Amtrak trains during the holidays in 2024 are facing ridership demand comparable or even greater than 2019 before COVID-19’s dip in 2020. While autos jam highways where public transportation options are scarce, and airlines add flights to accommodate longer trips, Amtrak in the past also rose to the occasion by offering extra trains and expanded […]
The Trains New England Fall Colors by Rail tour checks a lot of boxes. Memorable train rides, great food and lodging, colorful fall foliage, and time to explore picturesque towns. What’s it like to visit New England with Trains Magazine? Follow along with this day-by-day journal from Editor Carl Swanson. Friday, Oct. 4th, 2024 Volunteering […]
NEW YORK — The U.S. Class I railroads have turned the corner on service and resiliency and are poised for volume growth for the first time in years. That’s the view of a trio of analysts – Anthony B. Hatch, Rick Paterson, and Larry Gross – who spoke at the RailTrends conference last week. Paterson, […]
MONTREAL — Canada’s labor minister, Steven MacKinnon, has appointed three conciliation officers to assist in negotiations between Canadian National and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, CN said on Friday. The IBEW, which represents about CN 750 signal and communication workers across Canada, filed a notice of dispute on Oct. 29, indicating that the union […]
Model a “burning” building: I loved the idea of having a “burning” building on a large scale layout. Here was a feature that would be active and easy to set up. Plenty of 1:24 scale fire fighting equipment is readily available and reasonably priced. I bought Pola kit No. 33101 a number of years ago […]
General Electric’s U23B General Electric broke into the domestic road-switcher locomotive market over six decades ago with its U25B model in 1961. The U-series line would continue to evolve and grow, laying the foundation for the company’s ascent to becoming the No. 1 locomotive builder in North America in later decades. The U23B was essentially […]
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will offer free shuttle buses, a shuttle train service, and discounted Long Island Rail Road fares during an upcoming closure of the subway A train to the Rockaways under a plan announced this week. The MTA announced earlier this month that A trains would not run between Howard […]
The imposing size, look, and name of New York City’s Hell Gate Bridge fits perfectly in a metropolis where one must “dress to impress” and “go big or go home.” According to Victor Hand in Classic Trains’ Fall 2021 issue, the name can be composed of three separate bridges that are connected by two viaducts […]
Illinois Terminal locomotives included steam, electric, and diesel over its existence. The Illinois Terminal was an electric interurban line serving western Illinois down to the St. Louis area. In the mid-1950s the railroad abandoned its electric operations, moving to all-diesel operation — the last steam ran in 1950, and dieselization had begun with […]
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The Conrail Historical Society has orchestrated a trade of two Conrail cabooses to ensure the preservation of both, the organization has announced. The society has traded former N-20 class wide-vision caboose No. 22130, which it previously owned, to the Garbely Publishing Co. for its former N-21 class bay window caboose No. 21292. […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has joined other elected officials in calling for Amtrak to revise Empire Service schedule changes resulting from the start of East River Tunnel repairs. In a Nov. 13 letter to Amtrak Board Chair Anthony Coscia and CEO Stephen Gardner, Hochul, a Democrat, said Empire Service trains “are […]
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Caltrain’s diesel-powered commuter rail trainsets will find a new life in Peru. The commuter rail operator announced that it has completed an agreement to send 19 locomotives and 90 gallery commuter cars to Lima, Peru, for some $6 million, a deal which also involved the U.S. State Department, Department of Commerce, […]
