News photo: Reading & Northern diesel marks 40th anniversary

Green and yellow diesel with "Our 40th Anniversary" lettering

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern (formally, the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad) has painted GP38-2 No. 2023 to commemorate the railroad’s 40th anniversary. R&N began as the Blue Mountain & Reading in 1983, operating a 13-mile former Conrail Branch, and has grown to a 400-mile route with some 300 employees and a […]

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Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society acquires depot

Weathered wooden railroad station being passed by steam locomotive

PLEASANT LAKE, Ind. — The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society has acquired the 141-year-old railroad station in Pleasant Lake to serve as headquarters for the Indiana Rail Experience, the tourist rail partnership of the society and the short line Indiana Northeastern Railroad. The acquisition was made possible through a grant to develop a station and […]

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Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville cabooses

Fonda Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad

An October 15, 1950, fan trip on New York State short line Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville utilized every piece of rolling stock capable of carrying people the road could muster. In the consist were cabooses 1 (built by ACF in 1914) and 2 (a 1911 product of FJ&G’s own shops). Ed Theisinger photo […]

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New rules coming for Stuart, Fla., rail drawbridge

Freight train with two locomotives and LNG tender crossing bridge

STUART, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard plans to issue revised rules governing the Florida East Coast Railway drawbridge over the St. Lucie River in Stuart on Friday, Aug. 11, WQCS Radio reports — but details on those revisions are not yet public. Operating rules for the bridge are a key concern for Brightline as […]

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Massachusetts DOT halts rail project following worker death

Logo of Massachusetts Department of Transportation

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has halted work on a project on state-owned tracks used by the Housatonic Railroad following a fatal accident last week, pending a safety review of the contractor hired for the track work. The Berkshire Eagle newspaper reports DOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said in a written response […]

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Beech Mountain, likely nearing end of operations, leases SW1500s

Blue and yellow end-cab switcher

ALEXANDER, W.Va. — Beech Mountain Railroad has leased two former CSX SW1500s from LTEX Rail to continue moving coal from Carter-Roag Coal Co.’s Star Bridge processing plant to the railroad’s interchange with the Appalachian & Ohio at Alexander. United Coal Co. subsidiary Carter-Roag has closed its Morgan Camp mine, which fed the Star Bridge preparation […]

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Worker killed in accident on Housatonic Railroad in Massachusetts

National Transportation Safety Board logo

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — A contract worker hit by a piece of track equipment on the Housatonic Railroad has died, the Berkshire Eagle newspaper reports. The worker’s name was being withheld pending notification of family, Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti told the newspaper. The National Transportation Safety Board, which announced on social media that […]

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Norfolk Southern claims CSX violations of Pan Am Railways agreements hurt competition and service in New England

Train at rail yard with tower in background

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern, in a lawsuit filed this week in Delaware, accuses CSX Transportation of hampering its access to New England by repeatedly violating the operating agreements related to CSX’s 2022 acquisition of regional Pan Am Railways. The agreements became conditions for the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the June 1 Pan Am acquisition. […]

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Classic Genesee & Wyoming EMD units in Northwest near retirement

Gray and red SD7 switching carload of lumber

ELMA, Wash. — Shortline powerhouse Genesee & Wyoming has begun removing older locomotives from its roster as part of a consent decree reached with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year. Part of the agreement requires G&W to disable or upgrade more than 70 locomotives to address Clean Air Act violations [see “Genesee & Wyoming agrees to […]

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