STB seeks operating details as part of ongoing Sunset Limited investigation

Passenger train stopped at station platform under blue skies

WASHINGTON — In the latest step in its ongoing investigation into on-time performance for Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, the Surface Transportation Board has asked the passenger operator and the train’s host railroads to answer a series of detailed questions on delays encountered during specific runs by the train and other operational details along the train’s route. […]

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A Valentine’s Day gift guide for the contemporary model railroader

Valentine’s Day: Big Boy

Valentine’s Day gift guide With Valentine’s Day coming up, you may be at a loss when it comes to buying a gift for that special someone. Chocolates and flowers are blasé. Dinner and a movie? Sure, but that only lasts a few hours. A mixtape? Come on, it’s 2024, making a Spotify playlist takes seconds. […]

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Train derails on Berkshire & Eastern in New York, sending two cars into river

VALLEY FALLS, N.Y. — Ten cars of a train on the Berkshire & Eastern Railroad derailed about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday night near Valley Falls, Spectrum News 1 reports, sending two into the Hoosic River and closing State Route 67 between Valley Falls and Johnsonville, N.Y. No injuries were reported. Genesee & Wyoming told the news […]

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NTSB releases preliminary report on January death of Ohio Central maintenance worker

National Transportation Safety Board logo

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on the fatality of an Ohio Central Railroad signal maintainer, found deceased by the crew of a Wheeling & Lake Erie freight train on Jan. 15 operating on the Columbus & Ohio River Railroad adjacent to the New Rumley Road grade crossing near […]

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STB to proceed with Amtrak Gulf Coast hearing

Man speaking from seat in hearing room

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will proceed with its planned hearing on the status of Amtrak Gulf Coast service on Wednesday, Feb. 14, the board announced in a decision issued Tuesday. The parties to the agreement allowing service to begin — Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority — had […]

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Rare-mileage trip to Mount Carmel, Pa., slated on Reading & Northern

RDC cars emerging from tunnel in forest

PORT CLINTON, Pa. – A rare-mileage Rail Diesel Car excursion to Mount Carmel, Pa., the northwestern extent of Reading & Northern’s 400-mile system, is scheduled to run on April 20. Sponsored by the affiliated Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and the Railroad Historians of the Lehigh Valley, the all-day, 104-mile trip […]

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FRA shuts down Oklahoma short line

Portion of Oklahoma railroad map showing Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued an emergency order shutting down the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad, a 37-mile, Class III short line in Oklahoma, saying the railroad is “operating with a complete disregard for the safety of the public and has not taken corrective action to resolve safety issues … posing imminent risks […]

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Reading & Northern announces 2024 regular-season excursions, begins ticket sales

Stainless steel railcar at ornate station

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad has announced plans for its 2024 main line excursion schedule, which will begin Saturday, April 6, and has placed tckets for the schedule on sale. Regular-season excursions from Reading Outer Station in Reading, Pa., and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Regional Station in Pittston, Pa., will operate on weekends through […]

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Mass Coastal to acquire Bay Colony Railroad

TAUNTON, Mass. — Short line Mass Coastal Railroad is acquiring the assets of Bay Colony Railroad, which serves three customers on 35 miles of state-owned in southeastern Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports. Mass Coastal currently operates 135 route-miles in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including trackage rights on CSX Transportation, and interchanges with CSX in Taunton […]

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Amtrak, railroads ask STB to cancel hearing on status of Gulf Coast agreement

aerial view of land along railroad tracks near water

WASHINGTON — The parties involved in the agreement to allow the launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service have filed a joint update on that agreement requested by the Surface Transportation Board, asking that the board scrap a hearing planned for Feb. 14 “as the Parties have no further information to offer.” The STB last month […]

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Merger application details CN’s plans for Iowa Northern Railway

Freight train with seven red, gray, and yellow locomotives

WASHINGTON — Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of the 218-mile Iowa Northern Railway will boost rail competition, divert freight off the highway, and give Iowa shippers broader access to single-line service, CN says in a merger application filed this week with the Surface Transportation Board. CN spent $230 million to acquire the Class III railroad from […]

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