Reefer block 4-8-2 2605, a product of IC’s own Paducah (Ky.) shops, leads a long string of refrigerator cars north on the main line at Peotone, Ill., in the 1940s. Illinois Central photo […]
Zone & Region: Midwest
Cheseapeake & Ohio Historical society receives slides from J. David Ingles collection
CLIFTON FORGE, Va. — The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society has received a collection of slides from the estate of J. David Ingles, the late senior editor of Classic Trains magazine and former editor of Trains magazine, the organization announced in a press release. The collection includes many slides from the 1960s and 1970s of […]
Ohio short line gets funding for rail project
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a grant of up to $687,622.50 to replace rail on a portion of Pioneer Lines Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway’s line east of Defiance, Ohio. NDW’s line runs from Woodburn, Ind., to Napoleon, Ohio, with interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Woodburn and CSX in Defiance. […]
Minnesota museum saves Soo Line caboose
MINNEAPOLIS – The Iron Horse Central Railroad Museum has acquired a 110-year-old Soo Line caboose that has been a landmark in Minneapolis for 46 years. The caboose was owned by the Broadway Bar Pizza Restaurant, and has stood at the intersection at Broadway Avenue and East River Road since 1975. In 2020, the pizza shop’s […]
Milwaukee Road freight trains photo gallery
All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]
Nashville Steam Issues End of Year Matching Grant Challenge
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – As the restoration of Nashville’s iconic steam locomotive nears its halfway point, Nashville Steam Preservation Society has issued a matching grant challenge to raise $100,000 by the end of 2021. Thanks to a generous opportunity from The Candelaria Fund and The Wick Moorman Charitable Foundation, all donations, and gifts over $500 will […]
Bob’s Train Box Episode 75
Bob and regular guest CTT editor Hal Miller have a look at MTH Trains’ new SW1 switcher. Check out the review in the January 2022 issue. The host also lights up Atlas O holiday boxcars, and shows some of his collection of railroad signs plus others available at Kalmbachhobbystore.com. […]
News photo: New Illinois-based locomotive leaser’s first unit has its day in the sun (and palm trees)
MADISON, Ill. — Gulf Coast Railway Equipment Leasing is the name for the new locomotive leasing service of Quality Rail in Madison, Ill. Its first unit glows in the morning sun, awaiting finishing touches, before it gets shipped to Alton Steel for lease service. This unit and one other sister, both former Terminal Railroad of […]
Bob’s Train Box Episode 75
Bob and regular guest CTT editor Hal Miller have a look at MTH Trains’ new SW1 switcher. Check out the review in the January 2022 issue. The host also lights up Atlas O holiday boxcars, and shows some of his collection of railroad signs plus others available at Kalmbachhobbystore.com. […]
Franklin Park crossovers separate Canadian Pacific and Metra moves
FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. — It’s not the largest or most essential component of a decades-long, $4.6 billion dollar effort to unclog Chicago’s rail network called CREATE. But completion of the $14.5 million Metra/Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades Project is typical of incremental improvements that sporadic funding achieves. Six crossovers and associated signaling now allow Canadian Pacific […]
Train collides with barge, sending coal, fuel into Mississippi River
MONTROSE, Iowa — A collision between a BNSF Railway train and a barge sent coal hoppers and diesel fuel into the Mississippi River on Saturday night, the Burlington Hawk Eye reported. The barge was parked along the shore of the river in a position that left the nose of the barge extending over the adjacent […]
Class I CEOs head speaker list for January MARS conference
CHICAGO — CEOs of three Class I railroads head the list of speakers for January’s Midwest Association of Rail Shippers meeting, set for Jan. 12-13, 2022, at the Westin Chicago Lombard. The theme of the meeting will be “Restarting the Supply Chain with Rail.” “There has never been a more important time for rail industry […]