Short line Winchester & Western grows through pandemic under OmniTRAX ownership

Black diesel locomotives on freight train in farm fields

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Winchester & Western, the 100-mile short line with trackage in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, was able to grow last year despite the pandemic. Traffic on the railroad, which short line holding company OmniTRAX acquired in September 2019, was up a shade over 9% last year. That was below railroad […]

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Remembering New York Central freight trains

Road-switcher diesel locomotives with freight train

All through January 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the New York Central Railroad. This week, feast your eyes on freight trains, in black-and-white, and color, from deep in Appalachia, to Manhattan’s High Line. See what we’ve unearthed from the David P. Morgan Library on this great railroad. Only from Classic Trains!   […]

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Digest: BNSF train derails in Arizona, prompting lengthy ‘Southwest Chief’ delay

BNSF logo

More Monday morning rail news: BNSF intermodal train derails in Arizona, stopping Southwest Chief No injuries were reported when a BNSF intermodal train derailed Sunday afternoon near Joseph City, Ariz., KPHO-TV reports. Photos show several double-stack well cars off the tracks, with containers overturned. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office says the accident was reported about 1 […]

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Cass Scenic Railroad steam logging locomotive quintuple-header (that’s 5 at once!)

Geared steam locomotive hauling a train through the forest.

  Join Trains Editor Jim Wrinn in Cass, West Virginia, in June 2020 for the re-opening of the Cass Scenic Railroad. Although the opening came amid a serious health crisis, Cass crews steamed up five locomotives and coupled them end-to-end for a quintuple-headed steam train — rare in any location in modern times. The highlight […]

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Cass Scenic Railroad steam logging locomotive quintuple-header (that’s 5 at once!)

Geared steam locomotive hauling a train through the forest.

  Join Trains Editor Jim Wrinn in Cass, West Virginia, in June 2020 for the re-opening of the Cass Scenic Railroad. Although the opening came amid a serious health crisis, Cass crews steamed up five locomotives and coupled them end-to-end for a quintuple-headed steam train — rare in any location in modern times. The highlight […]

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CSX history including predecessors

Blue and yellow locomotives lead a freight train.

  Join Trains on a locomotive-studded tour of CSX Transportation — the blue and gold railroad — along with predecessors. Trains honored CSX with a full-length DVD in 2020. This segment from the DVD features an overview of CSX and a history of the railroad and predecessors. Only from Trains.com! […]

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CSX history including predecessors

Blue and yellow locomotives lead a freight train.

  Join Trains on a locomotive-studded tour of CSX Transportation — the blue and gold railroad — along with predecessors. Trains honored CSX with a full-length DVD in 2020. This segment from the DVD features an overview of CSX and a history of the railroad and predecessors. Only from Trains.com! […]

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Cass Scenic Railroad, a glance at logging locomotive in summertime

Logging steam locomotive moving through a grade crossing, showing smoke and steam, surrounded by forest.

Join Trains editors on a brief tour of the historic Case Scenic Railroad in Cass, West Virginia. See video of restored and operating Heisler and Climax logging locomotives in dense foliage in the Appalachian Mountains. […]

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Dusty descent

Norfolk & Western Pocahontas

Norfolk & Western’s Cincinnati–Norfolk Pocahontas descends Christiansburg Hill west of Roanoke in a cloud of dust on April 21, 1971. Ten days before its discontinuance upon the arrival of Amtrak, the “Pokey” still carries healthy head-end traffic and an ex-Wabash dome coach. Photo by J. David Ingles […]

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NTSB report finds train building method, use of hand brakes on empty cars led to 2017 CSX derailment (updated)

Overhead shot of several freight cars derailed and burning.

 WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a half-dozen safety recommendations as a result of its investigation into an Aug. 2, 2017, CSX Transportation derailment in Hyndman, Pa. Thirty-three cars of a 178-car train derailed, resulting in an evacuation order covering about 1,000 residents and damage estimated at $1.8 million. The report […]

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West Virginia rail agency buys former Buffalo Creek & Gauley

Trains Magazine placeholder image

By Alan Byer The West Virginia Rail Authority will purchase all 18 miles of the storied Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad, ending a 20-year saga to preserve the route that began in 1999 when the Elk River Railroad — which included the BC&G right-of-way — ended operations. The authority’s purchase will be effective on or […]

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