Nine hurt when Metro-North train strikes truck

MetroNorth_Bridgeport_Lassen

WATERBURY, Conn. — Nine passengers suffered minor injuries after a Metro-North train on the Waterbury Branch struck a tractor-trailer at a grade crossing late Monday morning, WTNH-TV reports. Thirty to 35 people were reported on the train when the accident occurred about 11 a.m. The driver of the tractor-trailer refused medical attention. Patch.com reports that […]

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Top 6 locomotive upgrades of the past 50 years

Three yellow painted locomotives lead a train through an arid landscape.

Top 6 locomotive upgrades from Mike Iden include: • Improved crashworthiness • Alerters and event recorders • Exhaust emissions • Improved working conditions in the cab • Improved dynamic brakes • Alignment control But before he explained those items, Iden wanted to include a dictionary definition of the word “enhancement”: Enhancement means “To increase or […]

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Korean War SW8 diesel locomotives survive in Alabama

Two black painted locomotive together framed by autumn leaves.

Korean War SW8 diesel locomotives survive in Alabama: Deep in the heart of America’s south, we find two able-bodied veterans of foreign war operating on the Calera & Shelby Railroad at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama. Calera & Shelby 2019 and 2022 SW8 switcher locomotives have a story to tell more […]

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Legendary West Coast photographer Stan Kistler dies at 91

Man next to unidentified piece of equipment, possibly in photo darkroom

When the prolific and influential California photographer Stan Kistler won the Railway & Locomotive Society’s prestigious Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award in 1996, he earned what might be considered the ultimate citation for a photographer: “He has not only documented the railroads of the West, but crafted beautiful images that will last […]

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CN challenges STB’s draft environmental review of CP-KCS merger

Kansas City Southern train leaves terminal

WASHINGTON — Canadian National is challenging some conclusions federal regulators reached in their draft environmental review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. Chief among them: The assumption that the merged Canadian Pacific Kansas City would not increase fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CN, in an Oct. 14 filing with the Surface Transportation […]

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Five mind-blowing Chessie facts

Etching of sleeping kitten

Mind-blowing Chessie facts Mind-blowing Chessie facts: What began as a simple etching of a sleeping kitten, blossomed into one of America’s most-loved corporate symbols. This is the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s Chessie Cat. Trains collectionAmerican businesses have fostered a plethora of advertising characters attempting to endear us to their products and entice us to purchase […]

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What is an abandoned railroad?

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Abandoned railroads In railroad operations, what is an abandoned railroad? If a railroad abandons a part of its line, does it still physically own the right-of-way? But who owns the right away when the tracks go away? Using some online resources, Cody answers this question in this video of Ask Trains. Do you have questions […]

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Surfliner, Metrolink service may not be restored until mid-January

Blue and silver-painted locomotive at a station platform surrounding by brown steel work and palm trees. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner renewable diesel.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — It could still be as long as mid-January before passenger rail service resumes through the section of South Orange County where traffic has been stopped by an unstable slope next to the railroad tracks, the Times of San Diego reports. The news site reports the Orange County Transportation Authority has finalized […]

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Western Maryland Scenic No. 1309 powers benefit train for Altoona museum

Large steam locomotive with passenger train on curve at dusk

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Echoing off the walls of the Cumberland Narrows, a Pennsylvania Railroad three-chime passenger whistle symbolized a new preservation partnership between the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pa., and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. An evening dinner train to benefit restoration of the museum’s PRR Class K4s 4-6-2 engine No. 1361 (Juniata Shops, […]

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