The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]
PORT JERVIS, N.Y. — After more than two years of planning and development, the Port Jervis Transportation History Center is set to celebrate its grand opening Memorial Day Weekend with the first Port Jervis Transportation Festival. Also, the Dining Car Society has announced it will move its collection of seven historic passenger equipment from Scranton, […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — After a pause of more than a year, Bay Area Rapid Transit has resumed accepting delivery of its “Fleet of the Future” railcars, saying the manufacturer has sufficiently resolved reliability issues. BART stopped receiving new railcars on Jan. 8, 2021 [see “Digest: BART, citing reliability issues, says it will stop accepting delivery […]
FILLMORE, Calif. – Former Fillmore & Western Alco S6 1059, a heavyweight passenger car, and a detrucked Pacific Fruit Express wood-sheathed refrigerator car left Fillmore on Tuesday by low-boy trucks for their new home at the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in Virginia City, Nevada. The diesel, former Southern Pacific No. 1059, was numbered 1229 in […]
MONTREAL — At approximately 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12, a loud impact called to the attention of those in the vicinity, including at least one rail enthusiast, that something had gone quite wrong with the delivery of a new bilevel commuter car for Montreal-area commuter operator EXO. The new car, built by China’s CRRC […]
TRENTON, N.J. — NJ Transit will exercise an option to buy 25 more bilevel electric multiple unit railcars following approval of the $74 million purchase by the agency’s board of directors on Wednesday. NJ.com reports the additional Multilevel III cars will be built by Alstom following completion of a 113-car order placed in 2018. The last […]
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Siemens Mobility has received a 12-year contract to maintain North County Transit District’s Sprinter diesel multiple unit trainsets. The $80 million Technical Support Spares Supply Agreement also includes a 3-year option. The Sprinter equipment, in service since 2008, is used on the district’s 22-mile, 15-station line between Oceanside and Escondido. “NCTD […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Brightline train has arrived in Orlando for the first time. The new “Bright Blue 2” trainset was delivered to the passenger operator’s Vehicle Maintenance Facility, nearing completion. The facility is near Orlando International Airport, the northern terminus for the extension of service planned in 2023. “To see these trains begin to […]
A Burlington Route local spots a pair of stock cars at a Wyoming stock pen in 1955. The 40-foot cars were typical of modern 1950s cars, with steel underframes, ends, and roofs. The single-deck cars were built in 1949 at the railroad’s Havelock shops. William A. Akin photo […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — Failure of a key component caused a coupler to fall from a rail car, triggering a 22-car derailment in New Brunswick in January 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in a report issued Tuesday. The board also cautioned that if design of such components is not reassessed based on changes […]
CHICAGO — “Give yourself a big round of applause,” conductor Erik Newsom enthusiastically announced over the public address system of Amtrak train No. 303 as it left Chicago for St. Louis on Tuesday morning. “You’re the very first to ride Amtrak’s new Midwest cars!” Clapping followed, but that was the extent of the morning’s fanfare […]
How to rerail a freight car: When things go bang that shouldn’t on the railroad, it usually means trouble and most likely a derailment. Derailments are a fact of life, and when one occurs on a main line of a Class I railroad, it usually results in many cars on the ground with extensive media […]
