Morning at L.A. Union Station

20150710

Santa Fe F7 No. 311 prepares to depart Track 5 at Los Angeles Union Station with the first San Diegan of the day, while the Rock Island/Southern Pacific Golden State, just in from Chicago, stands on Track 4. William D. Middleton photo […]

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CPKC train derails in Wisconsin (updated)

Derailed freight train

REESEVILLE, Wis. — Twenty-nine cars of a CPKC train were reported to have derailed this afternoon (Tuesday, July 4) in Reeseville, leading to delays for Amtrak’s Empire Builder. WKOW-TV reports the derailment occurred about 1:55 p.m. Chris Abell, deputy chief with Clyman-Lowell-Reeseville Fire & Rescue, told the station the derailed cars were carrying grain and […]

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Monon’s Tippecanoe

20150720

An F3 leads the five cars of Monon’s Chicago–Indianapolis Tippecanoe across the Grand Calumet River in Hammond, Ind., on May 30, 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]

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GO Transit to end Toronto-London, Ontario, commuter train

Green and white commuter train approaches crowded platform

LONDON, Ontario — A two-year pilot program offering GO Transit commuter rail service between London and Toronto — hampered by its lengthy travel time — will not be renewed when the trial period ends in October, the London Free Press reports. The single round trip, which debuted in October 2018, is currently scheduled for exactly […]

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Railroading Heritage of Midwest America sells car to CPKC

Maroon passenger car

MINNEAPOLIS — Railroading Heritage of Midwest America has sold one of its passenger cars to CPKC. The baggage-dormitory car, once used on trips pulled by Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261,  will be used as a dormitory on steam trips this summer behind Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816. The car, which RRHMA had named Grand Canyon […]

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Honolulu rail system to debut today

Light rail train at elevated station with city in distance

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s new Skyline light rail system, billed by manufacturer Hitachi as the first fully autonomous metro system in the U.S., will make its debut today. It will be the first new major rail transit system to debut in the United States since 1993. The first train is slated to run at 11:30 a.m. local […]

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Coast Line reopens at site of Starlight derailment

Heavy equipment lifting damaged locomotive onto railroad tracks

MOORPARK, Calif. — Pacific Surfliner service will be restored north of Los Angeles today, while Metrolink operations north of Moorpark will resume this afternoon, following the suspensions as a result of Wednesday’s derailment of the Coast Starlight. The Surfliner Twitter feed says track work in Moorpark has been complete, and that while slow orders may […]

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VRE opens new maintenance facility

Interior of new shop building with locomotive and bilevel passenger car

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Railway Express has opened its new Lifecycle Overhaul and Upgrade maintenance facility, or LOU, at its Crossroads Yard in Fredericksburg. The 33,500-foot, two-track structure features a drop table for removing locomotive and railcar trucks and wheelsets; a wheel truing machine; and an overhead bridge crane with two lift points, one with […]

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Rail service remains halted at site of Coast Starlight derailment

Equipment lifts wreckage from front of damaged locomotive

MOORPARK, Calif. — Scheduled rail service through the site of Wednesday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Coast Starlight remains disrupted while an investigation and clean-up continues. The derailment occurred about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday when the train hit a water truck at private, unprotected grade crossing near Moorpark [see “Coast Starlight derails after hitting truck …,” Trains News […]

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