24th Mechanized Infantry Division The first sergeant’s voice boomed out over the formation: “I’m looking for eight volunteers. I need eight men who are looking for an adventure to volunteer for a special assignment. Don’t everybody step forward at once.” Not surprisingly, no one was inclined to volunteer until they knew more about what they […]
Followers of railroading in the Deep South — especially in Louisiana and Mississippi — are mourning the loss of rail historian Louis Saillard, a Louisiana native who died unexpectedly Nov. 13 at age 75. A prolific writer and photographer, Saillard wrote several articles for Trains and Railfan magazines and had numerous picture credits in a […]
One of New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal’s SW8 switchers gets ready to add a Southern Pacific express boxcar to a passenger train in 1954, the year NOUPT opened. James G. La Vake photo […]
WASHINGTON — Anything can, and generally does, happen to impede trains on Amtrak’s network. On Sunday, Nov. 17, for instance, Norfolk Southern emergency repairs to an elderly drawbridge south of Chicago delayed the Miami-bound Floridian (and two trains headed to Michigan) more than 2 hours, 20 minutes. The setback was typical of timekeeping hiccups the […]
WASHINGTON — Although the California High-Speed Rail Authority faces stiff financial headwinds with Republicans capturing the presidency and both houses of Congress, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) told High Speed Rail Alliance webinar participants this week, “I’m not afraid to defend California High Speed Rail.” Moulton, along with U.S. Rep Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), introduced the […]
RALEIGH, N.C. — Eleven short line railroads and two ports in North Carolina will receive almost $13 million in grant funding from the state’s Freight Rail & Rail Crossing Safety Improvement program, the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Rail Division has announced. The funding, which requires a 50% match from recipients, will go to a total […]
ROANOKE, Va. — A review of the Virginia Museum of Transportation operations found no signs of mismanagement, the museum has announced. WDBJ-TV reports the investigation by law firm Gentry Locke was conducted at the museum’s request after six board members resigned at a June meeting. The departing board members voiced about museum management, including how […]
WASHINGTON — Short line railroads across the United States will be able to lay more welded rail, replace more crossties, add sidings and build bridges as a result of $2.4 billion in funding through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety (CRISI) grant program for fiscal years 2023-2024 [see “FRA awards $2.4 billion […]
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Commonwealth of Kentucky is providing $7.5 million in grant funding for eight infrastructure projects on short lines, Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Thursday (Nov. 14). R.J. Corman Railroad Group, Transkentucky Transportation Railroad, and the Paducah & Louisville Railway each received funding for two projects, while the Tennken Railroad Co. and Louisville […]
I haven’t counted every last owner one time or another of Florida East Coast 4-6-2 No. 148, but it must be close to a record. For a mainline-size engine, the Pacific was incredibly peripatetic, sort of like former Burlington 2-8-2 No. 4960 before it landed at the Grand Canyon Railway. The 148 emerged from Alco’s […]
A Savannah & Atlanta 2-8-2 pulls out of Sardis, Ga., about halfway down S&A’s main line between Camak and Savannah, with train 2, the southbound mixed train. C. M. Clegg photo […]
WAYCROSS, Ga. — If there’s one dot on the CSX system map that’s more important than any other, it’s Waycross, Ga., the home of Rice Yard. CSX’s largest and busiest hump yard sits at the junction of the railroad’s main corridors to Chicago, New York, Florida, and New Orleans. And with CSX expecting a wave […]
