NJ Transit awards contract to restore tunnel on Lackawanna Cutoff

NJT_PTC_Lassen

NEWARK, N.J. — The NJ Transit Board of Directors today approved a contract to rehabilitate the Roseville Tunnel on the Lackawanna Cutoff, part of a plan to restore commuter rail service to Andover, N.J. from Port Morris, N.J. The contract with Schiavone Construction Co. LLC of Secaucus, N.J. includes the final design, construction, and commissioning of the […]

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Amtrak, PennDOT to add Keystone Service

blue and silver passenger train passes brick tower

PHILADELPHIA – Beginning April 25, Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will operate additional Keystone Service trains between New York, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg, Pa. Two new weekday trains will be added, and all pre-pandemic weekend service will be restored. “After a long period of reduced schedules, PennDOT is pleased that Amtrak has been able […]

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Ontario Northland wins contract to overhaul GO Transit bilevels

Commuter train with bi-level coaches

NORTH BAY, Ontario — Ontario Northland Railway has won a $109 million contract to overhaul 56 GO Transit bi-level commuter cars at its shop on North Bay. The cars will receive a complete overhaul that includes stripping down the entire coach, structural work, and renewing or upgrading parts including new seating, washroom upgrades, electrical components, […]

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BNSF donates rebuilt SD9 to Minnesota museum

sd9 locomotive pulling train

DULUTH, Minn. — BNSF Railway has donated a rebuilt SD9 to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. BNSF 1550 was built in February 1954 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors for the Great Northern Railway as No. 573. EMD built 515 SD9s between 1954 and 1959. No. 573 worked for many years in Superior, […]

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STB Gulf Coast hearing scrutinizes details of traffic modeling: Analysis

Trains on three tracks as seen from bridge

WASHINGTON — Last week’s fourth day of testimony at the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing on Amtrak Gulf Coast service focused on two questions: — “Where did the data used for traffic modeling come from?” — “What constitutes a train that can cause ‘unreasonable impairment’ to freight operations” if two passenger round trips are introduced between […]

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Big Boy heads west in June

Large steam locomotive pulling a passenger train around a curve. More of the Big Boy story.

CHEYENNE, Wyo.  — Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014 is set to return to the tracks this summer for what UP’s Steam Club is calling the “West Coast Steam Tour,” kicking off on June 26 from the railroad’s heritage headquarters in Cheyenne. This year’s tour celebrates Union Pacific’s 160th anniversary, its heritage, […]

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Ontario short line keeps GM traffic moving after CN snafu

The Ontario Southland Railway helped keep General Motors plants humming when a bridge clearance issue arose after a track project on Canadian National. CN, which handles the majority of traffic in St. Thomas, Ontario, suffered a line outage on the Talbot Spur when a program to fix track in the St. Thomas yard resulted in […]

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News photo: South Shore street running in April 2022

Line of locomotives on a train in a residential neighborhood.

South Shore street running: Bruce Stahl captured an unusually powerful freight train for northwestern Indiana in April. To wit: six locomotives led by South Shore No. 805 haul four grain hoppers down a torn-up street in Michigan City, Indiana. Stahl captured this rapture of motive power on Sunday, April 10, 2022, on “Church” curve. “The […]

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Missile strike on Ukraine rail station kills 57

blue foreign passenger train

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine – A station in Kramatorsk, packed with refugees waiting for trains to take them westward, was hit by a Russian missile attack on April 8. The death toll updated by the Ukrainian government on April 10 stands at 57 with 109 injured. Pictures from the scene depict abandoned belongings and children’s toys, in […]

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