Connecticut finalizes commuter rail service cuts

Train pases through station with bridge over tracks

NEWINGTON, Conn. — The Connecticut Department of Transportation has finalized its plans for commuter rail cuts and fare increases, the New Haven Register reports, with only one significant change from the DOT’s original proposals. The changes will result in a total decrease of 21 trains per week on Metro-North’s New Haven, New Canaan, and Danbury […]

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Most Metro-North, Amtrak service to be restored Monday following mudslide

Earthmovers at work to clear mudslide on railroad tracks

NEW YORK — Metro-North Railroad says it will operate a “near-normal schedule” Monday following a mudslide in Scarborough, N.Y., that disrupted its services and those of Amtrak, while Amtrak has announced its operations between New York City and Albany, N.Y., will be “substantially restored.” Metro-North said service will resume between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon on the […]

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What’s on a locomotive cab roof?

White antenna housings cover the gray-painted roof of a modern diesel locomotive.

What’s on a locomotive cab roof? A cluttered battle for available space. But that wasn’t always the case. Decades ago, the roof of a locomotive cab was pretty bare. A majority of them had little more than an air horn and a single radio antenna mounted on it. The antenna was connected to the voice […]

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News photo: Massive locomotive move on CSX

Train with large number of locomotives on front end

Sixteen locomotives bound for Ohio locomotive leasing and resale company LTEX Rail (Larry’s Truck Electric) swelled the power on CSX train M576-20 to 19 locomotives on Saturday, Oct. 21, as it traveled from Nashville, Tenn., to Cincinnati. Photographer Jeff Wagoner reports the consist included CSX ES44AH No. 3161 and ET44AH No. 3261, followed by units […]

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Fall-color trips bring sellouts in West Virginia, Maryland

Shay locomotive leads passenger train through fall foliage

This year has brought some of the most vibrant fall colors ever experienced in the West Virginia and Maryland mountains, and tourist railroads that serve the area have benefitted. “This has been one of the prettiest, longest lasting fall color displays that I can remember,” says John Smith, CEO of Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad. […]

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Kentucky Steam’s SD40-2 diesel repainted in Norfolk & Western scheme

Repainted diesel locomotive at dusk.

IRVIN, Ky. — The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. unveiled its repainted SD40-2 diesel locomotive, which has been returned to its as-delivered Norfolk & Western all-black color scheme. The project was a collaboration of multiple individuals and parties, led by former Norfolk Southern corporate photographer Casey Thomason. “It’s a cool pet project that I brought to […]

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Amtrak Twin Cities services through the years

Amtrak Twin Cities services passenger train on curve in snow

Amtrak Twin Cities services started on May 1, 1971, at the Burlington Northern (former Great Northern) station in Minneapolis. Service levels ebbed and flowed through the years as trains were added or subtracted.     Amtrak opened a new Twin Cities station on March 1, 1978, using a standard plan that was also built in […]

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Elroy-Sparta State Trail: Biking Along the Route of the ‘400’

Steam locomotive pointed away from the camera on trackage that would become the Elroy-Sparta State Trail

The first rail-to-trail conversion in the U.S., the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, gives riders an opportunity to traverse three tunnels.   Wisconsin isn’t usually associated with railroad tunnels, but it once had a number of them. Today only Canadian Pacific’s bore at Tunnel City is active, but next door is the closed tunnel of the Chicago […]

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Mudslide disrupts Metro-North, Amtrak operations along Hudson River

Aerial view of mudslide from just behind large house onto railroad tracks.

NEW YORK — A mudslide on Metro-North’s Hudson Line has disrupted Metro-North service and halted Amtrak operations between New York City and Albany, N.Y. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the slide occurred this morning (Saturday, Oct. 21) in the village of Briarcliff Manor, blocking all four tracks at the slide site. Metro-North is currently offering […]

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Light rail service to Portland, Ore., airport to resume Sunday

Aerial view of light rail station at airport

PORTLAND, Ore.— Light rail service to Portland International Airport will be restored on Sunday after a four-month hiatus, transit agency TriMet has announced. Service to the airport was halted in June as part of a $215 million project adding a second track on the MAX Red Line segment leading to the airport and rebuilding the […]

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MBTA shuts down Green Line extension because of power issue (updated)

Portion of Boston transit map showing lines to Medford and Union Square

BOSTON — In the latest embarrassment for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and its Green Line extension transit line, the agency shut down the extension this afternoon (Friday, Oct. 20) because of problems with the overhead power system, forcing some passengers to walk along the right-of-way on foot to evacuate from at least one stalled […]

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