CHICAGO — Metra on Wednesday unveiled a special paint scheme to honor the city of Chicago on F40PH-3 No. 104, with the commuter agency saying the locomotive will make its debut May 14-15 to move cars to be displayed at Pullman Railroad Days [see “More features added to Pullman Railroad Days,” Trains News Wire, May […]
What was your first train set (or locomotive)? In the second grade, I started reading Model Railroader in the school library. After a year of heavy lobbying, I got my first Tyco HO train set for Christmas in 1973. It had a powered Santa Fe F7A locomotive with a “dummy” F7B unit painted in the red-and-silver warbonnet […]
CHICAGO — The “Last Pullman Car,” Amtrak Superliner George M. Pullman, and a locomotive simulator from Norfolk Southern have been added to the upcoming Pullman Railroad Days, to be held May 14-15 at the Pullman National Monument and hosted by the Historic Pullman Foundation, the monument’s non-profit partner. The Superliner, the last car built by […]
The 124 open-platform coaches the Burlington Route used in Chicago–Downers Grove–Aurora commuter service were Spartan conveyances. No. 7165 stands between runs at Aurora in February 1946. Henry J. McCord photo […]
WAPELLA, Ill. — Short line Illinois Terminal Belt Railroad has added to its fleet of former Illinois Central Gulf Paducah rebuilds with the addition of Midwest Locomotive Leasing (MWLX) No. 602, a former GATX Rail Locomotive Group diesel built as Illinois Central Railroad No. 9130 in January 1956. The 65-year-old locomotive was rebuilt as ICG […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s state Senate has blocked efforts to launch passenger rail service between the Twin Cities and Duluth, passing a budget amendment by a senator who said the idea was “like asking us to spend money on buggy whips.” Minnesota Public Radio reports the amendment by Sen. David Osmek (R-Mound, Minn.) prohibits […]
Celebrating Amtrak’s 50th +1! No force of nature or pandemic fears could keep Trains.com Producer Kent Johnson from pressing ahead with his Amtrak victory lap across America in the summer of 2021. There’s no better way to reveal the highlights and highjinks of present-day rail travel, than to document the ride along routes of notable […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern presented a check for $504,530 to the American Red Cross on Monday in support of global Red Cross efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. KCS announced in March it would donate $500,000, as well as match employee donations to the American Red Cross for its response […]
Celebrating Amtrak’s 50th +1! No force of nature or pandemic fears could keep Trains.com Executive Producer Kent Johnson from pressing ahead with his Amtrak victory lap across America in the summer of 2021. There’s no better way to reveal the highlights and highjinks of present-day rail travel, than to document the ride along routes of […]
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad was a survivor and an innovator. It weathered some very rough times, including at least five bankruptcies. It started running unit coal trains from Fort Smith, Ark., the city across the Arkansas River from my hometown of Van Buren, in the 1930s. It helped move Texas and Oklahoma oil east […]
MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum kicked off its opening weekend of 2022 operations using former Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad RS1325 No. 31 as power for its passenger train. The museum acquired the RS1325, one of only two of the model built by Electro-Motive Division, in late 2020. New this year was the […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Railroad union members, who have been increasingly vocal about working conditions and the lack of a new contract, protested Saturday at the annual meeting of BNSF Railway parent Berkshire Hathaway, picketing and handing out leaflets outside the meeting site. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has also taken out ads in […]
