CHAMA, N.M. — After weathering the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns of 2020 and 2021, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad ridership rebounded to within 11% of 2019 ridership, railroad President Scott Gibbs tells Trains News Wire. With most restrictions lifted by July 1, 2021, the railroad carried 37,735 riders for the year versus 42,451 in 2019, Gibbs […]
The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]
Denver & Rio Grande Western 3600, first of the road’s 20 superb L-131 and L-132 2-8-8-2s, crosses the Arkansas River west of Princeton, Colo., with a westbound freight. LeRoy Wilkie photo […]
CHAMA, N.M. — We may yet see a Rio Grande K-37 climb Cumbres Pass once more. On Saturday, the two-state commission that oversees the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad voted to restore a Rio Grande K-37 2-8-2, returning that model to the 64-mile narrow gauge railroad for the first time since 2002 when No. 497 […]
WASHINGTON — A coalition of environmental groups have sued the Surface Transportation Board, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and federal government over the STB’s approval of Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway project. The suit filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by the Center for Biological Diversity and four […]
DENVER — A BNSF Railway employee has died following an accident at the railroad’s Globeville yard in downtown Denver on Wednesday. According to the Denver Post, Denver police reported they were responding to an accident involving a train and a pedestrian shortly before noon, and announced the man had died about 3:40 p.m. The victim’s […]
Four F7s and a GP9 are reflected in the Colorado River as they roll a Denver & Rio Grande Western freight east through Glenwood Canyon in October 1960. George G. Speir photo […]
Five black-and-gold Northern Pacific F units lift a freight up the west slope of the Continental Divide at Elliston, Mont., in the 1950s. The NP relied on F units for both freight and passenger service. R. V. Nixon photo […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is considering a bill which would move oversight of major transit projects from the local Utah Transit Authority to the state Department of Transportation. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the bill, sponsored by Rep. Kay Christofferson (R-Lehi), would also give the state the ability to invest more into UTA […]
EAGLE, Colo. — Officials in a Colorado county plan to challenge the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of a new rail line in Utah over concerns about resulting crude-oil shipments that will pass through their area. The Vail Daily News reports commissioners in Eagle County have approved pursuing action in U.S. District Court, in either Denver […]
DURANGO, Colo. — A trial in which more than 30 property owners and businesses are seeking damages from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad over a 2018 wildfire has been delayed, the Durango Herald reports. The civil lawsuit was delayed by 6th Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson to Aug. 29 because of ongoing negotiations […]
BNSF Railway is taking back Montana Rail Link’s lease on the former Northern Pacific main line across Montana and Idaho for one simple reason: To control its own destiny. In recent years the growth-minded BNSF has made significant capacity investments on its routes to and from the Pacific Northwest. To the east of MRL, BNSF […]
