DeLand, Fla., marks opening of SunRail station

Commuter train rounds curve with city skyline in background

DeLAND, Fla. — Ceremonies on Friday, Aug. 9, marked the opening of the DeLand SunRail station, the 17th station on the Orlando-area commuter rail line and the northern endpoint of a 12-mile extension that completes the system as originally envisioned. The West Volusia Beacon reports 300 or more people were on hand for the dedication […]

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Illinois Railway Museum sets night steam photo shoot

Night photo of steam locomotive

UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum will host a night photo shoot featuring Frisco No. 1630, its 1918 Baldwin 2-10-0, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. The event begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are $100 and participation will be limited. No. 1630 will be staged at locations around the property with actors wearing period-appropriate attire. […]

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Chicago may ask Union Station to house Greyhound passengers

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago wants Chicago Union Station to provide waiting-room space for Greyhound bus passengers after the expected closure of the city’s Greyhound station in mid-September, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. But Amtrak — Union Station’s owner — says it hasn’t been contacted about any such plan and has reservations about the area’s […]

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Caltrain to place first electric trainsets in service

Caltrain electric trainset passes through station

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain will begin public operation of its electrified trainsets this Sunday, Aug. 11, the news site SFGate reports. Agency spokesman Dan Lieberman told SFGate that “a couple” of the electric trains will be in operation, but that Caltrain has decided against announcing which specific trains will be operating with the new equipment […]

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MARC, VRE begin cross-honoring passes

Commuter train with two engines and bilevel coaches

BALTIMORE — While through-running operation for MARC and Virginia Railway Express trains beyond Washington, D.C., remains a wish-list items for some passengers and both agencies, the two commuter rail operators are now making it a little easier and less expensive for some riders to make use of both services. A new agreement, announced Thursday and […]

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Going retro with your railroad photography

woman holding camera up to her eye

Railroad photography The retro use of film cameras in our hobby has found a hardcore niche. If you can afford the cost of film these days and tamp down the instant gratification of shooting digital to see what you captured seconds later, you can be rewarded images echoing those from photographers past. Waiting to see […]

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Amtrak to resume second Chicago-Quincy train as of Saturday

Short Amtrak train with Siemens Charger locomotive

CHICAGO — Amtrak will restore the second train on its state-supported Chicago-Quincy, Ill., route as of this Saturday, Aug. 10, the company announced this evening (Thursday, Aug. 8). Trains Nos. 381 and 382, the Carl Sandburg, had been suspended since July 30 because of a “high shop count,” according to an Amtrak spokesman [see “Amtrak […]

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California High-Speed Rail Authority selects new CEO

California High Speed Rail Authority logo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ian Choudri will be the new CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the agency’s board of directors announced after a closed-session meeting today (Aug. 8, 2024). Choudri, currently senior vice president for consulting firm HNTB, has more than 30 years in transportation, including work on high speed rail projects in France […]

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EBT 0-6-0 No. 3 leaves Pennsylvania for new home in Alabama

Steam locomotive moving on highway on goose-neck truck trailer.

MOUNT UNION, Pa. —  East Broad Top Railroad’s last remaining standard-gauge 0-6-0 switcher, a 1923 Baldwin Locomotive Works engine, on Wednesday left the only place it has called home for 101 years aboard a specialized heavy-haul low-boy trailer. The 68-ton locomotive is destined for display at a park in Red Bay, Ala., more than 800 […]

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Derailed car from BNSF grain train hits crew transport vehicle

Grain hopper and damaged SUV

RED OAK, Iowa — The driver of a crew transport vehicle was injured today (Aug. 8, 2024) when his vehicle was hit by a railcar from a BNSF derailment. The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency reports that the county communications center received a report of a derailment at 6:05 a.m. Emergency crews that responded found […]

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