Missouri governor set to approve funding for grade-crossing improvements

Aerial view of accident site with debris of truck hit by train

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons will sign legislation this week including $50 million in funding for grade-crossing improvements, and will announce a crossing safety plan with the Missouri Department of Transportation, WDAF-TV reports. Parsons will sign House Bill 4, an appropriations bill governing the Department of Revenue and Department of Transportation passed […]

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Indiana’s Railroad Open House welcomes over 2,500 visitors

Steam locomotive pulls excursion train with grain elevator in the background.

HUDSON, Ind. — The locomotive maintenance facility of the Indiana Northeastern Railroad Co. in Hudson was a beehive of activity over the weekend as historic steam locomotives, vintage diesels, and over 2,500 attendees swarmed around what was the first Railroad Open House. The July 29-30 event headlined the summer for the 2023 Indiana Rail Experience, […]

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Trains Magazine sponsoring two-day vintage diesel photo charter

Maroon and gold vintage diesel locomotive at yellow station with semaphor signals.

OSCEOLA, Wis. — Trains Magazine is sponsoring a two-day photo charter in September featuring vintage diesel locomotives from the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM) collection. Trains will run Sept.11-12 out of Osceola on MTM’s Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway, which operates over Canadian National’s 25-mile former Soo Line Dresser Subdivision. Trains will be pulled by […]

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Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet stands out

Streamlined diesel locomotive with Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet passenger train

The Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet stands out among mid-century passenger operators.     Of all the major U.S. railroads that fielded impressive fleets of passenger trains between the end of World War I in 1918 and the arrival of Amtrak in 1971, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific — more commonly known as the […]

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Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s locomotives: ‘Greens’ to become backup power

Two green GE diesel locomotives pull train of ore hoppers past lake

Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s locomotives The writing has been on the wall for years. Fifteen years ago, in Trains’ April 2008 issue, David Lustig warned of the demise of Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s venerable fleet of former Burlington Northern General Electric U30C and C30-7 locomotives. Now, that time appears to have arrived at the short […]

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Mike Schafer’s Milwaukee Road

Yellow passenger trains' front and rear

Even as he handed it to me the other night at a Milwaukee slide show, I couldn’t quite believe what Mike Schafer was telling me. “Hey, this is my first railroad book! Maybe you’ll write about it?”     Mike Schafer’s first railroad book. That didn’t sound quite right. I’ve been reading Mike’s name on […]

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Court rules Union Pacific is not obligated to continue service for Metra

Two commuter trains meet on curve

CHICAGO — A U.S. appeals court has ruled Union Pacific does not have a common-carrier obligation to continue operating commuter trains for Metra, likely hastening the transition of operations on three commuter lines from UP to Metra operation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled on Wednesday that “Union Pacific is not […]

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Four operating steam locomotives to headline Indiana’s Railroad Open House

People gather around a steam locomotive during an event

HUDSON, Ind. — The Indiana Northeastern Railroad Co. is scheduled to host the first Railroad Open House at its locomotive maintenance facility in Hudson this upcoming weekend. The July 29-30 event will see more than 1,000 visitors and passengers help celebrate over 130 years of regional history. “The railroad first came to Hudson in 1893 […]

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The MTH Premier Hudson is a modern classic

The MTH Premier Hudson Pacemaker front end

The MTH Premier Hudson is a modern incarnation of arguably the most iconic steam locomotive ever made in O scale. The classic 4-6-4 wheel arrangement, originally offered in by Lionel in 1937, can be seen on artwork from decades ago and carried on today by the works of artists like Angela Trotta Thomas. Due to […]

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South Shore rail service to Michigan City should resume in early 2024

Night shot of station construction

CHESTERTON, Ind. — South Shore Line rail service between Michigan City and Gary, Ind., which has been replaced all or in part by buses since February 2022, should resume early in 2024, South Shore President Michael Noland said Monday. Noland, speaking to a meeting of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board, said the Double […]

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