SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The latest resumption of Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink service through south Orange County lasted barely a week. Passenger traffic through San Clemente was halted Monday morning after new debris was found along the rail right-of-way below the site of an earlier landside adjacent to the Casa Romantica Cultural Center, the San […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak today has announced applications for nearly $7.3 billion in Federal Railroad Administration funds for 14 projects to improve infrastructure and service on the Northeast Corridor, as well as $716 million for 16 projects to address long-distance network needs and expand service. The two announcements come the day before Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner […]
ROANOKE, Va. — Norfolk & Western steam locomotive No. 611 returned to its hometown of Roanoke for the first time in nearly 5 years. The J-class 4-8-4 steamed into the yard of the Virginia Museum of Transportation on June 2 after extended stays at both the Strasburg Rail Road in Ronks, Pa., and the North […]
The rainbow fleet — on May 1, 1971, the passenger train at the station was Amtrak, but it sure didn’t look that way. Locomotives and cars from the railroads buying into Amtrak were pooled to keep passengers moving along. It was a rainbow of equipment and color. This leads us to five mind-blowing facts — […]
NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden’s location and boundaries are no longer compatible with the operation of Penn Station, the station’s three passenger operators say — a statement likely to complicate the effort by the arena’s owners to extend their permit to operate the structure. The current Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, was […]
Throughout the past few months, I have shown you how different small Amtrak trains can be modeled with only a few pieces of equipment. If you’ve read those previous articles, you might have noticed a pattern. Amtrak trains that operate between a big city and a much smaller city or town, such as Chicago and […]
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has ratified a new contract with Amtrak, the union announced today (Sunday, June 4). General Chairman Daniel N. Tavares III said in a letter to members that the agreement includes a 30% wage increase over the life of the contract, which compounds to […]
WASHINGTON — “Amtrak Operations: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities for improving Efficiency and Service” is the topic of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing set for Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. EDT. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify; the other is Mitch Warren, Northeast Corridor Commission executive […]
Amtrak E44 electric locomotives are eight roster oddities that likely never turned a wheel in revenue service for the passenger carrier. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired 66 of the 5,000-hp, six-axle E44 electric locomotives from General Electric, Nos. 4400-4465. Built at Erie, Pa., between 1960 and 1963 the motors were 69-feet, 6-inches long and […]
These eight forgotten Amtrak trains are largely unremembered by railfans today. The shortest duration lasted just short of 14 months. Black Hawk The Black Hawk began service on the Illinois Central Iowa Division main line between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 14, 1974. It operated at first with Budd Rail Diesel Cars […]
Second of two parts Part 1 of this report, available here, examined how lack of capacity has adversely impacted Amtrak’s long-distance trains compared with the mobility the company has been able to provide in the Northeast Corridor. Part 2 considers possible solutions. Foreseeable shortfall The shortage of active bilevels was evident when deployment plans for […]
STAMFORD, Conn. — One person was injured when a portion of a ceiling collapsed at the Stamford station served by Amtrak and Metro-North trains on Wednesday afternoon, the Stamford Advocate reports. Kafi Rouse, director of communications for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, told the newspaper a portion of the ceiling liner collapsed in a tunnel […]
