The Illinois Terminal Railroad might be one of the most misunderstood Class 1 railroads of the 20th century. If you think “the I.T.,” as most called it, was just a creaky electric interurban that gave up on passengers and got some diesels to haul freight to a few customers, think again. Illinois Terminal was […]
HARTFORD, Wis. — Soo Line 2-8-2 No. 1003 will make its annual appearance for the Hartford Santa Train on Saturday, Nov. 9. The 1913 Alco, operated by the non-profit Steam Locomotive Heritage Association, is a fixture at the Hartford event, held in conjunction with the community’s annual Christmas Parade. The Santa Train will be at […]
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission has hired a consultant team led by HDR Engineering and including HNTB Corp. to carry out the scoping work for proposed Eau Claire-Twin Cities passenger rail service. The scoping work is the first phase in development of a new route under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor […]
The Baltimore & Ohio dieselized its named passenger trains with six sets of Electro-Motive EA-EB passenger diesels in 1937–38. Here, two of the sets rest in Chicago between runs. Baltimore & Ohio photo […]
WASHINGTON — A CSX carman struck and killed by a pair of remote-control locomotives in a September 2023 accident at Walbridge Yard in Ohio failed to look both ways while crossing multiple tracks in the yard, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in an investigation report issued on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Contributing to the Sept. […]
WASHINGTON — Another group of awards were announced today (Monday, Oct. 28) under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant program, with the latest group led by more than $72 million for work in the Milwaukee area to reroute freight trains away from the city’s primary passenger station. The full list […]
WASHINGTON — Two more awards have been announced under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program. The first of what Washington state’s two senators said will be 122 grants totaling $2.477 billion were announced late last week [see “Announcements of 2024 CRISI grants begin,” Trains News Wire, Friday, […]
WASHINGTON — Elected officials across the country have begun announcing recipients of federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement, or CRISI, grants ahead of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s announcement of the full list of grant recipients. Officeholders generally have the opportunity to announce the grants to their constituents ahead of the U.S. DOT announcement. […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Amtrak’s Borealis service between St. Paul and Chicago, which debuted in May, passed the 100,000-passenger mark this week, with officials from Amtrak and the states funding the service riding the train on Thursday, Oct. 24, to mark the occasion. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the excitement and ridership that the new […]
CHICAGO — The operator of a Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line train that collided with snow-removal equipment last year had alcohol in his system, but federal investigators do not consider that a factor in the incident, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Nov. 16, 2023, collision saw 23 people taken to hospitals while another 15 refused […]
CHICAGO — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified an agreement setting the stage for transfer of operations from Union Pacific to Metra on three Metra commuter lines, according to a report on the BLET website. Union Pacific has been seeking to transfer operations on the UP North, Northwest, and West […]
PLEASANT LAKE, Ind. — Finishing off the 2024 operating season for Nickel Plate Road No. 765 was the Indiana Rail Experience’s second annual Fall Color Steam Special on Oct. 19 and 20. The all-day round-trip jaunts drew beautiful weather as the 80-year-old 2-8-4 of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society marched up and down the […]
