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‘California Zephyr’ preview In the months before the California Zephyr’s March 20, 1949, launch, the new train’s cars began filtering into the heavyweight consist of its predecessor on the CB&Q-DRGW-WP route, the Exposition Flyer, seen here on the Western Pacific at Keddie, Calif., with a baggage car and two domes built for the streamliner. Donald […]
LOS ANGELES — Amtrak and Metrolink service has been suspended in south Orange County for emergency track work to stabilize right-of-way in the San Clemente, Calif., area. The Pacific Surfliner website says no trains will operate south of Irvine. Calif., between today and Sunday. As of Monday, Sept. 20, train service will resume on a […]
LOS ANGELES — Commuter rail operator Metrolink is joining the California Department of Transportation and U.S. Geological Survey for a pilot warning system that could slow and stop trains in the event of an earthquake. The Earthquake Early Warning System will be deployed between Perris and Riverside on Metrolink’s 91/Perris Valley Line. It will use […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has restored service on more of its light rail network, bringing back Blue Line service as of Sunday, Sept. 12. Trains will operate at 20-minute intervals during weekdays and 30-minute intervals evenings and weekends. The VTA also has extended fare-free light rail travel, which was […]
California Zephyr introduction California Zephyr journeys are scenic and today’s Zephyr in many ways still reprises the advertising slogan of its originators after the “Silver Lady” made its maiden run in March 1949: “The most talked-about train in America.” The Zephyr operates daily between Chicago and Emeryville, Calif., just across the bay from San Francisco. […]
EUREKA, Calif. — Northern California legislators are decrying an effort they say would revive a long-defunct portion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad as part of a plan to export coal from the Port of Humboldt Bay, Eureka’s lightly used commercial port. The Eureka Times-Standard reports the plan from the North Coast Railroad Co. came to […]
LONG BEACH, Calif. — A major rail expansion project at the Port of Long Beach has fallen at least a year behind schedule, an official says, as the port waits for the U.S. Maritime Administration to approve an environmental report. The Long Beach Post reports the $870 million Pier B On-Dock Support Project is awaiting […]
How did you get started in the hobby? Like so many of us, I was around five years old and woke up on Christmas morning to see a brand-new Lionel train running around the Christmas tree. I’ve been hooked ever since. What was your first large scale locomotive? It was a secondhand LGB European 0-4-0. […]
Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad: An introduction The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad provides a family train-riding experience through scenic vistas. The tourist railroad is located on the western outskirts of Yosemite National Park, two miles south of Fish Camp, Calif. The facility at Fish Camp consists of a two-stall engine house, a museum, and […]
STOCKTON, Calif. — The Altamont Corridor Express will add a fourth round trip between Stockton and San Jose as of Sept. 7, restoring the commuter rail service to its pre-pandemic level. The Modesto Bee reports the added trains will be a westbound departing Stockton at 7:32 a.m. and arriving in San Jose at 9:44 a.m., […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority resumed limited light rail service on Sunday, more than three months after service was shut down following a mass shooting at the agency’s Guadalupe rail yard. “As we continue to bring back employees safely and compassionately,” the agency said in a statement on its website, […]
DUNSMUIR, Calif. — Twenty cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Friday in Northern California’s Siskiyou County near the site of a 1991 derailment that spilled chemicals into the Sacramento River, leading to a massive kill-off of fish and health problems for those who responded to the accident. The Sacramento Bee reports no spills were […]
