First week of new LIRR schedules brings crowding, complaints

Overhead view of EMU train on three-track main line

NEW YORK — The first full week of the Long Island Rail Road’s new schedule, offering more trains systemwide and full service to the new Grand Central Madison station, has gone less than smoothly, particularly for those still taking the LIRR to Penn Station. There are now fewer Penn trains than there had been when […]

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Metrolinx says it has new site for GO Transit layover facility

Toronto GO Transit logo

TORONTO — Metrolinx, the Ontario transit agency which oversees GO Transit commuter trains, has abandoned plans to build a facility for midday servicing of commuter trains in Toronto’s Don Valley, a plan opposed by residents concerned about potential damage to the environment and nearby parkland. The Toronto Globe and Mail reports the Metrolinx proposal would […]

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Lionel Legacy F40PH and ‘Cabbage’ control car

Lionel Legacy F40PH and Cabbage control car

The Lionel Legacy F40PH and ‘Cabbage’ control car represent a locomotive that’s become emblematic of intercity passenger service. In the 1970s, Amtrak was looking for some new power to replace some of its tired fleet. One of the models that came out of that process was this one. It served for two decades and still […]

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Florida passenger diesels include rarities

Commuter train crossing low bridge

Passenger diesels Florida may not leap to mind as a center of passenger railroading — or a hotbed of railroading oddities, for that matter — but the locomotives of the state’s passenger rail operations do include some rarities. And in the winter, you could do worse than spending time trackside at any of these operations. […]

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News photo: Tier 4 unit debuts for North Carolina

Passenger train with two locomotives at one end and one at the other

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Transportation has begun testing a locomotive equipped with a Tier 4 emissions control system. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, state-supported Piedmont train No. 75 included three locomotives, with one, No. 1859, equipped with Rail Propulsion Systems’ Selective Catalytic Reduction technology. The train departed Raleigh for Charlotte with 1859 […]

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Brightline to begin 125-mph testing on Cocoa-Orlando corridor

Train approaches after passing through small S curve

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a significant milestone toward its effort to launch service to Orlando by midyear, Brightline will being testing at speeds up to 125 mph on its new 35-mile corridor between Cocoa, Fla., and Orlando International Airport as soon as today, March 1. In a Tuesday evening announcement, the passenger operator said test […]

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Monon Route passenger trains photo gallery

GP1610031

Monon Route passenger trains All through March 2023, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway — the Monon Route! Please enjoy a selection of images of Monon Route passenger trains selected from the files of Kalmabch Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. This gallery was originally published […]

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Summertime era-swapping on the White River Division

A blue model diesel engine and train in rural New England

It’s been more than a decade since Lou Sassi photographed my HO scale White River Division for a feature in the March 2009 Model Railroader. A lot has changed since then. The track plan has been altered to better view and photograph scenes. I also eliminated the duckunder. Now a point-to-point layout, there’s a yard […]

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