New slide activity halts freight traffic through San Clemente

Passenger train on single track next to palm trees and beach

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — BNSF freight traffic past the site of the latest landside in San Clemente has been halted by additional slide activity, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Tuesday night freight movement was suspended after the slope moved another 1.5 to 3 feet in a 24-hour period through Tuesday afternoon, Scott Johnson, Metrolink director […]

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A closer look at how capacity impacts growth on Amtrak’s network: Analysis

Passenger train with two locomotives and bilevel cars on multi-track main line

WASHINGTON — An Amtrak press release issued last week, “Ambitious 2024 Initiatives Propel Amtrak Ridership Growth,” outlines the company’s goal of doubling ridership by 2040. This is based on “improving passenger train service for our customers and efficiently and effectively carrying out a massive major infrastructure capital program aimed to modernize and upgrade our infrastructure, […]

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Amtrak selects builder for Frederick Douglass Tunnel

Map showing route of the current B&P Tunnel and the planned route of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel which will replace it.

BALTIMORE — Amtrak has selected a Kiewit/J.F. Shea Joint Venture to build the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, the replacement for 150-year-old B&P Tunnel which poses major operating issues on the Northeast Corridor just south of Baltimore Penn Station. The approximately $6 billion project involves construction of two parallel, single-track 2-mile tunnels, and will eliminate 30-mph speed […]

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Most Sacramento light rail service restored

Logo of Sacramento Regional Transit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most Sacramento light rail service was restored this afternoon (Monday, Feb. 5), following power outages and other storm damage that hit the Sacramento Regional Transit system on Sunday. An advisory on the Sacramento RT website says Blue Line service was restored at 2 p.m. with Green Line and a portion of the […]

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California storms disrupt Amtrak, Sacramento light rail service

Amtrak logo.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]

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Officials announce plans to build wall to deal with San Clemente slide

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will build a wall to protect Surf Line tracks at the site of the landslide that has halted passenger rail operations since Jan. 24, OCTA and Metrolink announced on Friday. The decision comes a day after a state emergency declaration made $10 million in funding available […]

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Amtrak, railroads ask STB to cancel hearing on status of Gulf Coast agreement

aerial view of land along railroad tracks near water

WASHINGTON — The parties involved in the agreement to allow the launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service have filed a joint update on that agreement requested by the Surface Transportation Board, asking that the board scrap a hearing planned for Feb. 14 “as the Parties have no further information to offer.” The STB last month […]

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Pacific Surfliner extends slide-related schedule changes to at least Feb. 9 (updated)

Cab car leads passenger train along track next to ocean

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — With heavy rains forecast over the next several days and no long-term solution for the latest landslide in the San Clemente area, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner has extended its revised schedule of cancellations and bus-bridge service through at least Friday, Feb. 9. Meanwhile, the state of California issued an emergency declaration Thursday […]

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Application error prevented consideration of Boise-Salt Lake route for Corridor ID program

Passenger train stopped at station, as viewed from high angle

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho rail advocates were disappointed when a route linking Boise and Salt Lake City wasn’t included in the Federal Railroad Adminstration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program announced in December. But it turns out that effort to revive part of the route of Amtrak’s discontinued Pioneer was never even considered for the eventual […]

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Classic Toy Trains February 2024 new products

silver model locomotive

Locomotives & rolling stock Mr. Muffin’s Trains has several custom-run items for sale. The first are MTH 50-foot Waffle Boxcars in two paint schemes with two road numbers each: Louisville & Nashville No. 101635 (20-99372), Louisville & Nashville No. 101640 (20-99373), Milwaukee Road No. 4307 (20-99374, shown), and Milwaukee Road No. 4311 (20-99375). Price: $69.95 […]

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Freight traffic resumes through San Clemente; passenger moves still halted

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — BNSF Railway has resumed freight operations through the location of the latest landslide on Southern California’s Surf Line, which remains closed to passenger traffic following a Jan. 24 incident near the San Clemente Pier. The Orange County Register reports BNSF began freight movements with a 10-mph speed restriction between 9 p.m. […]

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News photo: New paint for an Amtrak veteran

Locomotive with red and two tones of blue paint leading passenger train

Amtrak is beginning to give its General Electric locomotive fleet a look in keeping with its newer units. Fresh from an overhaul at the Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility, Amtrak P42 No. 174, manufactured in 2001, sports a variation of the paint scheme the company uses on its new Siemens Charger locomotives as it leads the […]

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