UPDATE: Police investigate cross tie fire in Colorado NEWSWIRE

Deputies and Emergency Services fire teams responded to a fire last night near railroad tracks north of MM 108. Approximately 10,000 railroad ties were on fire at two separate locations. Train traffic was halted while crews put out the fire. pic.twitter.com/zQLQfyZJ2k — PuebloCounty Sheriff (@PuebloCountySO) April 12, 2020 PUEBLO, Colo. — BNSF Railway police and […]

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UPDATED: Trains News Wire Digest for Monday, April 13 NEWSWIRE

A Chicago-bound Illinois Zephyr passes through Downers Grove, Ill. Amtrak ridership has dropped from 100,000 passengers a day to about 4,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the passenger railroad’s CEO says. TRAINS: David Lassen Monday morning rail news: — Amtrak, which normally handles 100,000 passengers a day, is down to about 4,000 a day because […]

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News Wire Digest Third Section for Friday, April 10 NEWSWIRE

A BNSF Railway oil train passes through Lisle, Ill. Railroads are resisting requests to use tank cars to store crude oil during the oil price downturn. TRAINS: David Lassen Still more Friday morning rail news: — Railroads are resisting efforts from oil companies to store crude oil in tank cars during the current drop in […]

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Details emerge on Washington state’s two-person crew law NEWSWIRE

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law legislation mandating a minimum of two crew members on passenger and most freight trains operating in the state. The governor did veto a provision declaring the act effective immediately. “Given the complexity of this legislation, the Utilities and Transportation Commission [which has rail-safety oversight duties […]

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New model trains for the week of April 9, 2020

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP18 diesel locomotive. Baltimore & Ohio (blue and yellow, one road number), Illinois Central (black and white), Norfolk & Western (black and white), Burlington Northern (Cascade Green and black in three numbers, Northern Pacific patchout in one number), Nickel Plate Road (black and yellow), and Northern Pacific (black and yellow). […]

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Class I railroads use videos to update coronavirus response NEWSWIRE

A screen shot from BNSF’s video updating its response to the COVID-19 virus. BNSF Railway Three Class I railroads have released videos addressing their response to the coronavirus pandemic. BNSF Railways’ video, available here, features Jon Gabriel, general superintendent of the railroad’s Network Operations Center in Fort Worth, Texas. It updates current service and moves […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Monday, April 6 NEWSWIRE

Pan Am Southern train 11R, with Norfolk Southern power, was the first to pass through the reopened Hoosac Tunnel on Saturday night. Norfolk Southern More Monday morning rail news: — Pan Am Railways’s Hoosac Tunnel in Western Massachusetts, closed since Feb. 12 because of the partial collapse of a wall, reopened Saturday night, Norfolk Southern […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Saturday, April 4 NEWSWIRE

Set up to be transported like a trailer, a donated Black Mesa & Lake Powell hopper car prepares to leave the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Ariz., for its trip to the Arizona Railroad Heritage Park and Museum. Arizona State Railroad Museum Foundation More Saturday morning rail news: — Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee has […]

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News Wire Digest Second Section for Wednesday, April 1 NEWSWIRE

The Wabash Valley Railroad Museum successfully moved a 1922 New York Central boxcar from Greencastle, Ind., to the museum on Tuesday. Wabash Valley Railroad Museum More Wednesday rail news: — The Wabash Valley Railroad Museum successfully completed the move of a 1922 New York Central boxcar from Greencastle, Ind., to the museum in Terre Haute […]

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Trains News Wire Digest for Wednesday, April 1 NEWSWIRE

The Metra station in Mount Prospect, Ill., is one of 11 closed by Union Pacific over coronavirus concerns. TRAINS: David Lassen Wednesday morning rail news: — An increasing number of workers either with confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus or self-quarantining because of possible exposure have left New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority struggling to maintain […]

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Big town, no main lines

The Milwaukee Road was one of the big players in Sioux Falls. One of its hottest trains in the late 1940s was the daily-except-Sunday meat train to Chicago, seen passing a diesel switcher as it departs Sioux Falls. Mikado 508 carries an extra tender to reduce water stops. Henry J. McCord Growing up in an […]

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