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Robert W. Downing Burlington Northern SPOKANE, Wash. – Robert W. Downing, a railroad legend who helped shape today’s BNSF Railway during a career with its predecessor roads, died yesterday following surgery. He was 96 years old. Downing’s railroad career began with Pennsylvania Railroad during the Great Depression. When PRR laid him off, he took a […]
Southern Railway’s master mechanic-steam occupies the engineer’s seat of Tennessee Valley 630 during a 1980s excursion. Jim Wrinn ATLANTA – Bill Purdie, the beloved master mechanic for Southern Railway’s extensive steam locomotive excursions in the 1960s and 1970s, died yesterday evening. He was 95. Purdie joined Southern Railway as a helper in 1936 and progressed […]
The seldom-seen end of a mid-train articulated TGV car. Keith Fender New TGV disc brakes. Keith Fender TGV Duplex cars emerge. Keith Fender Monitoring systems are tucked into the sides of some TGV Duplex cars beneath upper-level windows. Keith Fender TGV cars are moved around the plant on temporary trucks. It takes three weeks to […]
FILLMORE, Calif. — McCloud River Railroad 2-8-2 No. 18 pulled a circus train yesterday for 20th Century Fox cameras filming the movie “Water For Elephants.” The shoot, conducted on tourist line Fillmore & Western, included a train consist of wood boxcars and flatcars carrying circus wagons. No. 18 arrived May 13 from its home on […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Lynn Nystrom, a fireman and engineer with Union Pacific’s steam program, died last week at a Cheyenne hospital. He was 69. Nystrom, a Vietnam veteran, worked in law enforcement before joining the Rock Island as a special agent in 1968. He joined UP as a switchman/brakeman in 1989. Nystrom’s family has requested […]
INDIANA, Pa. — Sloan Cornell, one of the pioneers of the steam tourist railroad industry, died on April 20 at age 85. Cornell had a lifelong interest in steam locomotives, owning and operating half a dozen over the years. He built his first steam railroad, the Penn View Mountain Railroad, on his farm near Blairsville, […]
Side by side at Albany, N.Y., the southbound Adirondack prepares to head to New York City, while in the background the Lake Shore Limited boards passengers for Boston in September 2007 Bob Johnston In terms of high speed rail, the Northeast has been ahead of the rest of the United States for decades. Acela Express […]
This Rock Island paint scheme served as the prototype for Iowa Interstate’s new ‘Heritage’ locomotive (pictured above). Electro-Motive Mid-America Car KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa Interstate ES44AC No. 513 has emerged from the paint shop at Mid-America Car wearing Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific colors. The unit will serve on Interstate’s ex-Rock Island route between […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak will replace modified café cars on its Chicago-New York/Boston Lake Shore Limited with “Heritage” dining cars, beginning with westbound train No. 49 today, Dec. 14. The cars, operating to and from New York, feature booth-style seating, large picture windows, and modern cooking equipment, and an expanded menu will result. “Putting dining […]
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Reed Jackson, a 35-year Union Pacific veteran with 12 years of major involvement in the railroad’s steam program, died Saturday of complications of surgery. He was 54 years old. Jackson’s father was a superintendent on Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Jackson worked briefly for Rio Grande before being furloughed and […]
MILFORD, Ohio – Though subscribers report no new issues this year, the owner of locomotive news magazine Extra 2200 South said today the magazine is alive and well. With luck, Doug Cummings said, a new issue could be out in the next 30 days, but he said he wouldn’t promise that. The delay, Cummings said, […]
Three Union Pacific employees conduct a job briefing at Colton, Calif., wearing new high-visibility green vests. David Lustig OMAHA, Neb. – Most Union Pacific employees will switch from wearing orange to green safety vests. The railroad said it believes the green vests afford better visibility than traditional orange. Workers that maintain structures must continue to […]
