An Amtrak AEM7 rests between assignments at Washington Union Station on Jan. 14, 2009. Those motors don’t stay idle for long, and soon enough she’ll be racing along at up to 135 mph. Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]
Waiting on go
Railroad: Amtrak
Classic Depot
Norfolk Southern (Crewe-to-Hopewell turn) freight V-11 passes the Petersburg, Va., Union Station as it heads eastbound toward Broadway Yard on May 11, 2012. Photo by Michael S. Murray […]
Amtrak long-distance trains by night and day
This Map of the Month was featured in the November 2003 issue of Trains magazine. Amtrak advertisements showcase images of passengers looking out windows at breathtaking scenery, and gleaming trains winding through spectacular canyons or along scenic river- banks. But that’s only half the story. Long-distance trains (those on routes of 750 miles or more) […]
From Sweden to Rhode Island
As a prelude to today’s high speed Acela Express service, Amtrak tested two types of European high speed trains, a German ICE trainset and this tilting X2000 train from Sweden. The demonstration equipment made revenue runs on the Northeast Corridor and toured other parts of the country. Pushed by two Amtrak Tubroliner power cars, the […]
Roger Williams new employer
Amtrak inherited from Penn Central these self-propelled Rail Diesel Cars with distinctive front ends built for the New Haven Railroad’s Roger Williams. Budd Co. delivered six RDCs in an A-B-B-B-B-A formation to the New Haven in 1956. The slapped-on Amtrak logo from this February 1975 view would be replaced four years later with the company’s […]
Amtrak offering employee buyouts NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON – Amtrak announced to employees yesterday that it would be offering buyouts to employees not covered by labor agreements. In a special employee advisory, Amtrak said starting next week it would be offering non-agreement employees a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment in order “to better allocate its resources and align the structure of the company […]
Turbine power all the way
High speed in New England in the 1970s meant these turbine-powered trainsets built by United Aircraft, which sprinted between Boston and New York from 1969 to 1976. The two Turbotrains (Amtrak later bought a third set from VIA Rail Canada) achieved the route’s best-ever timings — 3 hours and 48 minutes between Boston and New […]
Talgo speed comparison
Talgo’s pendular suspension lowers the carbody’s center of gravity and relocates its center of rotation, all enabling Talgo cars to take curves faster without causing excessive passenger discomfort due to the centrifugal force. Q How much faster would a Talgo-like train be than a conventional single level or bilevel (Superliner) over the same stretch of […]
California Zephyr tragedy recalls 1999 truck crash NEWSWIRE
RENO, Nev. — At 11:19 a.m. Pacific Time Friday, a tractor-trailer gravel truck traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. 95 at Ocala, Nev., about 70 miles east of Reno, barreled into the side of the westbound California Zephyr. The truck struck the left-hand side of the Zephyr behind the two locomotives and […]
Amtrak’s 40 years in New England
Connecticut resident Bob LaMay has been photographing Amtrak in his native New England since the carrier turned its first wheel in 1971. We present a small sampling of his work over the decades. For more on Amtrak’s 40th anniversary, pick up the July 2011 issue of Trains magazine, which looks back on the five biggest […]
Willamette bound
Amtrak train 301, a Seattle-Eugene, Ore., Cascades Service train, kicks up snow as it zips through East Olympia, Wash., on Nov. 23, 2010. F59PH No. 468 is pulling the distinctive Talgo equipment that serves passengers in the corridor. Jeffrey T. Schultz photo […]
TRAINS exclusive: Amtrak police chief bars Transportation Security Administration from some security operations NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — In late February, the Transportation Security Administration took over the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered. None of the passengers got into trouble, but the TSA certainly did — big time. Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor said he first thought a blog posting about the incident was […]
