Follow along for one last chase of the Keokuk Junction F units in western Illinois before their removal from service in early August 2019. Trains‘ videographer Kevin Gilliam follows the train through the agricultural landscape of the region to document another era lost in U.S. railroading. […]
Keokuk Junction Railway’s F units are making their final run Tuesday. Shown working Hollis pass at Mapleton, Ill., on June 5, 2019, are FP9A 1750, F9B 1761 and GP20 2003 at work on Toledo Peoria & Western Railway trackage. Steve Smedley LAHARPE, Ill. — Under the every good thing eventually comes to an end category, […]
Remains of Soo Line Shoreham roundhouse in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2019. Steve Glischinski MINNEAPOLIS – Canadian Pacific this week began work to demolish the former Soo Line Shoreham roundhouse and diesel shop in Minneapolis. The buildings had been in ruins for decades, and were fenced off from the rest of yard, which is used […]
CHICAGO — Metra plans to renovate its Electric District station at 95th Street, serving Chicago State University, with the goal of boosting ridership and creating a transit hub. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the commuter railroad has agreed to a “memorandum of understanding” with the university to build a new platform, stair enclosure, elevator, and […]
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s plans for increasing Chicago-Milwaukee Amtrak Hiawatha service may not be as close to fruition as state officials have believed. Canadian Pacific Railway, the host railroad for much of the Hiawatha route, has released a letter to the state’s rail program manager saying it will not support additional service without additional improvements […]
Libertyville, Ill., has opened its remodeled Metra station, shown late in the construction process in June 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen The station has undergone a significant makeover from its previous version, shown in 2015. TRAINS: David Lassen LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. — Village and Metra officials celebrated the completion of renovation of Metra’s Libertyville station on Friday, […]
Huge crowds turned out on Friday, July 26, for Big Boy No. 4014’s arrival in West Chicago, Ill. When the locomotive visits Rochelle, Ill., on Tuesday, the city will offer free shuttle bus service to its railroad park. TRAINS: David Lassen ROCHELLE, Ill. — If you’re planning to see Union Pacific’s Big Boy during its […]
MERCER, Mo. — No injuries were reported in the derailment of 70 cars of a Union Pacific train in north-central Missouri, near the Iowa border, on Thursday. The derailment occurred about 7:30 a.m. Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South told the Kansas City Star that no hazardous materials were involved. A video on the Star website […]
The Surface Transportation Board is once again being asked to settle a dispute between Amtrak and Metra over rent at Chicago Union Station. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Declaring the matter at an impasse, Amtrak has asked federal regulators to determine compensation and terms over Metra’s lease at Chicago Union Station. In a filing with the […]
DULUTH, Minn. — A proposal released Monday by the city of Duluth would allow for the preservation of a tourist railroad which had faced the prospect of being shorted to accommodate a recreational trail. The Duluth News Tribune reports that the plan deals with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s clean-up of toxic waste at a former […]
Midwest flooding map BNSF Railway OMAHA, Neb. — Plagued with weather-caused outages since mid-March, BNSF Railway reports all service is restored. Operations were slated to resume over the July 20 to 21 weekend on the 80-mile Napier Subdivision, along the Missouri River from near Omaha to near St. Joseph, Mo. It was BNSF’s hardest hit […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has ordered Canadian National and Canadian Pacific to participate in oral arguments next month to settle their simmering dispute over the location of their interchange in Chicago. In a decision late Friday, the board directed CN and CP to participate in an Aug. 6 oral argument in Washington. The […]
