CUMBERLAND, Md. — As tourist railroads and museums emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, they are offering new experiences to attract the public. At the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, this effort has translated into the addition of Amtrak’s last dome car. The Ocean View, built in 1955 and retired by Amtrak in 2019, debuted earlier this […]
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RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — An inadvertent brake release by the engineer as he left the locomotive cab led to the derailment of a runaway train earlier this year on the Goderich Exeter Railway in Goderich, Ontario, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has determined. In the Feb. 1, 2021, accident, two locomotives and six cars […]
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DALLAS — Continuing to line up major partners and suppliers for its project, Texas Central Railway this week announced it has signed a contract to have Spanish firm Renfe serve as “Early Operator” for its proposed Dallas-Houston high speed rail line. As early operator, Renfe will be involved in design and development of commercial aspects […]
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CHICAGO — Union Pacific may temporarily reopen its idled Global III intermodal terminal in Rochelle, Ill., to help relieve congestion at its Global IV terminal in Joliet, Ill. UP informed customers Wednesday it will temporarily halt shipments of international containers from all West Coast ports to its Global IV terminal for up to a week, […]
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Join Trains for a 2021 visit to Illinois’ Monticello Railway Museum located in the central part of the state. The museum is home to plenty of rare Midwest gems including equipment railroads including the Wabash; Southern Railway; Illinois Central; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago & Illinois Midland; and Illinois Terminal. […]
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KINGSPORT, Tenn. — For the second straight year, there will be no CSX Santa Train in the southern Appalachian mountains. Instead, organizers will hold drive-through distribution of gifts at four locations. The train had run for 77 years until it was replaced by the drive-through distribution last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic [see “CSX […]
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CALGARY, Alberta — The Canada Infrastructure bank may fund up to half of a proposed passenger rail operation between Calgary’s airport and the popular tourist destination of Banff, an idea promoted by the provincial government and a private firm, Liricon Capital. Canadian Pacific, whose rail line would be involved, is open to the idea, Canadian […]
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LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Norfolk Southern has dipped its toes into a market that railroads abandoned decades ago: Expedited less-than-carload service. NS launched the door-to-door service this month as an experiment in the Chicago-Atlanta-Miami corridor. Trucks pick up small loads and deliver them to a rail-served warehouse where the shipments are cross-docked into waiting boxcars. The […]
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AUSTIN, Texas — The underground light rail route that is a key part of Austin’s $7 billion plan for transit expansion is facing changes after the Texas legislature failed to pass legislation allowing the route to go under two downtown parks. KUT Public Radio reports Austin Transit Partnership — the agency overseeing the project, combining […]
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NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, the Indiana preservation railroad that is leasing two rare EMD BL2 diesels, is seeking $5,000 in donations to speed the day when it can put one of the units into service. The former Bangor & Aroostook Railroad diesels, purchased during the bankruptcy sale of Iowa Pacific […]
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LYTTON, B.C. — Less than 24 hours after Canadian National reopened its fire-damaged main line in British Columbia, that line has been shut down again — as has the former British Columbia Railway line that had been used to reroute some traffic. Bloomberg reports CN informed customers on Wednesday that it was suspending operations between […]
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