OAKDALE, Calif. — Sierra Northern Railway has introduced a locomotive honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States, adding a flag motif to the railroad’s latest blue, white, and gold paint scheme. Railpower RP20BD genset locomotive now wears No. 250. The locomotive began life as a Santa Fe GP7, later serving Burlington Northern and the […]
LAS VEGAS — The completion date for the Brightline West high-speed rail project has been pushed back again, this time to late 2029. The company informed KVVU-TV of that date last week, but not did elaborate on reasons for the new estimate. It did say the project is in the “civil construction” phase, preparing the […]
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Don Toles, avid Southern California railfan and caretaker of Hill 582 on Cajon Pass, died Jan. 17, 2026, in San Bernardino, Calif. He was 97. Toles was well known in the local train-watching community thanks to his constant tending of the Hill 582 site, getting rid of leaves, cleaning out garbage, […]
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger has, indirectly, ended a proposal to extend Metrolink commuter rail service from Ventura to Santa Barbara County. In its place, those two counties are now looking at a proposal from the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency that would serve the same desire to create a commuter rail […]
A Daylight 4-8-4 and a 4-8-2 doublehead the Los Angeles-bound San Joaquin Daylight upgrade at Allard, Calif., a dozen miles north of famous Tehachapi Loop, in May 1953. W. E. Malloy Jr. photo […]
GAVIOTA, Calif. — Train service has resumed on Union Pacific’s Coast Line north of Santa Barbara following a week-long closure because of a washout. Southbound Pacific Surfliner No. 774 left San Luis Obispo as scheduled at 6:11 a.m. local time today (Jan. 13), the first of two daily Surfliner round trips between San Luis Obispo and […]
SAN DIEGO — Two San Diego-area 18-year-olds have been arrested after allegedly “train surfing” on the top of a Coaster commuter train last week. KNSD-TV reports the San Diego Sheriff’s Office said on Monday, Jan. 12, that it had arrested Joseph Medina-Rivera of El Cajon and Brad Ellgen of Oceanside after numerous reports from the […]
WASHINGTON — The Union Pacific brakeman killed in a grade-crossing incident in Ontario, Calif., last month was riding the lead car on a shove move when his train struck a truck that had entered the crossing while warning lights were flashing, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report released today (Jan. 12, 2026). […]
GAVIOTA, Calif. — Suspensions to Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight service will continue until at least Tuesday, Jan. 13, because of a washout near Gaviota, Calif. According to the Pacific Surfliner website, Union Pacific anticipates reopening the tracks north of Santa Barbara on Jan. 13. In the meantime, the two daily Surfliner round trips to […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak is dealing with several days of operating issues for a number of long-distance services, with the Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Sunset Limited all experiencing disruptions, most of them weather-related. Some of California’s Pacific Surfliner service also continues to be canceled because of weather-related issues. In California, the northbound Coast Starlight scheduled […]
STOCKTON, Calif. — Amtrak’s state-supported Gold Runner service, which restored a seventh round trip between Stockton and Bakersfield in December, has now canceled one daily round trip between Bakersfield and Oakland through March 5. The trains affected are No. 713, an 8:58 a.m. departure from Bakersfield that arrives in Oakland at 3:14 p.m., and No. […]
GAVIOTA, Calif. — Union Pacific and Amtrak operations along the Coast Line in Santa Barbara County have been shut down by a washout that led to an incident in which a maintenance worker was injured. The Santa Barbara County Fire Department reports it responded at 7:47 a.m. today (Jan. 6, 2026) to an incident north […]
