News photos: Fallen ‘Star’

Passenger train with blue locomotive and heritage Amtrak locomotive passing next to signal bridge

While Amtrak marked the launch on Sunday of its new but temporary Floridian service between Chicago and Florida, via Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., the debut of one train meant the end — at least for a similar undefined period — of another. Amtrak’s New York-Miami Silver Star made its final runs on Sunday, part of […]

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N&W 0-8-0 boiler

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Norfolk & Western built 0-8-0 switchers until 1953, the last conventional steam locomotives built for U.S. service. Devoid of all fittings, a new 0-8-0 boiler is upside down at N&W’s Roanoke, Va., shops. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]

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R.J. Corman breaks ground on Kentucky infrastructure project

Line of people holding shovels

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Federal, state, and local officials were on hand as R.J. Corman Railroad Group held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 6, for its Bluegrass Multimodal Freight Improvement Project at the company’s yard in Frankfort. The $12.3 million project to upgrade infrastructure of the R.J. Corman Central Kentucky Lines will include construction of […]

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Ballot measures with rail component pass

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Four ballot initiatives with at least some rail transit component all appear to have passed on Tuesday, based on results available this morning (Wednesday, Nov. 6). — In Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix, voters appear to have approved an extension of a half-cent sales tax for transit, the Arizona Republic reports. The tax, introduced […]

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STB grants dismissal requests by Amtrak, San Diego commuter agency

Passenger train next to ocean

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday (Nov. 5) granted requests by Amtrak and Southern California’s North County Transportation District to dismiss long-running cases before the board. Amtrak had requested that the board dismiss its request for an order requiring CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern to allow operation of Gulf Coast service between New […]

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GM&O GP35s

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Gulf, Mobile & Ohio traded in its Alco FA units on EMD GP30s and GP35, which came from La Grange with the AAR Type B trucks from the FAs. F. Axtell Kramer Jr. photo […]

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Full-court press continues on trespassing, safety near tracks

Commuter locomotive with information on blue grade-crossing signs

CHICAGO — Operation Lifesaver’s “See Tracks-Think Train!” nationwide information blitz during the last week of September was the latest attempt to heighten public awareness of inherent dangers around railroad property. A recent symposium sponsored by the Chicago-area DuPage Railroad Safety Council took that initiative a step further, featuring presenters who discussed the scope of recent […]

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Norfolk Southern files for abandonment of Saluda Grade

Map of rail line in North and South Carolina

  WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern has filed a notice to abandon 31.3 miles of the long-inactive Saluda Grade in North and South Carolina, a prelude to previously announced plans to sell that section of the route to a consortium of groups who plan to create a biking and hiking trail. The abandonment would be effective […]

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Miami-Aventura commuter rail project advances to engineering phase

Train at station in area with construction

MIAMI — The Federal Transit Administration has advanced the proposed commuter rail service between Miami and Aventura, Fla., into the engineering phase, and has made a preliminary commitment to provide $389.5 million in funding for the project, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Miami) announced this week. Wilson said in a press release that the FTA announcement […]

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