Westbound CSX train Q261 climbs the Sand Patch grade at Foley Overlook, near Fairhope, Pa., on Oct. 9, 2011. Three photos, Alex Mayes Trying to come up with just 10 favorite train-watching spots posed a challenge for me, as I have a lot of favorite spots, all of which have their particular characteristics. For this […]
Railroad: Amtrak
Matt Van Hattem’s top 10 railfan spots
A southbound CSX intermodal train skirts the Hudson River at Bear Mountain, N.Y., on May 12, 2011. Three photos, Matt Van Hattem Every region has fascinating places to watch trains, and working at Trains brought me to locations I had always longed to visit as well as great spots I might not have otherwise come […]
MRVP Insider: Modelers in a Minivan along the Main Line
Combine a world-renowned modeler (Pelle Søeborg), a guy that’s great at photographing trains (Drew Halverson), another who’s pretty darn good at both (Cody Grivno), and a sunny day spent trackside, and you get Modelers In A Minivan Along The Main Line! Join their jaunt across the Wisconsin countryside, and you’ll see just what inspires this […]
NTSB report: ‘Culture of fear’ present at Amtrak for 2016 accident NEWSWIRE
Amtrak ACS64 No. 627 shortly after it crashed into a maintenance-of-way backhoe that was fouling a track on the Northeast Corridor near Chester, Pa., in April 2016. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — If Amtrak had deployed a familiar device that trips “stop” signals, it could have avoided an accident at Chester, Pa., on April […]
Expensive questions surface with changed passenger car order
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Half-a-billion dollars in unanswered questions remain now that California officials are working with a new builder on a floundering, years-old passenger car order. California Department of Transportation — Caltrans — officials say in a Wednesday news release that German railroad equipment manufacturer Siemens will build 137 single-level coaches in its Sacramento shops […]
O gauge F40PH diesel from MTH
O gauge F40PH diesel from MTH Price: $499.95 (No. 20-20683-1) Min Curve: O-31 Cmd Low: 2.3 smph Cnv Low: 2.9 smph High: 73.6 smph Drawbar pull: 1 lb., 2 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, ProtoSound 3.0 command and sound system, smoke unit Current-production road names: Amtrak (Phase III and Phase IV), MBTA, Metra, VIA […]
Designing a new high speed passenger train in the U.S. NEWSWIRE
NEW YORK — Building high speed passenger trains is not only technically intense, but a new Alstom video shows that it is also equal parts art and science fiction. The France-based locomotive and trainset manufacturer recently debuted a new video showing how Alstom engineers and designers collaborate to make digital three-dimensional models of new equipment […]
PTC and passenger speeds
Amtrak’s ‘Empire Builder’ streaks through Brookfield, Wis. The speed limit for Amtrak on Canadian Pacific’s Watertown Subdivision is 79 mph. Tom Danneman Q Most Amtrak trains have a 79-mph speed limit. Will positive train control systems allow Amtrak to operate faster where track conditions allow? For instance, the Southwest Chief operates to 90 mph in […]
UP conditionally OK’s Flatonia, Texas, ‘Sunset’ stop NEWSWIRE
Attendees at Saturday’s St. Louis TEMPO meeting that are working toward a Sunset Limited Flatonia, Texas, stop: Clockwise from top left: Mark Murphy and Eric Hosey (Amtrak); Dennis Geesaman, Mark Eversole, and Mark McLaughlin (Flatonia); Josephine Jordan and Kim Fossland (Union Pacific); Jay Fountain (Amtrak-retired); and Tom Mulligan (UP-retired). Bob Johnston ST. LOUIS — Eight years […]
Siemens Charger solos for first time out of Chicago NEWSWIRE
CHICAGO — This morning, Amtrak Hiawatha train No. 329 departed Chicago Union Station for Milwaukee behind a new SC-44 Charger locomotive, No. 4620. This is the first solo revenue trip for the Illinois Department of Transportation’s SC-44 locomotives since arriving in the Windy City this spring. This locomotive and its counterparts are owned by a […]
UPDATE: ‘Eclipse Express’ coverage from southern Illinois NEWSWIRE
FULL SCREEN Steve Smedley A humid breeze wisps through the wheels of a rusted baggage cart in Champaign, Ill., at 5:28 a.m. Monday. Amtrak’s product line agent Ed Kim stands on the platform of the Illinois Terminal Intermodal Transportation Center in Champaign as the engineer of the Eclipse Express special dims the headlight for a […]
Coast-to-coast passenger train
Amtrak’s westbound ‘Sunset Limited’ pauses for a station stop in Atmore, Ala., at sunrise in January 1995. It was the nation’s first and only transcontinental passenger train. Bob Johnston Q There were numerous named passenger trains that spanned distances beyond the reach of a single railroad, such as the California Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland, […]