SAGINAW, Mich. — Two locomotives and five cars of a train derailed on Lake State Railway trackage Sunday afternoon, Nov. 24, spilling corn into the Saginaw River, WWJ Radio reports. The incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Images on the Detroit News website show one covered hopper ended up on its side at the edge of […]
Zone & Region: Midwest
Illinois Terminal passenger trains remembered
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Illinois Terminal passenger trains, originally published online in April 2017. All through November 2024, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of “The Traction.” […]
Construction begins on Manly Junction Railroad Museum
MANLY, Iowa — Construction has begun on the new Manly Junction Railroad Museum just north of the community of Manly. The $7 million museum, the brainchild of Iowa Northern Railway Chairman Dan Sabin, is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025. The museum is designed to look like a railroad station and also […]
Two arrested in derailment of Union Pacific train
BARTONVILLE, Ill. — Two Bartonville men were arrested Monday for allegedly derailing a Union Pacific locomotive, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office announced. Caleb Finley, 18, and Jimmy Johnson, 20, were arrested for criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to property, reckless conduct, and placing an object on railroad tracks, the Sheriff’s Office said in a […]
Soo local in northern Minnesota
Pacific 2702 clatters across the Northern Pacific tracks at McGregor, Minn., 81 miles west of Duluth, with Soo Line’s Thief River Falls–Duluth train 64 in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Floridian travel tips: Plan for delays, massage Corridor connections, seek quirky pricing — Analysis
WASHINGTON — Anything can, and generally does, happen to impede trains on Amtrak’s network. On Sunday, Nov. 17, for instance, Norfolk Southern emergency repairs to an elderly drawbridge south of Chicago delayed the Miami-bound Floridian (and two trains headed to Michigan) more than 2 hours, 20 minutes. The setback was typical of timekeeping hiccups the […]
Registration opens for MARS Winter Meeting
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Registration is now open for the 2025 Winter Meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, which is scheduled to include BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer and Surface Transportation Board Chairman Robert E. Primus as featured speakers. The event moves this year from its longtime home in Lombard, Ill., to a new […]
Small diesel in a small town
Minneapolis & St. Louis GE 44-tonner 149 stands beside the weathered depot at Roland, Iowa, (population 700) in September 1950. William F. Armstrong photo […]
Illinois Terminal locomotives remembered
Illinois Terminal locomotives included steam, electric, and diesel over its existence. The Illinois Terminal was an electric interurban line serving western Illinois down to the St. Louis area. In the mid-1950s the railroad abandoned its electric operations, moving to all-diesel operation — the last steam ran in 1950, and dieselization had begun with […]
DeKalb, Ill., moves toward new study on extension of Metra line
DeKALB, Ill. — The DeKalb City Council has authorized a state grant to pay for a new study on extending Metra service to the city, Shaw News reports. The $400,000 technical assistance grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation will build on an earlier feasibility study completed in 2023 that addressed financial benefits and potential […]
Three ports receive federal funding for rail projects
WASHINGTON — Three projects with a rail component were among 31 port improvement projects receiving a total of $580 million from the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration in grant awards announced today (Friday, Nov. 15). Funding comes from the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which received $2.25 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastruture Law. “Modernizing America’s port […]
CRISI infrastructure grants make a big impact on small railroads
WASHINGTON — Short line railroads across the United States will be able to lay more welded rail, replace more crossties, add sidings and build bridges as a result of $2.4 billion in funding through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety (CRISI) grant program for fiscal years 2023-2024 [see “FRA awards $2.4 billion […]
