NEW YORK — Ventilation-fan issues are continuing to delay the opening of the Long Island Rail Road’s new Grand Central Madison station in Manhattan, with a January start to operations now in jeopardy. The New York Daily News reports Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber said Wednesday that a January start is “possible. But I’m […]
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INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has sworn in a new executive committee and elected eight new members to its advisory board, the union announced. Edward A. Hall became the union’s new national president Jan. 1. He is joined on the executive committee by first vice president Mark L. Wallace and […]
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What is Amtrak’s “rainbow” fleet? Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, and at the time had only one piece of equipment sporting Amtrak’s first logo, E8 No. 4316. This engine is currently offered by Rapido. All of the passenger equipment came from the railroads that joined to form Amtrak, including over 400 from the […]
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BOONTON, N.J. — The United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey has scheduled 48 departures for its Hudson River Rail Excursions between February and November, including the addition of special trips tied to Valentine’s Day and the 75th anniversary of the 1948 edition of the 20th Century Limited. The 48 trips is double the 2022 […]
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CHICAGO —Metra on Tuesday began the rollout of a new live train-tracking website which the Chicago-area commuter rail operator promises will allow riders to see the exact location of their trains and their station arrival times. The new site, metratracker.com, is made possible by a wholesale replacement of the previous train tracking system. It also […]
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LOS ANGELES — Extensive flooding and mudslides in the Santa Barbara area caused by more than a week of continuous rain pounding California’s coast have resulted in the cancelation of all Amtrak service north of Los Angeles through at least today (Wednesday, Jan. 11) The Coast Starlight had been cancelled north of Sacramento as a […]
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PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern Railroad announced it set new records in 2022 for freight traffic and excursion passenger ridership. Revenue freight traffic rose over 4,000 carloads and the railroad carried over 250,000 passengers on its excursion trains. Reading & Northern, Pennsylvania’s largest privately-owned railroad, said the freight traffic increase was driven by […]
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CHICAGO — The Amtrak locomotives that sustained mid-route failures on the Empire Builder in December, stranding the eastbound train in rural Minnesota, are undergoing software and hardware modifications intended to prevent the problems from recurring. Responding to a Trains News Wire inquiry asking Amtrak why the Builder didn’t operate west of the Twin Cities for […]
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Tangent Illinois Central Centralia Shops caboose Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $119.95 Era: 1960s+ (varies depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Tangent Scale Models, P.O. Box 6514, Asheville, NC 28816; 828-412-3886; tangentscalemodels.com Illinois Central Centralia Shops caboose features: IC-specific interior Era-specific body details for each scheme, including multiple body, side vents and side window combinations Three different era and […]
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Rail photography with Google Earth 3D: Anyone who has been exposed to the internet has undoubtedly found themselves snooping around neighborhoods on Google satellite maps or through the search engine’s Google Earth platform. Certain rail photographers have likely logged more hours than they care to admit on the platform. In earlier trip planning days, I […]
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WILLIAMS, Ariz. – The Grand Canyon Railway has announced dates it will operate 2-8-2 No. 4960 in 2023. The railroad typically uses the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad locomotive to pull trains between Williams and Grand Canyon one Saturday a month, plus some additional dates. The 2023 steam dates are: February 18 for […]
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SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A series of storms that have brought significant rain to California have slowed efforts to repair an unstable slope along the Surf Line in Orange County, pushing back efforts to restore through rail passenger service between Los Angeles and San Diego while also raising the cost of the repair effort. The […]
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