The non-profit Western Maryland Rail Heritage Foundation is seeking donations to relocate the last remaining Western Maryland Railway Alco S2 locomotive, currently located in Capreol, Ontario. The foundation is partnering with a museum in Capreol to move the locomotive from its current location, a siding slated to be torn up, to the museum. The long-term […]
PORTOLA, Calif. — The Western Pacific Railroad Museum has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Fund for phase one construction of its Frederick Whitman Multi-Purpose Building. The grant, received with the assistance of U.S. Rep Doug LaMlfa (R-Richvale, Calif), will help fund construction of a 100-foot by 200-foot, […]
HARTFORD, Conn. — Shore Line East commuter rail service will see significant service cuts and Metro-North’s New Haven Line will see a lesser reduction under the Connecticut state budget passed Tuesday by legislators. The two-year, $51 billion budget passed the state House by a 139-12 margin and the Senate by a 35-1 vote on Tuesday. […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration will conduct safety assessments of all Class I railroads, Reuters reports, citing a June 1 letter from FRA Administrator Amit Bose to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) The letter by Bose says the FRA will conduct the assessments of each railroad over the next year and release “an […]
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Caltrain has reached a major milestone in the electrification of its San Francisco-San Jose main line, with the commuter rail operator announcing Tuesday that electrified trains have begun operating under power from the overhead contact system. The agency posted video Tuesday of trains making low-speed initial tests. These initial runs will […]
BOSTON — Revised communications procedures are at the heart of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s rail worker safety plan resubmitted to the Federal Transit Administration on Monday, WGBH Radio reports. The new plan replaces one that the FTA rejected in mid-May as “insufficient” because it included some items that would not be addressed until late […]
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin’s City Council and the board of directors for its transit agency and the Austin Transit Partnership have formally adopted a plan for Phase I of the city’s revised Project Connect light rail project, a 9.8-mile route to run from 38th Street in the city’s Northwest to Yellow Jacket Lane in the […]
A former Bangor & Aroostook F3A, which became Canadian Pacific property with the purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, is on its way to CPKC headquarters in Calgary. A CPKC spokesman confirmed the locomotive, shown in Galt, Ontario, on June 2, is en route to Calgary, but said he had no information on future […]
Union Pacific Big Boy returns Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will return to the rails this week for a nearly month-long tour of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa as it travels to Omaha, where it will be on display for the NCAA Men’s College World Series in mid-June. Steam fans will have a unique opportunity […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Monday passed a wide-ranging bill on rail regulations at the state level, sending the measure on to the state Senate for consideration. HB 1028 passed by a 141-62 vote, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting 39 Republicans joined all 102 Democrats in voting for the bill. The legislation […]
Saluda Grade The famous Saluda Grade in western North Carolina has seen its last train. Railbanked in December 2001, nature has slowly but surely reclaimed the right-of-way. Now, in 2023, an agreement has been reached to sell the railroad to become a hiking trail. Let’s look back at the years when Norfolk Southern operated the […]
CHARLOTTE — Deltrin Harris, who had been chief of rail operations for the troubled Charlotte Area Transit System, has been fired, WFAE Radio reports. The station reports Harris’ termination letter says he was fired for unsatisfactory performance and a “lack of confidence in his leadership ability.” Meanwhile, the Charlotte Observer reports CATS violated overtime policy […]
