Park project will help preserve right-of-way for Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad logo

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — Protection of the right-of-way of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Rallroad will be part of infrastructure work at Cuyahoga Valley National Park funded by a $14 million grant through the Great American Outdoors Act, the park has announced. The funds will stabilize the riverbank at locations along the Cuyahoga River where the railroad line […]

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Missouri tourist railroad restores former Pennsylvania E8 to classic pinstripe scheme (with video)

Side view of maroon streamlined diesel locomotive with gold stripes

JACKSON, Mo. — Tourist operator St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway has repainted its former Pennsylvania Railroad E8, No. 5898, in the classic Pennsy pinstripe livery. The locomotive, built by EMD in La Grange, Ill, in 1951, was purchased from the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad in 1998. Since 2020, the engine has […]

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Riding trains in the 1940s

Steam locomotive on passenger on curve among trees

I still remember riding trains in the 1940s.   During my pre-school and primary school days we lived on the South side of Chicago near 76th and Coles Avenue. My father worked at the Wisconsin Steel Division of the International Harvester Co. making steel for the war effort and for civilian use following the completion […]

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A bad week for the California Zephyr

Passenger train with bilevel cars at station

CHICAGO — Amtrak’s westbound California Zephyr has been cancelled this Sunday, Sept. 25 — continuing a week of disruptions for the service between Chicago and Emeryville, Calif. The sequence that led to Sunday’s cancellation began with the westbound departure of Monday, Sept. 19, which sustained delays totaling 16 hours, 35 minutes on its way to […]

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News photos: A short South Shore special

Two orange and maroon locomotives and one passenger cars under shed at two-track station

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A South Shore Line special train — the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s two GP38-2 rebuilds and one car, the former Milwaukee Road business car Montana — awaits departure from the South Shore station at South Bend International Airport on Thursday, Sept. 22. The train was scheduled for a 4:15 p.m. […]

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BNSF seeks to have Southwest Chief cases decided by arbitration (updated)

Aerial view of derailed train

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BNSF Railway has filed a suit in a federal court seeking an injunction that would force victims of the June derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief to settle matters through arbitration rather than lawsuits, and has also asked that state suits be placed on hold while the arbitration question is decided at […]

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Chicago’s CREATE lands $70 million federal grant for Westside project

Freight train with yellow locomotive against Chicago skyline

CHICAGO — Chicago’s CREATE Program will receive $70 million in federal funding for a $170 million project to modernize a 2-mile stretch of Union Pacific track on the city’s west side, the partners in the Chicago Region Environment and Transportation Efficiency Program have announced. The Westside Gateway or Ogden Junction project, project WA1 on CREATE’s […]

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Indiana man sentenced to eight years in prison for arson at Amtrak’s Beech Grove shops

Buildings on fire next to Amtrak locomotive

INDIANAPOLIS — A Beech Grove, Ind., man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for a pair of arson fires, including one at Amtrak’s Beech Grove heavy maintenance facility that caused more than $1.1 million in damage. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana says in a press release that […]

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Norfolk Southern train derails in Southern Illinois

Norfolk Southern logo

ALBERS, Ill. — Twenty-six cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed Monday morning between the towns of Albers and New Baden, leading to an extensive response from authorities that included a hazardous-materials team as a precautionary measure. No injuries were reported. The Belleville News-Democrat reports the derailment was reported at 11:22 a.m., leading a response […]

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Final design phase begins for work to support second Chicago-Twin Cities passenger train

Map of passenger rail route between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago

MADISON, Wis. — The final design phase of the project to add a second Amtrak passenger train between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul has begun, with public comments now being accepted and public meetings to show plans for the service expected to be held this fall. The design phase for what is known as the Twin […]

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Monticello museum hosts Railroad Days event (with video)

Blue, white, and gray streamlined diesel with passenger train

MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum hosted its annual Railroad Days event Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18, 2022, drawing hundreds of people to the museum in central Illinois. The event featured Southern Railway Consolidation No. 401 pulling a coach passenger train; Wabash F7 No. 1189 pulling a three-car train; a caboose hop powered by […]

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Mid-Continent Museum to restore early EMC gas-electric car to operating condition

Green railcar inside building

NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Mid-Continent Railway Museum will restore Montana Western gas-electric railcar No. 31 —  built in 1925 by Electro-Motive Corp. — to operating condition, the museum has announced. The car, one of the oldest surviving pieces of equipment built by Electro-Motive, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in August, was built for Great Northern […]

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