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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WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has released its annual report to Congress for 2022, which outlines the board’s work during the calendar year, as well as providing an overview of its structure and mission. Board chair Jennifer Homendy, in her message accompanying the report, notes that the board issued 1,864 investigation reports during […]
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PRINCETON, N.J. — The Princeton Dinky, the nation’s shortest scheduled commuter rail line, is set for a short hiatus. Midday operation of the Dinky, formally NJ Transit’s Princeton Branch, will see midday operation replaced by buses from Monday, July 10, to Friday, July 21, the website Planet Princeton reports. Buses will replace trains from 9:30 […]
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MONTREAL — Canadian National says the 10-mph restriction it imposed on Adirondack operation between the Canadian border and Montreal during temperature extremes is a direct result of Amtrak’s unwillingness to pay for the level of track maintenance CN says is necessary to maintain passenger train speeds. That is according to a statement issued in response […]
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KANSAS CITY — You know the story: In November 1939 Electro-Motive FT No. 103 embarked on an 11-month, 83,764-mile demonstration tour on some of the toughest territory that American railroads could throw at the 5,400 horsepower, four-unit locomotive set. In test runs with freight and passenger trains, the experimental diesel-electric proved itself superior to even […]
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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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MOORPARK, Calif. — Amtrak’s northbound Coast Starlight struck a water truck and derailed Wednesday morning at a rural crossing near Moorpark, Calif., about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The crossing did not have automatic warning devices. Video from KNBC-TV shows the train was led by Charger ALC42 No. 300, which suffered extensive front-end damage. […]
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DAVENPORT, Iowa — Clean-up is under way after 21 cars of a CPKC train derailed Tuesday evening at Nahant Yard in Davenport, Iowa. A CPKC representative reports 21 cars derailed in a slow-speed incident; no injuries or spills of hazardous materials occured. Three cars involved were carrying liquid asphalt but did not leak any of […]
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ORANGEBURG, S.C. — More than 20 rail-related applicants — ranging from grade-crossing separation studies to a small piece of the Gateway Tunnel to funding for high-speed rail stations in California — are among the 162 projects to receive Department of Transportation grant funding announced today (Wednesday, June 28) under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability […]
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Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX Transportation will create a direct interchange in Alabama by acquiring Genesee & Wyoming short line Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, which reaches CPKC at Meridian, Miss., and CSX just outside of Montgomery, Ala. The deal, announced today, will create a new through route linking Texas and Mexico with the Southeast […]
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BATH, Maine — The first stage of what Midcoast Railservice President Mike Smith says is a “sequential laboratory experiment” he expects to culminate in scheduled passenger service between Rockland and Brunswick, Maine, is set to begin this weekend at Bath Heritage Days. On display at Bath, about 9 miles from the Brunswick terminus of Amtrak […]
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WASHINGTON — A short circuit in a system designed to keep a train from operating when a door is open or obstructed is the probable cause of the 2022 death of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority passenger, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Tuesday. The passenger, 39-year-old Robinson Lalin, was caught […]
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