America’s fastest rail lines

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How many places in the United States can a railroad passenger travel more than 70 miles in one hour? This map spotlights those locations, based on the schedules in Amtrak’s Fall/Winter 2007 system timetable and its Spring 2008 Northeast Corridor timetable. (Where precise information was not available, the speeds factor in 1 minute of dwell […]

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West Coast passenger trains

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What you’re seeing here is a transformation that’s nothing short of remarkable. Twenty years ago, a map of West Coast short-haul passenger trains would’ve been little more than a blank page. Back then, Amtrak provided minimal service between Oakland and Bakersfield, Calif., and between Portland and Seattle, though it did field 14 San Diegans a […]

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Trip on the GM&O in May 1951 Trains

Read the article, “Travel . . . Family Style,” from the May 1951 issue of Trains magazine, in which Bill Akin and his wife and daughter, identified as the “Andrews” family, ride the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio between Chicago and St. Louis. Download the story by clicking here. […]

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Photo gallery: Amtrak’s Michigan Line track improvements

FULL SCREEN Ties await installation on the unused brick platform at Chelsea, Mich., east of Jackson. FULL SCREEN A Norfolk Southern tie gang finishes up for the day east of Chelsea. FULL SCREEN One mile further east, a tamper pushes gravel under and around newly installed ties at Chelsea, Mich. FULL SCREEN A laser beam […]

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Washington Metro welcomes first 7000-series railcars NEWSWIRE

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The new 8000-series cars approach the Greenbelt Station. Sol Tucker Interior of the new 8000-series WMATA cars. Sol Tucker WASHINGTON – The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is debuting its first 7000-series train at Greenbelt Station this week. The newest addition to the rail fleet will fulfill a critical National Transportation Safety Board recommendation by replacing […]

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Now arriving

An Amtrak San Joaquin train arrives at Emeryville, Calif., as the afternoon rush comes into full swing on Aug. 27, 2013. Photo by Michael S. Murray […]

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Fall vision

  Oct. 7, 1997, was a perfect day to witness Conrail’s Office Car Special rolling east through the Berkshires on the Boston & Albany line at Bancroft, Mass. Photo by Robert Jordan […]

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Bob Johnston’s “Intermountain Odyssey”

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Check out additional material related to Bob Johnston’s “Intermountain Odyssey” article in Classic Trains’ Special Edition No. 13, All Aboard! Movies View clips from the 8mm movies that Bob Johnston took during the 1963 NRHS Intermountain Limited convention. Transportation Notice See the Burlington Route’s original Transportation Notice for the Aug. 26–Sept. 7, 1963, Intermountain Limited NRHS […]

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