Metrolink F125 locomotives poised for full operation by summer

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LOS ANGELES – There’s a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for Metrolink’s new Tier 4 F125 locomotive fleet. At a Saturday public meeting between railroad officials and residents of neighborhoods surrounding the carrier’s Central Maintenance Facility, Metrolink’s Neil Brown said that 32 of the new F125 locomotives are in service, 28 of […]

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Amtrak to begin offering bus-only tickets in California NEWSWIRE

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STOCKTON, Calif. — Amtrak will begin offering bus-only tickets on some routes in California, following approval of the plan by the agency which oversees San Joaquin train service. KGET-TV reports the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority voted at a Friday meeting to allow the passenger railroad to sell bus-only tickets on its Bakersfield-Oxnard-Santa Barbara and […]

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Bigger and better: 7/8n2 in the garden

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The author and several helpers modeled the Alhambra Trestle over the course of three years. A 7/8″ Fairymead pulls Dave Frediani cars past 22 Japanese maples, both dwarf and semi-dwarf, back to the caboose. Nancy Norris After decades of building and maintaining garden railways, I’ve built my own railway for low maintenance and live-steam access. […]

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DeMartino selected to head LOSSAN agency NEWSWIRE

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New LOSSAN Executive Director Donna DeMartino. LOSSAN ORANGE, Calif. — Donna DeMartino has been named managing director of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, effective Jan. 27. DeMartino will oversee management and operations of state-supported, Amtrak-operated Pacific Surfliner passenger trains along the LOSSAN corridor. She replaces Jennifer Berenger, who has led the […]

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Transition era exemplified

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After 0-6-0 No. 1211 made up the train, two GP9s ease Advance Overnight 372 out of Southern Pacific’s freight terminal at 4th and Berry streets in San Francisco. The piggybacker will follow the Del Monte down the Peninsula on the first leg of its run to L.A. William D. Middleton photo […]

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Single donor funding opposition to SMART ballot initiative NEWSWIRE

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SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A single donor has contributed more than $500,000 to an effort to block a sales-tax extension to fund Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit service, and has indicated willingness to double that amount, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports. Molly Gallaher Flater, daughter of Sonoma County developer Bill Gallaher, is funding the effort to […]

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California budget earmarks $4.2 billion for high speed rail NEWSWIRE

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2020-2021 budget would provide $4.2 billion for the state’s High Speed Rail Authority over five years. “The High Speed Rail Authority is continuing to construct the Central Valley segment completing electrified High Speed Rail from Merced to Bakersfield with Proposition 1A bonds, federal funds, and 25 percent of […]

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