Monday morning rail news: — Amtrak is suspending its non-stop Acela Express service between New York and Washington, D.C., reflecting decreasing travel because of concerns over the Covid-19 coronavirus. The service will be suspended as of Tuesday, March 10, until Tuesday, May 26. “We are making temporary adjustments to our schedule, such as removing train […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has been negotiating a sale of its dormant Tennessee Pass route with Rio Grande Pacific, the short line holding company that would operate a new railroad proposed to haul heavy crude oil out of Utah’s Uinta Basin. The information was accidentally disclosed in a filing posted briefly to the Surface Transportation […]
St. Louis — San Francisco Railway 2-10-0 Decapod type steam locomotive No. 1630 hauls an excursion train at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. Jim Wrinn 2-10-0 •YEARS BUILT: 1924-1933 •MANUFACTURERS: Baldwin, Canadian •OPERATED ON: Alabama, Tennessee & Northern, Durham & Southern, Georgia, Florida & Alabama, Seaboard Air Line, Great Western, Gainesville Midland, Woodward […]
McCloud River Railroad 2-6-2 Prairie type steam locomotive in California in 2008. Jim Wrinn 2-6-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1900-1909 •MANUFACTURERS: Rogers, Alco, Baldwin, Burlington Route shop forces •OPERATED ON: Burlington Route, Santa Fe, Milwaukee Road, and Northern Pacific •NAME: Prairie •QUANTITY: 1,250 for common carriers; more for loggers and mining roads; Burlington Route had the most […]
A Rock Island DL-series type diesel electric locomotive pulls the Rocket from Des Moines, Iowa, in 1946. Tom Harley DL-series •YEARS BUILT: 1940-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Milwaukee Road; Chicago & North Western; Rock Island; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; New Haven; Southern; among other railroads •NAMES: DL103B, 105, 107, 109 •QUANTITY: 78 (includes […]
EMC FT diesel-electric locomotive No. 103 is on display at the Museum of Transport in St. Louis, Missouri. Jim Wrinn FT •YEARS BUILT: 1939-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Electro-Motive Corp. •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe, Atlantic Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, Boston & Maine, Chicago & North Western, Burlington Route, Rock Island, Rio Grande, Erie, Great Northern, Lehigh Valley, […]
Southern Railway EMD E8 type diesel electric locomotive No. 6900 once pulled the Southern Crescent passenger train. Jim Wrinn E8 •YEARS BUILT: 1949-1953 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most major Class I railroads, notably Chesapeake & Ohio; Canadian Pacific; Chicago & North Western; Burlington Route; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie; Illinois Central; Missouri Pacific; New York […]
Southern Railway EMD GP30 type diesel electric locomotive No. 2601 pulls a passenger train at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Jim Wrinn GP30 •YEARS BUILT: 1961-1963 •MANUFACTURERS: EMD, GMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I railroads, notably, Chesapeake & Ohio, Burlington Route, Chicago & North Western, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Great Northern, Louisville & Nashville, […]
Nickel Plate Road PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive No. 190 called the Oregon Rail Heritage Center home. Jim Wrinn PA-1 •YEARS BUILT: 1946-1950 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Erie; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Lehigh Valley; Missouri-Kansas-Texas; Missouri Pacific; New Haven; Nickel Plate; New York Central; Pennsylvania; Cotton Belt; Southern […]
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SD40/-2 series •YEARS BUILT: 1966-1988 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I freight railroads in North America •NAMES: SD40, 40-2, Snoot (for extended nose versions), Tunnel Motor (for SD40T-2), High Hood (for SR and N&W), Wide Nose (for CN), Fast Forties (on UP) •QUANTITY: […]
Sharknose •YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953 •MANUFACTURER: Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern •NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15 •QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined •HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20 •KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive […]
Just as rail blockades end in one country, they resume in another. On the same day Canadian protestors in Quebec ended an almost month-long blockade [see “Trains News Wire Digest for Friday, March 6“], Kansas City Southern has informed customers that protests are once again disrupting operations on Kansas City Southern de Mexico, as well […]
