SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Half-a-billion dollars in unanswered questions remain now that California officials are working with a new builder on a floundering, years-old passenger car order. California Department of Transportation — Caltrans — officials say in a Wednesday news release that German railroad equipment manufacturer Siemens will build 137 single-level coaches in its Sacramento shops […]
O gauge F40PH diesel from MTH Price: $499.95 (No. 20-20683-1) Min Curve: O-31 Cmd Low: 2.3 smph Cnv Low: 2.9 smph High: 73.6 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 2 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, ProtoSound 3.0 command and sound system, smoke unit Current-production road names: Amtrak (Phase III and Phase IV), MBTA, Metra, VIA […]
NEW YORK — Building high speed passenger trains is not only technically intense, but a new Alstom video shows that it is also equal parts art and science fiction. The France-based locomotive and trainset manufacturer recently debuted a new video showing how Alstom engineers and designers collaborate to make digital three-dimensional models of new equipment […]
Amtrak’s ‘Empire Builder’ streaks through Brookfield, Wis. The speed limit for Amtrak on Canadian Pacific’s Watertown Subdivision is 79 mph. Tom Danneman Q Most Amtrak trains have a 79-mph speed limit. Will positive train control systems allow Amtrak to operate faster where track conditions allow? For instance, the Southwest Chief operates to 90 mph in […]
Attendees at Saturday’s St. Louis TEMPO meeting that are working toward a Sunset Limited Flatonia, Texas, stop: Clockwise from top left: Mark Murphy and Eric Hosey (Amtrak); Dennis Geesaman, Mark Eversole, and Mark McLaughlin (Flatonia); Josephine Jordan and Kim Fossland (Union Pacific); Jay Fountain (Amtrak-retired); and Tom Mulligan (UP-retired). Bob Johnston ST. LOUIS — Eight years […]
CHICAGO — This morning, Amtrak Hiawatha train No. 329 departed Chicago Union Station for Milwaukee behind a new SC-44 Charger locomotive, No. 4620. This is the first solo revenue trip for the Illinois Department of Transportation’s SC-44 locomotives since arriving in the Windy City this spring. This locomotive and its counterparts are owned by a […]
FULL SCREEN Steve Smedley A humid breeze wisps through the wheels of a rusted baggage cart in Champaign, Ill., at 5:28 a.m. Monday. Amtrak’s product line agent Ed Kim stands on the platform of the Illinois Terminal Intermodal Transportation Center in Champaign as the engineer of the Eclipse Express special dims the headlight for a […]
Amtrak’s westbound ‘Sunset Limited’ pauses for a station stop in Atmore, Ala., at sunrise in January 1995. It was the nation’s first and only transcontinental passenger train. Bob Johnston Q There were numerous named passenger trains that spanned distances beyond the reach of a single railroad, such as the California Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland, […]
A CSX Transportation freight train derailed at least 32 cars near Hyndman, Pa. on Wednesday morning impacting both freight and passenger railroads. MP208 HYNDMAN, Pa. — Amtrak’s Capitol Limited between Washington and Chicago will be running on a modified schedule for the next four days after a CSX Transportation freight train derailed more than 30 […]
NEW YORK CITY — Inbound Amtrak Albany-to-Grand Central Terminal Train No. 242 is passing through Marble Hill in the Bronx at 4:55 p.m. on July 26, 2017, as one of three Monday through Friday round trips from Albany, due to track work reconstruction at New York Penn Station. Led by non-dual power mode P42DC No. […]
ST. ALBANS, Vt. — An Amtrak inspection trip ran today from St. Albans to Montreal over the normally freight only Swanton Subdivision of both New England Central and Canadian National. Montrealer service ended in 1995 and more than two dozen rail and government officials were aboard the consist of Amtrak P42 101, Amcafe 43371 and […]
Amtrak’s southbound ‘Saluki’ rolls past the Canadian National yard into Champaign, Ill., in Feb., 2015. Bob Johnston ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a U.S. Surface Transportation Board attempt to provide metrics which measure host railroad on-time performance. The action follows a U.S. Supreme Court finding that […]
