastructure, according to the bill’s sponsor. Rep. Paul Tokelson (R-Hanska, Minn.) says the state’s 821 miles of Class II, III, and private rail lines […]
Indiana Railroad RPO-coach 375 stands under the big trainshed at the Indianapolis interurban terminal in the late 1930s, a few years before IRR ended service. W. B. Cox coll. […]
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Departments of Transportation in Wisconsin and Minnesota will receive a $31.8 million grant for infrastructure upgrades to allow a second Twin Cities-Chicago passenger train, as well as improved freight operation, on the route through La Crosse, Wis., and Milwaukee. Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, and officials […]
CHICAGO — In a preview of operations planned if their merger is approved, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have launched interline intermodal service between Mexico’s port of Lázaro Cárdenas and Chicago. The first train arrived at CP’s Bensenville Yard in Illinois on Tuesday. CP said in a press release the service was launched “out […]
PARIS — International private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has made what it calls “a strategic investment” in Michigan regional railroad Lake State Railway, the companies announced Tuesday. Lake State, founded in 1992, operates 375 route-miles in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, primarily stretching from Plymouth in the south of the state to Gaylord and Alpena in […]
A Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 pulls cars off the car ferry Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace, Mich., in September 1951. The Chief has crossed the Straits of Mackinac with cars that came into Mackinaw City on PRR and NYC trains; they’ll depart St. Ignace as DSS&A train 1 to Marquette, Mich. A. C. […]
Bash Canadian Pacific Kansas City Day – otherwise known as Feb. 28, the deadline for comments on the CP-Kansas City Southern merger – has come and gone. What have we learned from the flurry of regulatory filings from other railroads, shippers, and lineside communities? The Class I railroads behaved like you’d expect: Following a tradition […]
BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has cancelled all National Park Scenic rides through May 1 because of erosion of a section of the bank of the Cuyahoga River, WOIO-TV reports. The railroad will offer a National Park Flyer trip from its Rockside station in Independence, Ohio. More information is available at the […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A proposed audit of the most expensive public works project in Minnesota history — a light-rail extension that could end up $750 million over budget and four years late — is in the hands of the state Senate after being approved by the state House of Representatives last week. The Minneapolis […]
Crews unload wagons from flatcars as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus sets up on Milwaukee’s lakefront sometime in the 1940s. RB&BB, the last circus to travel by train, will close for good in May 2017, ending a long rail and entertainment tradition. C. P. Fox photo […]
CLEVELAND — OmniTRAX’s Newburgh & South Shore has purchased a battery-electric locomotive, becoming the first short line in Ohio to deploy such a unit. The GP9-based locomotive from AMPS Traction features 1,700 gross horsepower, reduces fuel consumption by half, and cuts NOx emissions and particulate matter by 77%, removing 4.2 tones of nitrogen oxide from […]
Chicago & Eastern Illinois 4-6-2 No. 1016 dashes through the South Side of Chicago with the outbound Dixie Express in 1946. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
