Follow along with Trains Editor Jim Wrinn as he gets a close look at Rio Grande Southern No. 20 — a newly restored narrow-gauge 4-6-0 steam locomotive now homed at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colo. Before 2020, No. 20 had not steamed since the 1950s and required more than a decade of […]
For the first time since a fatal derailment in December 2017, Amtrak trains ran on Washington’s Point Defiance Bypass, the intended passenger-only route to shift trains off the coastal line shared with BNSF Railway freight traffic. Test trains on Saturday and Sunday on the 14-mile line between Tacoma and Nisqually Junction are for familiarization and […]
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Robert C. Jones, educator, railroader, and prolific author, died on Jan. 13 at age 86 of natural causes at his Vermont home. A graduate of the University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College, he was a teacher for 32 years. He wrote, co-wrote, or edited 24 books of northern New England Railroad […]
Trains’ Editor Jim Wrinn visited the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway in August 2020 to grab video above the tree line to record portions of the tourist line’s re-construction project. The railroad itself is being completely re-built and is expected to re-open in May 2021. The railroad has also ordered new trains from […]
Still more Monday morning rail news: Utah governor indicates preference for gondola system to service ski areas, but says decision has not been made Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is leaning toward seeing a gondola system, rather than a cog railway or enhanced bus service, as the solution to traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon, the route […]
Monday morning rail news: Massachusetts governor signs transportation bond bill, blocks legislation requiring MBTA to reverse service cuts Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed a $16.5 billion transportation bond bill while vetoing specific elements of the legislation, and has vetoed a bill which would have required the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to use its federal […]
Chargers are among the newest and most popular passenger locomotives in North America today. The diesel-electric units are made by Germany-based Siemens, at the company’s Sacramento, Calif., manufacturing plant. This videos offers a Chicago-area tour of Chargers leading Amtrak train to Midwest destinations. […]
By: Dan Cupper ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — The non-profit that owns the East Broad Top Railroad in Pennsylvania is looking to acquire a few standard-gauge freight cars, to be used to show how the narrow gauge line handled standard gauge cars using special transfer trucks and cast-aluminum coupler adapters. “We’re looking to replicate the post-World […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board took a victory lap last week over the implementation of positive train control, the landmark safety system that it first recommended after the head-on collision of two Penn Central commuter trains in 1969. “Over the next five decades we investigated one crash after another that could have been […]
More Monday morning rail news: Avon, Colo., officials approve paying half of fees for legal challenges to Tennessee Pass plan Officials in Avon, Colo., have agreed to having the town of 6,500 pay half the fees to any legal challenge to a plan to revive rail service over Tennessee Pass. The Vail Daily reports Eagle […]
Colorado’s magnificent Georgetown Loop Railroad rebuilt a unique caboose in 2020. One of a small number of surviving Rio Grande cabooses with eight wheels, the Loop’s caboose adds a new element to this spectacular railroad. Join us for a ride with the man who headed up the restoration. […]
Florida has standard gauge steam once more. U.S. Sugar has restored 4-6-2 No. 148 for special events and a future tourist railroad. The locomotive helped to kickoff the sugarcane harvest. Let’s visit this graceful locomotive on the railroad where it worked for many years. […]
