SACRAMENTO — Alstom Transportation and Siemens Mobility are the two potential suppliers of trainsets for the California high speed rail project, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced Friday. Their identification as qualified bidders follows the authority’s release of a Request for Qualifications in August 2023 and precedes the release of the Request for Proposals and […]
The 4-8-4 steam locomotive wheel arrangement was exemplified in the South by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Dixies. Of all the regions in the U.S., the South had the fewest of what might be called the ultimate dual-service “modern” steam locomotive, that is, engines with four-wheel trailing trucks, especially 4-8-4s. An agrarian […]
Wabash Railway history started with the Northern Cross, the first railroad in Illinois, in 1837. The term “Fallen Flag” first appeared in Trains in 1974, as the title for a series of thumbnail histories of merged-away railroads. The series began with the Wabash, and employed the road’s flag emblem outline to illustrate the series’ […]
Montreal Locomotive Works DL535E diesel locomotives have proven to be versatile narrow-gauge haulers made famous by a garden railway staple. In 1969, American Locomotive Co. of Schenectady, N.Y., was building seven six-axle, 1,200-hp DL535E diesel locomotives, Nos. 101-107, for the White Pass & Yukon when the builder abruptly shut down its manufacturing operations. […]
Infrastructure is the shared theme of our stories in the tie at No. 6 — be it a single huge project in the form of New York’s Grand Central Madison, or general infrastructure spending across the country. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in November 2021, promised almost $400 billion for projects around the country, and […]
The year 2023 has seen major new rail lines enter service around the world, with new high-speed lines opening as far apart as Spain and Indonesia. High speed developments weren’t quite as positive in the United Kingdom, where part of the HS2 system was axed by the government. And new railway technology, in the form […]
In the steam age, most Chicago & North Western locomotives burned coal, but those assigned to divisions west of the Missouri River were oil burners; in addition, the four Pacifics rebuilt for the 400s were converted to oil. One group of light Pacifics was fitted with special grates for burning lignite, a low-grade coal. […]
The EMC TA diesel locomotive was an early passenger diesel and a Rock Island oddity. If it looks and sounds like an early EMC E-series streamlined diesel passenger locomotive, there is a good chance it is. But don’t bet the family farm. The locomotive in question is the EMC TA diesel, a […]
President Joe Biden and passenger rail advocates on Friday hailed announcement of two major Federal Railroad Administration programs — one providing $8.2 billion in grants for construction of passenger-focused projects [see “FRA announces $8.2 billion in Federal-State Partnership passenger grants,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 8, 2023] and the other announcing routes selected for further passenger […]
For years the Chicago & North Western operated Chicago’s most extensive commuter service. Its three routes were designated West, North, and Northwest. Those names also serve well to group C&NW’s lines west, northwest, and north from Chicago. West, North, and Northwest The railroad capital of the U.S., Chicago, saw its first locomotive in […]
Fairbanks-Morse’ distinctive Erie-Built diesel locomotives were the builder’s entry into the six-axle passenger locomotive market. FM sold 111 total units between December 1945 and February 1949. They were the best-selling FM cab unit models; second place went to the CFA/CFB-16-4 “C-Liners” with 90 units sold. FM’s big Erie-Builts were named for being assembled […]
General Electric U34CH diesel locomotives helped modernize commuter rail operations in northern New Jersey in the early 1970s. A passenger version of the U36C, the U34CH was built between 1970 and 1973 for the New Jersey Department of Transportation as a commuter locomotive. The 32 units carried Nos. 3351-3382 and operated over Erie Lackawanna routes […]
