Amtrak’s Winter Park Express ski train expands dates, route

Passenger train in snow with people waiting to board

DENVER — Following several years of growing ridership and sold-out trains on many weekends, this ski season’s version of Amtrak’s Winter Park Express will advance its previous January debut into December, and then will operate five days per week beginning Jan. 9. The train will operate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on Dec. 20-22, Dec. 27-29, […]

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Young Guns in Preservation: Michael Spring

Young individual standing on top of a steam locomotive tender

Michael Spring is living the dream at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Since 2023, the 22-year-old has been a full-time employee at his favorite tourist line. He serves as a conductor and student engineer for the excursion operations out of Cumberland, Md., in addition to being a shop mechanic at the yard facility in Ridgeley, […]

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Amtrak NPCU ‘Cabbage’ locomotives

Amtrak locomotive on track in city

Amtrak has been using unpowered F40PH locomotives for decades in various corridors across the country. For its shorter-distance trains — where one or both ends of the run lack turning facilities — these units allow Amtrak to assign only one powered locomotive instead of two. The first F40PH converted was AMTK No. 200, which had […]

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OmniTRAX to serve P&G plant in Ohio

Logo of short line company OmniTrax

LIMA, Ohio — Rail and logistics firm OmniTRAX has been selected to provide switching for Procter & Gamble’s laundry-products factory in Lima, the third P&G manufacturing served by the OmniTRAX network. The new agreement became effective Nov. 1. OmniTRAX affiliate OmniTRAX Lima Industrial will switch daily inbound cars to the plans and return empty cars […]

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Operator in CTA Yellow Line collision faces dismissal: news report

People in safety gear at site of crash between rapid-transit train and maintenance equipment

CHICAGO — The Chicago Transit Authority train operator involved in last year’s collision between a Yellow Line train and snow-removal equipment likely faces firing, the CTA says, but it has been unable to act because the individual remains off work because of injuries suffered in the incident. The worker was found to have a blood-alcohol […]

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Full-court press continues on trespassing, safety near tracks

Commuter locomotive with information on blue grade-crossing signs

CHICAGO — Operation Lifesaver’s “See Tracks-Think Train!” nationwide information blitz during the last week of September was the latest attempt to heighten public awareness of inherent dangers around railroad property. A recent symposium sponsored by the Chicago-area DuPage Railroad Safety Council took that initiative a step further, featuring presenters who discussed the scope of recent […]

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New York, Susquehanna & Western promotes Held

Logo of New York, Susquehanna & Western

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Alan A. Held has been promoted to vice president of transportation at the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway, the company has announced. Held has been with the railway since 2022. He has been responsible for operation of transload facilities, overseeing of personnel managmenet, managing Federal Railroad Administration compliance, and developing rulebooks […]

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BNSF reports higher profits as volume grows and costs fall

Low-angle view of orange locomotives with train of containers

OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s profits, revenue, and volume all increased for the third quarter, thanks to surging intermodal and agricultural shipments. BNSF’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday that the railroad’s quarterly operating income increased 13.4%, to $2 billion, as revenue grew 2.8%, to $5.9 billion. Expenses declined 2% for the quarter. The railway’s […]

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