NIIGATA, Japan – East Japan Railway Co. is testing autonomously operated bullet trains in Niigata Prefecture as it studies introducing trains without engineers (called drivers in Japan) in the future, Kyodo News reported. The test, the first of its kind for the Shinkansen bullet train network, began Oct. 29, and was opened to the media […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
News photo: New Illinois-based locomotive leaser’s first unit has its day in the sun (and palm trees)
MADISON, Ill. — Gulf Coast Railway Equipment Leasing is the name for the new locomotive leasing service of Quality Rail in Madison, Ill. Its first unit glows in the morning sun, awaiting finishing touches, before it gets shipped to Alton Steel for lease service. This unit and one other sister, both former Terminal Railroad of […]
Trains, January 2022
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Franklin Park crossovers separate Canadian Pacific and Metra moves
FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. — It’s not the largest or most essential component of a decades-long, $4.6 billion dollar effort to unclog Chicago’s rail network called CREATE. But completion of the $14.5 million Metra/Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades Project is typical of incremental improvements that sporadic funding achieves. Six crossovers and associated signaling now allow Canadian Pacific […]
New England Museum offering autism-friendly holiday train excursion
THOMASTON, Conn. – For the sixth consecutive year, the Railroad Museum of New England and the Naugatuck Railroad are teaming up with Watertown, Conn.-based nonprofit Sun, Moon & Stars to offer a holiday train ride designed for children on the autism spectrum. Naugatuck Railroad is the operational branch of the Railroad Museum of New England, founded […]
San Diego agency seeks new partner for desert line
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is seeking new partners in its ongoing effort to reopen the 70-mile former San Diego & Arizona Eastern line from Tecate, Mexico, to Plaster City, Calif., the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The agency has owned the line since 1979 and made several attempts to reopen the […]
Friends of the 261 acquires private car ‘Caritas’
MINNEAPOLIS – The Friends of the 261, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, has purchased well-known private car Caritas, Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg tells Trains “News Wire.” Sandberg says the group acquired the car in a bankruptcy auction from the bankruptcy court […]
The Trains Interview: Western Maryland Scenic’s Wesley Heinz, Part II
Second of two parts CUMBERLAND, Md. — The conclusion of a Trains News Wire interview with with Wesley Heinz, executive director of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Part I is available here. Q: Second to 1309, track infrastructure has been a recurring topic of discussion. How is the railroad addressing track needs to avoid another […]
First Stadler DMU for San Bernardino County departs factory
SALT LAKE CITY — The first of three diesel multiple-unit trainsets for use in Southern California has left Stadler’s Salt Lake City factory. The low-floor FLIRT trainsets for the San Bernardino County Transit Authority will run on a 9-mile line between the San Bernardino Transit Center and Redlands, Calif., providing a connection to existing Metrolink […]
HornBlasters to enter rail market, sell Leslie products
TAMPA, Fla. — HornBlasters, which sells train horns for automotive use, has announced it is entering the locomotive market after acquiring assets of the Air Whistles product line of Leslie Circor Leslie Controls. Leslie, founded in 1905, is the oldest locomotive horn manufacturer in the U.S. and one of only two in the country producing […]
Canadian National defends intermodal growth strategy
MONTREAL — Canadian National executives defended their intermodal growth strategy today, saying it’s the best way to compete with trucks and bring new profitable traffic to the railway over the next decade. Activist investor TCI Fund Management, which has launched a proxy fight to replace CEO JJ Ruest and four board members, has been critical […]
Trains photo charter in Oregon to feature Santa Maria Valley 2-6-2
LEBANON, Ore. — Santa Maria Valley No. 205, a recently restored 2-6-2 that had not steamed in 71 years, will make its photographer’s train debut in a Trains Magazine-sponsored event at the Albany & Eastern on March 18. The locomotive and two coaches will make multiple photo runbys on the railroad’s scenic Sweet Home Branch […]
