ABILENE, Kan. — Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 3415 officially debuted for its 2023 operating season on June 10, heading the regular excursion and dinner trains on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad. This comes after the railroad’s 104-year-old 4-6-2 was temporarily sidelined right before the Memorial Day weekend due to unforeseen repairs needing to […]
SACRAMENTO — California legislators have agreed to a deal that would provide more than $3 billion to aid state transit agencies such as Caltrain and Bay Area Rapid Transit that say they are facing a “fiscal cliff”as a result of low ridership since the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The deal would […]
RIDGEVILLE, S.C. — Palmetto Railways, the short line owned and operated by the state of South Carolina, has begun construction of a new rail line to serve the Camp Hall Commerce Park in Ridgeville and the adjacent Volvo auto plant. The 22.7-mile line will cost $185 million and take about 2½ years to build, Palmetto […]
ORANGE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority board has declared an emergency as a result of ongoing landslide issues in San Clemente, Calif., a move the board says will allow agency CEO Darrell E. Johnson to take steps to protect the rail line below the unstable hillside. That will likely mean design and construction […]
BOSTON — No injuries were reported after a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line train derailed today (Monday, June 12), the Boston Globe reports. About 30 people were on board the trolley on the Green Lin’s B Branch when the center wheelset of the articulated light-rail trainset derailed at low speed near Packard’s Corner. The […]
CHICAGO — New schedules for Amtrak’s Lincoln Service trains will take effect June 26, and are expected to shave approximately 15 minutes off current travel times to reflect 110-mph operation on portions of the Chicago-St. Louis route. The new schedules — not yet available on Amtrak’s website as of 7 p.m. today (June 12), but […]
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel’s 2-8-2 No. 4960 led a charter train on June 10, one week after its scheduled “First Saturday” excursion. The Williams-Grand Canyon National Park trip was part of the itinerary for last week’s National Model Railroad Association’s PSR Grand Canyon Special Convention, hosted by the Arizona Division. With […]
Harold Borovec, a significant figure in steam preservation in the Pacific Northwest, died June 10 at age 96. Borovec, born in 1927 in Chehalis, Wash., served as an engineer and mechanical officer for several steam tourist operations in Washington state, including the Puget Sound & Snoqualmie Railroad, the Camp 6 logging exhibit in Tacoma, the […]
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England will host the “Night on the Naug” photo event on June 24, a fundraiser to repair damage to the museum’s Maine Central snowplow sustained during a recent vandalism incident. All proceeds will go to the museum. The event is scheduled to begin with an evening briefing […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is taking significant steps to address potential traffic issues during the upcoming closure of a 90-year-old highway tunnel, offering free service on the Blue Line subway and lowering fares on the Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail route. Those changes will come July 5 through Aug. 31, when the Sumner Tunnel […]
PALESTINE, Texas — The Texas State Railroad, a heritage railway in East Texas, will receive $10 million under the budget passed last month by the state legislature. The Palestine Herald-Press reports funding will go toward capital projects that could include tie and ballast work, replacement of 100-year-old rails, railcar maintenance, safety improvements, and other projects. […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is moving to add service on three Regional Rail lines following the collapse of a bridge today (Sunday, June 11) on Interstate 95, a problem that could snarl commuting and impact other traffic on the East Coast’s primary north-south highway for months. The bridge collapsed following a fire […]
