April 2024

In every issue Trains.com, p. 4 Guide to the latest on the web News, p. 6 Amtrak deals with significant weather-related service disruptions in a harsh winter Bill Stephens, p. 10 The CPKC merger has shaken the industry in many ways Preservation, p. 48 New trackage for WMSR; Seaboard steam 2-10-0 rehab Travel, p. 52 […]

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Norfolk Southern releases preliminary financial results, announces settlement of East Palestine class action lawsuit

black locomotives on track

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern, which remains under pressure from an activist investor, today took the unusual step of releasing preliminary first quarter financial results, which included a $600 million proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit related to the East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials wreck. Including the impact of the settlement, the railroad’s operating income […]

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Colorado rail regulation bill advances

Orange locomotive and coal train

DENVER — Colorado legislation limiting train lengths and requiring wayside detectors, among other provisions, has passed the state’s House of Representatives and been introduced in the Senate. HB24-1030 is sponsored in the House by state Rep. Javier Mabrey (D-Denver) and in the Senate by Sens. Lisa Cutter (D-Lakewood) and Tony Exum (D-Colorado Springs.). As passed […]

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SEPTA opens new Drexel Station at 30th Street

View of station through glass with bright lighing and informational banners

PHILADELPHIA — Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and other officials on Monday marked the opening of the rebuilt and renamed Drexel Station at 30th Street, the transit up for transit and bus lines adjacent to the station served by Amtrak and SEPTA Regional Rail. The new station name reflects a $3.1 million endowment from Drexel University, […]

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News Photos: Eclipse in Illinois

Train works in muted sunlight during eclipse

DECATUR, Ill. — Decatur was not within the narrow 13-state path of totality for the solar eclipse today (April 8, 2024) but — as shown above, in an image taken just before totality — the community did not miss by much, experiencing a 97.6% partial eclipse. The effect of the eclipse is visible as a […]

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From the Cab: It’s a dangerous world out here

man in blue suit with hat and gloves

It’s a dangerous world out here I heard from a reader who’d recently become a railroader. A camera tot’n railfan (as I had once been) — and a very good one, at that. My first response was to congratulate him. My next impulse was to offer a heartfelt warning. “Whatever you do, be careful. It’s […]

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Traveling to Eagle Mountain Railroad in the middle of nowhere

Eagle Mountain Railroad Traveling to see a railroad “in the middle of nowhere” has always been a two-sided coin. Despite advanced planning and awareness of what days the railroad operates, there is always the possibility you may sometimes come up with nothing after driving for hours. The expected operating day did not come off, there […]

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BART to offer final rides on original equipment on April 20

Black and white photo of rapid-transit equipment in underground station

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bay Area Rapid Transit, the 131-mile electrified rail network in the San Francisco Bay Area, is offering the public a last chance to ride the 1970s-era futuristic railcars that made up its original fleet. On Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m. at the MacArthur station in Oakland, BART will commemorate the cars […]

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PATH launches two-year, $430 million infrastructure project

Silver subway trainset with blue front arrives at station

NEW YORK — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has launched a two-year project to upgrade infrastructure of the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) system, the 13.8-mile rail rapid transit system connecting Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, N.J., to two lines in Manhattan. The $430 million “PATH Forward” project announced Friday will […]

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