BERLIN — Germany’s famed Harz Mountain Railway — a 140-kilometer (87.5-mile) meter-gauge network run by the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB) — has announced plans to make long-term changes to its operation including the future “decarbonization of the popular steam locomotives.” The announcement came as part of a funding deal for this year (providing around $20 million) […]
HUTCHINS, Texas — Inside a spartan warehouse the size of 10 football fields, the loud hum of plastic pellet packaging machinery may as well be the sound of carload and intermodal growth on Union Pacific. UP gathers covered hopper loads from Gulf Coast petrochemical plants and delivers them here, to the Katoen Natie packaging plant […]
Four ballot initiatives with at least some rail transit component all appear to have passed on Tuesday, based on results available this morning (Wednesday, Nov. 6). — In Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix, voters appear to have approved an extension of a half-cent sales tax for transit, the Arizona Republic reports. The tax, introduced […]
BOSTON — The rapid transit Orange Line is free of speed restrictions for the first time in 15 years as the result of maintenance work completed on Nov. 1, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority reports. Work completed on two segments of the line — Oak Grove-Ruggles Oct. 26-27 and Oak Grove-North Station Oct. 28-Nov. 1 […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday (Nov. 5) granted requests by Amtrak and Southern California’s North County Transportation District to dismiss long-running cases before the board. Amtrak had requested that the board dismiss its request for an order requiring CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern to allow operation of Gulf Coast service between New […]
In every issue News, p. 4 Norfolk Southern sued by federal government over its handling of the Crescent Bill Stephens, p. 10 The more things change, the more they stay the same Great Railfan Roads, p. 46 Follow the BNSF Railway across Montana Preservation, p. 52 Kalmbach Media’s corporate art collection donated to Center for […]
Trains 2024 Magazine Index […]
ALTOONA, Pa. – The trackside park at America’s oldest train-watching site – Horseshoe Curve, on Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Line in west-central Pennsylvania – is again accessible to all visitors. Closed since the end of the 2019 season by a seemingly endless cycle of mechanical, operational, electronic, and software issues, the funicular or inclined-plane railway that […]
CHICAGO — The Chicago Transit Authority has returned to pre-pandemic levels of rail service, with a 20% increase in weekly train trips, the agency said on Monday, Nov. 4. The change means more than 1,200 additional rail trips per week compared to the spring 2024 schedule, according to the CTA, and covers all eight rail […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has appointed Joseph H. Carpenter IV as vice president law, the company announced on Monday (Nov. 4). Carpenter will lead the company’s law department, guiding legal efforts and advancing regulatory initiatives. He will report to Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Jason Morris, who was named to that position in […]
New tricks Most of you know me from my career as a main line diesel locomotive engineer — a fair assessment. Deep down inside of me though, there lurks a little boy filled with awe and excitement for that American Flyer Pennsy K4, chugging around under my Christmas tree. I’m writing this from the relative […]
NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. — The driver of a BNSF maintenance-of-way vehicle was killed Monday, Nov. 4, when the vehicle was struck by a train, KFGO Radio reports. The collision occurred about 11 a.m. Eddy County Sheriff Paul Lies told the station that the vehicle was hit when it was backing across railroad tracks about 2.5 […]
