The first of more than 24,000 scouts began arriving in New Mexico for their seven-to-12-day trek at the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, N.M., on June 8. This summer more than 8,000 of those scouts will be arriving at Raton, N.M., on the Amtrak Southwest Chief. Philmont Scout Ranch is the Boy Scouts of America’s […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has approved a $48.7 million contract with Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build an underground transit system for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The system, which will require less than a mile of tunneling, will be served by autonomous electric vehicles based on Tesla […]
MESA, Ariz. — Valley Metro has opened the latest extension of its light rail system, a 1.9-mile addition that adds two stations in Mesa. With Saturday’s opening of the Gilbert Road extension, the transit agency now operates 28 miles of light rail in Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix. Work began on the $184 million extension in […]
CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada has become the second state this year to pass a law requiring at least two people in the cab of freight trains on Class I and Class II railroads. On May 15, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed Assembly Bill 337 into law, just two months after Colorado’s governor signed a […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Las Vegas’ transit agency has opted for bus rapid transit over light rail for an upcoming project. The Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission board voted unanimously on Thursday for a dedicated-lane bus transit system for its Maryland Parkway corridor project, choosing the bus option over a light rail proposal and an […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The city’s first light rail line is one of the options under consideration today when the Las Vegas area’s transit agency meets to consider its preferred option for an 8.7-mile transit corridor. The Maryland Parkway corridor would begin near the Las Vegas airport and run through downtown to the Las Vegas […]
RENO, Nev. — A Nevada sheriff’s office is asking the public to help catch trespassers. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has created the Rail Auxiliary Team, or “RAT Pack,” an all-volunteer force that keeps an eye on the rails Washoe County and in nearby Storey County. Richard Gent, Rail Auxiliary Team Leader for the sheriff’s office […]
The bell tower on the restored Harvey House in Las Vegas, N.M. Three photos, Steve Glischinski LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Hotel La Castañeda, a former Santa Fe Railway Harvey House hotel adjacent to the former depot in Las Vegas, saw its first guests in decades April 1. The hotel received its certificate of occupancy […]
Black Mesa & Lake Powell electrics move coal in 2017. Robert Kaplan PAGE, Ariz. — Efforts to save the Black Mesa & Lake Powell Railroad, the electrified captive railroad that runs 78 miles between mine and power plant in northeastern Arizona, have ended unsuccessfully. Earlier this month, the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. said it would […]
LOS ANGELES — The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has filed a lawsuit it hopes will shed light on alleged operations conducted between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Union Pacific Railroad Police. According to a statement issued by the SoCal ACLU, the lawsuit is based upon alleged violations by ICE of the […]
PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council voted this week to formally delay planning for the proposed West Phoenix Transit Corridor light rail line and divert $153 million to street repair instead. The West Phoenix line would extend from the existing Valley Metro line at Camelback Road and North 19th Avenue, but was already in doubt […]
Santa Fe refrigerator cars loaded with potatoes from Kern County, Calif., head eastward at Topock, Ariz., in 1953. Even though it’s a solid train of one commodity, the cars have many different destinations. The train has just left California by crossing the Colorado River. Santa Fe photo […]
