PHILADELPHIA – The National Railway Historical Society has announced a new program to recognize railroads for their efforts in railway preservation. The Society is partnering with Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures magazines to honor and recognize a North American common carrier railroad for a historically significant preservation project completed or put into operation within the last […]
LANSING, Mich. – Many states have attempted to address long delays at grade crossings by passing legislation to limit how long a train can hold up traffic. But the Michigan legislature is moving to adopt a different approach: eliminate the crossings altogether. The Michigan Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would create a permanent […]
NEW YORK—Amtrak has enlisted the STARR Restaurant Group to enhance food choices aboard its Acela first-class service between New York and Boston. STARR’s corporate umbrella covers 32 separately-branded restaurants representing a wide variety of cuisines. Of these, 19 are located in the Philadelphia area, which is home to the group. The remaining locations are in […]
Abandoned routes It can be disheartening to study a railroad atlas and come across abandoned routes. Nobody wants to realize a line is gone, especially if we had previously witnessed it as an active transportation entity. Well, let’s take a pen and cross off that line. No! It’s rare that the remnants of an abandoned […]
SANDPOINT, Idaho — With BNSF Railway and Montana Rail Link trains now using the new 4,873-foot long Lake Pend Oreille bridge opened in late November 2022 outside Sandpoint, Idaho, the adjacent bridge opened by Northern Pacific in 1904 is undergoing reconstruction. BNSF says the work involves “replacing all 59 of the remaining original 1904 bridge […]
Railroaders, and railfans, are always talking about engines: How many engines were on that train? Don’t those new engines look good (or bad)? Did you get the number of that engine? So, what’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine? We use both terms to describe the most compelling element of railroading: the machines […]
Diesel locomotives today generally have either two- or three-axle trucks, a wheel arrangement called B-B and C-C. The B-B wheel arrangement indicates a two-axle truck with both axles powered, while C-C means a truck with three powered axles. This naming convention uses letters for powered axles and numerals for non-powered “idler” axles — found on older […]
AEI data tags and readers enable rail cars to be tracked as they move across the North American rail system. The AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) system consists of passive tags mounted on each side of rolling stock and active trackside readers. The system uses radio frequency and replaces an unsuccessful older optically-based car tracking system […]
Another little piece of the Milwaukee Road is fading away in Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Rail aka Tacoma Municipal Belt Line Railway consisted of three divisions. The Tidelands Division, the Mountain Division and the Capitol Division, now known as the Lakewood Division. The Capitol Division included lines in the Olympia, Wash., area and industries in South […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — Norfolk & Western steam locomotive No. 611 debuted for its 2023 operating season last weekend with a series of events and excursions on the Strasburg Rail Road. The J-class 4-8-4 returned to the tourist railroad earlier this month after spending the beginning of the year as an exhibit at the next-door Railroad […]
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – WATCO’s Alabama Southern Railroad will construct a new yard in Tuscaloosa. The company plans to invest around $9.8 million in a new yard facility in the Tuscaloosa County Airport Industrial Park to support operations currently conducted at the company’s facility near downtown Tuscaloosa. The second facility will provide additional capacity and reduce […]
MADISON, Mo. – A truck driver was killed Sunday after he failed to stop at a crossing and struck a Norfolk Southern rock train, causing it to derail, KCRG News reported. Russell Minnis, 65, of Higbee, Mo., was killed after his semi-truck did not stop at the U.S. Route 24 crossing 2 miles east of […]
