Turbine power all the way

High speed in New England in the 1970s meant these turbine-powered trainsets built by United Aircraft, which sprinted between Boston and New York from 1969 to 1976. The two Turbotrains (Amtrak later bought a third set from VIA Rail Canada) achieved the route’s best-ever timings — 3 hours and 48 minutes between Boston and New […]

Read More…

Talgo speed comparison

TRN-AT0711_A-Talgo-suspension

Talgo’s pendular suspension lowers the carbody’s center of gravity and relocates its center of rotation, all enabling Talgo cars to take curves faster without causing excessive passenger discomfort due to the centrifugal force. Q How much faster would a Talgo-like train be than a conventional single level or bilevel (Superliner) over the same stretch of […]

Read More…

California Zephyr tragedy recalls 1999 truck crash NEWSWIRE

RENO, Nev. — At 11:19 a.m. Pacific Time Friday, a tractor-trailer gravel truck traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. 95 at Ocala, Nev., about 70 miles east of Reno, barreled into the side of the westbound California Zephyr. The truck struck the left-hand side of the Zephyr behind the two locomotives and […]

Read More…

Athearn N scale Electro-Motive Division F59PHI passenger locomotive

Athearn N scale Electro-Motive Division F59PHI passenger locomotive

Athearn N scale Electro-Motive Division F59PHI passenger locomotive An N scale EMD F59PHI passenger locomotive was introduced by Athearn eight years ago. (We reviewed it in our April 2003 issue.) Athearn makes a number of improvements in its new release of this sharp-looking streamlined engine, the most ­notable of which is a SoundTraxx Digital Command […]

Read More…

Walthers HO scale Budd 21-roomette sleeper

Walthers HO scale Budd sleeper

Walthers HO scale Budd 21-roomette sleeper The Pennsylvania RR’s streamlined Broadway Limited is the latest name passenger train released by Walthers. The first car in the series is this well-detailed HO scale Budd 21-roomette sleeper. The prototype. Inaugurated in 1912, the Broadway Limited was the premier passenger train of the Pennsylvania RR. Running between New […]

Read More…

Ride ‘Em While You Can

Classic Trains logo

Eastern trip, April 20–26 PC No. 66, Chicago–Cincinnati, April 20 PC E7 4211 (ex-PRR), PRR B60 baggage car, PC coach 2926 (ex-PRR) N&W No. 4, Pocahontas, Cincinnati–Roanoke, April 20–21 N&W GP9’s 508/501, 4 head-end cars, coach 532, dome coach 1610, sleeper Buchanan County; diner 493 added at Williamson, W.Va. (train left Roanoke with GP9’s 519/517, […]

Read More…

Engineer convicted in fatal Swiss crash NEWSWIRE

ZURICH, Switzerland — The engineer that was operating the Glacier Express when it crashed last summer has been convicted of negligence and homicide, Swiss Info has reported. One Japanese tourist died in the crash and 40 were injured. Investigators say the crash occurred at a point where the line’s speed limit jumps from 22 mph […]

Read More…

TRAINS exclusive: Amtrak police chief bars Transportation Security Administration from some security operations NEWSWIRE

WASHINGTON — In late February, the Transportation Security Administration took over the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered. None of the passengers got into trouble, but the TSA certainly did — big time. Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor said he first thought a blog posting about the incident was […]

Read More…