SAGINAW, Mich. — Mike Stickel will become president and CEO of Lake State Railway, and current president and CEO John Rickoff will become chairman of the board of directors, as part of leadership changes announced today (June 18) by the Michigan-based regional railroad. The changes are effective July 15. Stickel is currently executive vice president […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has announced plans for its second tour this year with Big Boy No. 4014, which will cover 10 states in eight weeks beginning Aug. 29. The “Heartland of America Tour” will launch from Cheyenne on that date and also include Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, […]
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad has received approval for a rezoning request allowing it to build a new freight terminal near New Carlisle, Ind., the South Bend Tribune reports. At a meeting last week, the St. Joseph County Council voted 9-0 to rezone four parcels of land from […]
Steam from Milwaukee Road class A 4-4-2 No. 2’s cylinder cocks envelops a bystander just outside Chicago Union Station as the Hiawatha begins its dash to Minneapolis in 1935. Alexander Maxwell photo […]
Chicago & Eastern Illinois locomotives served the road well through many decades of operation. C&EI was a coal-hauling railroad and, other than some early switchers, stuck with steam through World War II. Three E7s and a bunch of F3s made quick work of dieselizing the line from 1946 onward, with the last steam […]
Walking out the 15th Street side entrance to Detroit’s Michigan Central Station last Friday morning, I found myself channeling the great baseball play-by-play man Jack Buck. “I can’t believe what I just saw!” Buck’s epic quote came, of course, when Dodger Kirk Gibson launched his epic home run off A’s reliever Dennis Eckersley in game […]
UNION, Neb. — More than 20 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Tuesday afternoon near the Nebraska-Iowa state line, with one tank car spilling its contents into an adjacent waterway, KLKN-TV reports. The derailment occurred about 4 p.m. near Union, about 4 miles west of the state line and 30 miles south of Omaha […]
Louisville & Nashville engine 243, a USRA light Pacific, passes Highland Park on the south side of Louisville with train 23, the daytime local to Corbin, Ky. Many employees of L&N’s South Louisville Shops lived in Highland Park, today mostly obliterated by the Louisville airport. Charles B. Castner photo […]
In the Wisconsin Dells, tourism is the region’s life blood. The Riverside & Great Northern Railway, located just one mile north of the downtown area, is one destination worthy of a Grand scale visit. Yes, it is grand scale (well-known for park railroading) and operates on 15-inch gauge track, but the smaller size is fitting. […]
Illinois Central car 4840, pictured near Central Station, Chicago, is one of 35 standard wood refrigerator cars the road converted to express service by adding high-speed trucks and steam and signal lines. Mainline Photos […]
GARY, Ind. — Two passengers were injured when a Chicago-bound South Shore Line commuter train hit a dump truck reportedly stalled on the tracks in Gary this morning (Monday, June 10), the Chicago Tribune reports. The collision occurred about 7:45 a.m. at the Rutledge Street crossing, west of the Gary Metro station. The driver of […]
Chicago & Eastern Illinois passenger trains: All through June 2024, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of “The Chicago Line.” Please enjoy this photo gallery of Chicago & Eastern Illinois passenger trains, originally published online in 2015. […]
