How fast ya’ going? The legendary John Luther “Casey” Jones forever linked the heroic railroad engineer with speed. He was the lone casualty when his train crashed in an attempt to get his “Cannonball” back on schedule. For the most part, steam engines lacked speedometers. Skill and a trusted pocket watch worked aptly for safe […]
GIBBON, Neb. — Approximately 15 cars of a Union Pacific coal train derailed today (Sunday, July 7) in Gibbon, KGFW Radio reports. No injuries were reported. The incident was reported to the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office about 2:24 a.m., according to KVRN Radio, and occurred at the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and Pawnee Road […]
Amtrak’s Keystone and Pennsylvanian One of the most famous passenger routes in the East is the former Pennsylvania Railroad trunk between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, known for hosting the New York-Chicago Broadway Limited. I’m a big fan of this route, known as the Main Line. The name stems from the original transportation corridor, the Main Line […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak service between New York City and Boston was cancelled for the remainder of today (Saturday, July 6) as of mid-afternoon because of “an ongoing electric power issue,” the passenger operator said in a service alert on its website posted at 5:50 p.m. ET. An earlier notification indicated that the problem was […]
On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Union Pacific No. 4014 departed Rock Springs, Wyo., bound for Evanston. This would be the third operating day of almost a month as part of what UP calls its “Westward Bound Tour.” The first two days, from Cheyenne to Rock Springs, found the Big Boy operating on the main line […]
WASHINGTON — Three labor organizations have opposed Amtrak’s request for a waiver allowing installation of a device the company claims will prevent incidents where trains fail to trigger track circuits. As a result, a decades-old issue that recently has forced Amtrak to assign at least seven Superliners to trains operated over Canadian National’s Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The long-awaited Albuquerque convention by the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, previously postponed due to COVID-19, called for a visit to the downtown’s Rail Yards as part of the annual gathering. Adding on to the itinerary was the June 26-27 appearance of steam locomotive No. 2926, making its first mainline […]
Trains contributor Steve Smedley put together this video of Canadian Pacific Hudson No. 2816 in Iowa on the return leg of the Final Spike Steam tour to accompany his earlier photo gallery of the July 1 move from Davenport to Dubuque, Iowa [see “‘The Empress’ and its train make the trip back to Canada,” Trains.com, […]
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Already facing one major project — recovery from major flood damage — the Sioux City Railroad Museum announced Wednesday that it would take on another: restoring one of the museum’s steam locomotives to operating condition. The museum, its parent Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, and the American Heartland Railroad Society are beginning […]
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — The Pikes Peak Cog Railway is bringing back its sunrise trips on four days this summer and fall, after introducing the early-morning departures last season. On these four days, the first departure from the railway’s Manitou Springs station will be at 4:30 a.m. instead of the usual 8 a.m. The early […]
DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has introduced a new early evening steam excursion, the Highline Express, which made its first trip on July 1. Running on Mondays and Tuesdays this month, the 3½-hour trip is the railroad’s shortest summer excursion and its only evening train, departing Durango at 4:30 p.m. […]
Road foreman As a young engineer, age 38, I was appointed road foreman of engines on the Lehigh Valley Railroad working out of Sayre, Pa. My territory ran from Coxton, Pa., to Manchester, N.Y., which is half way to Buffalo, N.Y. It was in 1953 and the job lasted until 1955 when I was fired […]
