Monticello Railway Museum debuts RS1325 at Throttle Time event (video)

Orange locomotive pulling seven cars crosses wooden bridge

MONTICELLO, Ill. — Illinois & Midland RS1325 No. 31 made its operating debut at the Monticello Railway Museum during this past weekend’s sold-out Throttle Time event, pulling a vintage freight train while run by “student engineers” who purchased a ticket for the opportunity to run the rare locomotive. The museum acquired the RS1325, one of […]

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Digest: C&NW historical society archives coming to Illinois Railway Museum

Illinois Railway Museum logo

Chicago & North Western Historical Society archives bound for IRM The archives of the Chicago & North Western Historical Society are bound for the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill. The archives will be located at a new building, to be formally known as the C&NWHS Archives Research Center, to be located on the museum’s […]

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Hoosier Valley museum to restore ‘decapitated’ locomotive

Monon50cabdestroyed

NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum will restore a Monon SW1 which was badly damaged while being moved by truck in 2018.  The museum will restore Monon DS-50, which had its cab destroyed when it hit a low bridge in Logansport, Ind. [see “Monon’s first diesel decapitated …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. […]

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Support grows for Watco purchase of CN’s former Wisconsin Central branches

Watco logo

WASHINGTON – Support is pouring in for Canadian National’s proposed sale of former Wisconsin Central branches to shortline operator Watco. A major shipper group, a current shipper, railroad associations in Wisconsin and Michigan, a county economic development agency, and the Badger State’s largest business group have all urged federal regulators to expedite review of the […]

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Weather and pandemic dent Kansas City Southern earnings

Kansas City Southern Lines logo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern’s first-quarter earnings dipped as volume fell because of harsh winter weather and the ongoing computer chip shortage that has curbed auto production in Mexico. KCS reported today that its operating income declined 12%, to $253 million, as revenue decreased 4%, to $706 million. Earnings per share, adjusted for […]

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Digest: Survey says 20% of Chicago-area transit users may not return

Man walks down platform after getting off commuter train

Chicago RTA survey finds 20% of transit users may not return A survey by the Regional Transportation Authority, parent organization for Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Pace bus service, indicates 20% of passengers who stopped using the Chicago area’s transit system during the COVID-19 pandemic may not return. Evanston Now reports the RTA surved […]

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Digest: Metra launches capital improvement work for 2021

Commuter train passes green maintenance of way machinery

New stations, replacement of 122-year-old bridge on Metra’s 2021 capital to-do list Metra has launched its 2021 capital improvement projects, which includes work on two new stations, replacement of a 122-year-old bridge in Chicago, and continued work to close the remaining gap in the triple-track main line on the UP West line near Geneva, Ill. […]

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Amtrak’s money mystery

Amtrak Acela train rounds curve.

From January 2019 Trains When the Southwest Chief rumbles across New Mexico’s Raton Pass, with sleeping-car passengers paying as much as $1,058 to ride in a roomette, what is the train’s revenue-versus-cost effect on Amtrak’s bottom line? According to the “route level results” of the fiscal 2017 performance report, the Chicago-Los Angeles train generated $49.9 […]

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