CHICAGO — Add westbound Empire Builder for today (Feb. 19, 2025) to Amtrak’s cancellation list, making for a fifth straight day that the Chicago-Seattle/Portland train will have been cancelled in both directions. The company has also canceled several Northeast Corridor trains today and tomorrow (Feb. 20), as well as Wolverine and Hiawatha trains in the […]
NEWARK, N.J. — Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 19, NJ Transit will begin a combination of limited train service and bus substitution to replace operations on its Raritan Valley Line, the transit agency has announced. Service was blocked earlier today (Feb. 18) because of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern intermodal train on a section of Conrail […]
UNION, N.J. — Commuter rail service on NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line has been suspended because of the derailment of a freight train, according to an alert on the agency’s website. While media reports identify the incident as a Conrail derailment, the train involved is actually a Norfolk Southern intermodal train operating on Conrail Shared […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak has cancelled Empire Builder departures for a third straight day, the company announced early today (Monday, Feb. 17). Also cancelled: both directions of the Borealis, westbound between Chicago and St. Paul and eastbound between St. Paul and Milwaukee, as well as both directions of the Adirondack between Montreal and Albany Rensselaer, N.Y. […]
SCRANTON, Pa. — Five employees at Steamtown National Historic Site have been dismissed as part of cuts to National Park Service employees by the Trump administration, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. David Fitzpatrick, an official with two locals of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the newspaper another five were dismissed at Gettysburg National Military […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak has cancelled Empire Builder departures in both directions scheduled for today (Feb. 15, 2025), as well as the eastbound Borealis and one westbound Wolverine. Two Northeast Corridor trains have also been cancelled. The reasons for the cancellations differ. According to posts on the Amtrak Alerts feed on X.com, the Empire Builder slated […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — West met East here Thursday morning (Feb. 13, 2025) as the East Broad Top Railroad took ownership of former Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad diesel unit No. 1203, an H.K. Porter six-axle locomotive built in Pittsburgh in 1946. After a week-long trip by heavy-haul truck from its last home in […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced plans for a special rail schedule as part of the Massachusetts 250 celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. The celebration is set for Patriots Day weekend, April 19-20. “The Commonwealth has a rich history, and ‘Massachusetts 250’ is just one […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — A H.K. Porter diesel acquired from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has arrived at the East Broad Top Railroad to provide backup power for EBT operations and support expansion efforts. The 80-ton, 3-foot-gauge engine was built in 1946 and operated on US Gypsum’s railroad in Plaster City, Calif., until […]
AUGUSTA, Maine — The April 2023 derailment of a CPKC train in rural Maine, which led to injuries to three crew members and a fire, was caused by a washout resulting from a beaver dam, a state agency has been told. The April 15, 2023, incident occurred when the train was traveling at about 35 […]
RONKONKOMA, N.Y. — The state of New York will spend $150 million to connect the Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkonkoma station with a proposed new terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport, a facility served by four commercial airlines. The project, announced Wednesday, Feb. 12, by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will include purchase of 48 acres of […]
Franconia Paper Co. 0-4-0T No. 3, built by Porter in 1917 for the Watertown (Mass.) Arsenal, putters about the paper company’s plant at Lincoln, N.H., in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
