Voters narrowly approve Cincinnati Southern sale

Black and white diesel locomotives pulling a freight train

CINCINNATI — In close balloting, Cincinnati voters have approved the sale of the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern for $1.62 billion. With 100% of precincts reporting, Issue 22 passed by a 51.6% to 48.4% margin — 43,173 votes to 40,599. City officials, led by Mayor Aftab Pureval, had favored the sale, which will […]

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Minnesota steam locomotive makes test runs

Steam engine under plume of smoke

DULUTH, Minn. — The Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 has returned to operation with weekend test runs. The locomotive ran Nov. 4 on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. The museum’s steam crew, headed by Scott Carney, operated the engine between the museum in downtown Duluth and the siding at […]

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Cincinnati voters to decide on railway sale Tuesday

CINCINNATI — Voters in Cincinnati go to the polls this Tuesday, Nov. 7, to determine whether the city should sell its railway to Norfolk Southern, after a campaign that has seen a host of conflicting claims and endorsements. The matter, on the ballot as Issue 22, asks voters to approve the sale of the Cincinnati […]

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The Mohawk that refused to abdicate

A black and white photograph from 1956 shows a large, black steam engine crossing another set of railroad tracks set at an angle while black coal smoke flls the sky

In the mid-1950s, in the waning days of steam on the New York Central, Trains Magazine Editor David P. Morgan and his friend, the accomplished photographer Philip R. Hastings, had a memorable encounter with a NYC Class L-3a 4-8-2 Mohawk in Shelby, Ohio. The Mohawk had seen better days and was assigned to a lowly […]

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Connecticut heritage railway acquires Frisco 2-8-2

Steam locomotive on temporary track

ESSEX, Conn. — The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, a heritage railroad operated by the Valley Railroad Co. on a former New Haven rail line, has purchased Frisco 2-8-2 No. 1352 from the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, the group restoring Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100. The locomotive was built by Alco in 1912 […]

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CPKC sued under Illinois genetic privacy act

Crude oil train pulling a long line of cars

CHICAGO — CPKC is the target of a class action lawsuit under Illinois’ Genetic Information Privacy Act for asking job applicants about their family medical histories, the legal news site Cook County Record reports. The suit, filed last month in Cook County Circuit Court, says the state law bars employers from seeking genetic information, and […]

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Branchline accommodation

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Gas-electric motorcars were the first successful application of internal combustion on railroads. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy No. 9838 was an Electro-Motive product built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1927. It was powered by a 275-hp gasoline engine. The car pauses at Virden, Ill., south of Springfield, to load goods and passengers on this day. […]

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CSX derailment in suburban Detroit leads to school closures

CSX logo

ROMULUS, Mich. — Fourteen cars of a CSX Transportation freight train derailed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus today (Thursday, Nov. 2), leading to the closure of two schools “out of an abudance of caution,” the city’s mayor said. No injuries were reported and no leaks or spills resulted from the derailment about 10 a.m., […]

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Canadian National train derails in rural Wisconsin

Canadian National logo

STANLEY, Wis. — Approximately 10 cars of a Canadian National Railway train derailed early this morning (Wednesday, Nov. 1), the Stanley Police department said in a press release posted on Facebook. The derailment occurred about 1:07 a.m. No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved, police said. Stanley, population 3,378, is about 30 […]

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