SEATTLE — The Amtrak Cascades service will add a round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, from Portland, Ore., on March 7, restoring operations to Vancouver to their pre-pandemic levels. Also, the Cascades service recently provided an advance look at how its equipment will look, inside and out, when it takes delivery of the Siemens equipment […]
BOYERTOWN, Pa — The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust, the non-profit group supporting Pennsylvania’s Colebrookdale Railroad heritage operation, has received a $2.25 million state grant for a new event space and market area at the railroad’s yard in downtown Boyerstown. The grant was awarded under Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which supports acquisition and construction of […]
OMAHA, Neb. — A 42-year-old Arizona man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for calling in threats to Union Pacific headquarters and other Omaha locations in April 2021. The Omaha World-Herald reports Andrew Isaac Abrams of Tucson was sentenced for transmitting threats through interstate commerce on Friday, Jan. 13, according to a […]
The Illinois Central’s depot at Emery, Ill., 9 miles north of Decatur on IC’s original line down the center of the state, served as a train-order station and also had a small freight room. Note the Western Union telegraph sign at the corner of the building. Classic Trains coll. […]
EGR and SCR locomotive systems EGR and SCR locomotive systems are just two ways locomotives meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emission regulations, specifically Tier 4, standards implemented for new locomotives built for service in the United States. The emission regulations are designed to reduce the amount of nitrous oxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide […]
Climax Class A logging locomotive As steam locomotives go, logging engines aren’t the most attractive specimens out there. They’re the railroad version of the long-standing joke that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. But let’s not get hung up on appearances. These engines carved out their own niche in the very lucrative […]
Aerial photography Digital photography is constantly improving, and these advancements are empowering photographers to push the boundaries and explore new styles of photography. A new style that has recently emerged reinvents the classic, pan and pace. Using a low shutter speed and a steady hand, this style allows photographers to focus on the subject – […]
Winter is my favorite season, especially for watching trains. The snow gives everything in the background and foreground a pure, white canvas. Snow in the air gives photographs depth. Iced-over bodies of water give an awesome effect. It seems like snow scenes are quite rare when it comes to HO and N scale layouts, and […]
The plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit by residents of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, are appealing a December Superior Court decision that found Canadian Pacific was not liable in the 2013 oil-train disaster that killed 47 people in the community. The Canadian Press reports that the three individuals involved the suit, on behalf of some 4,500 members of […]
CALGARY — Canadian Pacific and Canadian union Unifor have reached agreement on a new contract for approximately 1,200 mechanical employees, the two parties announced today (Friday, Jan. 13). The previous agreement had expired on Dec. 31, 2022. Terms of the agreement were not announced. Both parties said details would be released following ratification. The workers, […]
Dirt the railroad cat Within a few hours of announcing Dirt’s death to the public in a Facebook post on January 11, 2023, Nevada Northern Railway Museum’s page flooded with thousands of people posting their condolences and sharing their fondest memories and pictures of Dirt. From a small stray kitten found in the enginehouse to […]
CHICAGO — Norfolk Southern efforts to expand a rail yard on Chicago’s South Side have run into resistance from local residents concerned the railroad has not followed through on promises of job opportunities, as well as on the effects of the surrounding neighborhood. Local news site Block Club Chicago reports the railroad is continuing work […]
