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Work under way to repair N&W No. 611 for trip to Strasburg The Virginia Museum of Transportation reported late last week that work was under way to identify and repair the problem with the stoker of N&W No. 611, an issue which has delayed the Class J’s planned trip to the Strasburg Rail Road. To […]
Full restoration of state-supported Amtrak routes in Illinois set for July 19 The state of Illinois announced plans to restore all service on its four state-supported Amtrak lines as of July 19 as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. The restoration of full schedules on the Chicago-Quincy, Chicago-Carbondale, and Chicago-St. Louis routes in July […]
Two bills would fund studies of expanded Maine passenger service Maine legislators are considering two bills to study expanded passenger rail service in the state, while some residents would like to see state-owned rail corridors used for recreational trails. Currently, Maine’s only rail service, the Downeaster to Boston, terminates at Brunswick. WMTW-TV reports sponsors hope […]
LANSING, Mich. — Maximum speeds for Amtrak trains on one segment of the Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., corridor will increase to 110 mph as of Tuesday, May 25, and that corridor will see an additional round trip beginning July 19. The higher speed limit will come on 45 miles of state-owned tracks between Kalamazoo and Albion, Mich., […]
WAUKESHA, Wis. — There are only a few weeks left to submit a layout for judging in the Walthers National Model Railroad Build-off, and with the May 31 deadline looming closer every day, modelers nationwide are sure to be scrambling to add their finishing touches. Yet from the cramped confines of his dorm room, Eastern […]
ST. PAUL, Minn.— If there is any “no brainer” on Amtrak’s recently unveiled “Connects US” map of potential routes, it is adding an extra train to the Chicago-Twin Cities portion of the Empire Builder’s route. Amtrak has plenty of built-in corridors like this one, routes between major population centers it already serves that could […]
Test trains set to run on Point Defiance Bypass Sound Transit and Amtrak will run test trains over the Point Defiance Bypass on Sunday, May 16, as part of continuing efforts to prepare for passenger service on the line in the Tacoma, Wash., area. Trains will run between the Tacoma Dome stadium and Nisqually Junction, […]
$10,000 reward offered in investigation of Amtrak shop fire Amtrak and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and successful prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the May 2 fire at Amtrak’s Beech Grove (Ind.) Heavy Maintenance Facility, WXIN-TV […]
Customs and Border Protection to introduce new rail cargo scanners at 12 key border crossings The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has announced a $46 million program to install new technology to inspect rail cargo at a dozen sites around the U.S. The new high energy scanners will us linear accelerators to generate X-rays […]
CHICAGO — Canadian National has announced it intends to beef up what is currently a meandering, unsignaled 40-mph ex-Gulf, Mobile & Ohio branch to connect with Kansas City Southern’s main line to the Gulf Coast. And if Canadian Pacific gets KCS, it expects to direct Mexican supply chain business to and from Western Canada through […]
Legislator’s bill would support multi-state passenger rail efforts U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) has introduced legislation to create multi-state passenger rail commissions to improve regional coordination for passenger rail service. The Intercity Rail Commission Act would encourage the formation of up to 10 reginal passenger commissions by providing up to $500,000 in matching funds to […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration “has been unable to obtain access to all the data and analysis necessary” to properly review the issues involved in Amtrak’s effort to restart Gulf Coast passenger service, the agency said in a Monday filing to the Surface Transportation Board. A letter penned by FRA Acting General Counsel John […]
