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 […]
RENO, Nev. – Trains Unlimited Tours is closing its operations owing to business downturns in a depressed economy. Speaking for the company, Ron Burkhard said TUT is failing to generate enough clientele in a recession economy. The company is exploring a search for another group to operate two of its charters scheduled for next year: […]
OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific “Challenger” steam locomotive No. 3985 will tour the Midwest this fall, covering 1,750 miles in 23 days and visiting towns in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. To help people track the trip, UP has installed a global positioning satellite transmitted in one of the train’s cars and will use it to […]
George M. Hart Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania LEHIGHTON, Pa. – Legendary Pennsylvania railroad preservationist George Hart, who died Thursday in Lehighton at age 89, will remembered for his work with Reading’s steam fantrips, as the first director of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and as the indefatigable operator of Rail Tours Inc. excursions. He was […]
PLUMMER, Idaho – A tunnel that used to host Milwaukee Road freights bound for the Puget Sound area is for sale for $650,000, the Associated Press reported. The tunnel has sat vacant since Milwaukee shut down its transcontinental freight line in 1980. “We think it’s time for someone else to own it,” said Don Parker, […]
HAMMOND, Ind. – Lake Central Rail Tours, which operated excursion trains on Michigan’s Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Railway and successor Great Lakes Central Railroad, is canceling 2008 operations, citing rising insurance and fuel costs as the reasons. Great Lakes will continue to occasionally operate Northern Arrow Excursions to Petoskey, Mich., in cooperation with Cincinnati Railway […]
Burlington Northern SD9 6234 shows off its new coat of paint at Minnesota Transportation Museum’s ex-Great Northern Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul, Minn. Ralph Back ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Transportation Museum has restored former Burlington Northern SD9 No. 6234 to its Cascade Green paint scheme. The unit emerged from the Wisconsin & […]
