Amtrak SDP40F diesel locomotives were derived from the best-selling SD40-2 platform but were far from a success on their own. The SDP40F shared its 72-foot, 4-inch frame with the predecessor passenger unit FP45 from 1967. Internally, however, it was akin to a 3,000 hp SD40-2 with a steam boiler added. That should have been a […]
Illinois Central and the Bear In my years hanging around the North Cairo, Ill., depot — first Illinois Central, then Illinois Central Gulf — I had many cab-ride opportunities. My first was at age 3 on the GM&O, however. The station access was partially due to the family farm sitting 3 miles outside Cairo, but […]
SEATTLE — The big takeaway from this year’s annual Amtrak Board of Directors public meeting is that the company has momentum to keep growing patronage despite any headwinds that might begin blowing when the Trump Administration and an all-Republican Congress take over in January. The session today (Wednesday, Dec. 4) was held at a ballroom […]
A new preservation group, Northeast Rail Heritage, Inc., announced Tuesday (Dec. 3) that it has purchased former Amtrak AEM7 electric locomotive No. 927, built in 1981 for high-speed passenger service on the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor. It was retired in 2016. Using technology from ASEA-built Statens Järnvägar (Swedish State Railways) Rc4 B-B locomotives, General […]
The N scale Siemens ALC-42 from Bachmann recently visited our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route. Join Model Railroader Associate Editor (and Amtrak fan) Bryson Sleppy as he provides a short history of the contemporary four-axle passenger diesel and Amtrak No. 309; points out the various molded and separate, factory-applied parts on the model; […]
The N scale Siemens ALC-42 from Bachmann recently visited our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route. Join Model Railroader Associate Editor (and Amtrak fan) Bryson Sleppy as he provides a short history of the contemporary four-axle passenger diesel and Amtrak No. 309; points out the various molded and separate, factory-applied parts on the model; […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak spent $4.5 billion on infrastructure projects in fiscal 2024, along with setting ridership and revenue records, the company said today. Trains News Wire previously provided analysis on the fiscal 2024 results (see “Amtrak notches ridership and revenue record …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 25, 2024), but the company’s announcement highlights the overall […]
A Siemens ALC-42 Charger diesel locomotive is the latest N scale release from Bachmann Trains. The four-axle passenger hauler is based on Amtrak’s new long-distance passenger unit and features factory-applied details, body-mounted E-Z Mate Mark II couplers, and light-emitting-diode (LED) lighting. The prototype Siemens Mobility produces Amtrak ALC-42 Charger diesel locomotives at its plant in […]
My worst nightmare-come-true as a railroader was waking up Christmas morning in a lonely hotel room, hundreds of miles away from home. Restaurants were usually shuttered and even the vending machines at the station were bare. I once held the northbound Palmetto at Florence, S.C., refusing to move the train until I could at least […]
MADISON, Wis. — The state of Wisconsin has begun studying the possibility of adding a second daily round trip to the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities Borealis service, WisBusiness.com reports. The train’s ridership has been exceeding projections by 10% to 15% each month since its May 21 launch, Lisa Stern, chief of railroads and harbors for the Wisconsin […]
Trains.com staff set out to prove they could build out a layout one square foot at a time! Now that most of their T-Trak modules are completed, it’s due time to have some fun running trains around Model Railroader magazine’s latest project layout, the N scale (1:160) “Colorado Plains”, as featured in the January 2025 […]
KEARNY, N.J. — The first of three massive arches that are part of the new Portal North Bridge has arrived by barge and been lifted into place at the construction site on the Hackensack River, a significant advance in the project to replace the current structure, a long-time operational headache on the Northeast Corridor. Three […]
