Alex Mayes’ top 10 railfan spots

CSX Railroad Foley Overlook

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 […]

Read More…

Matt Van Hattem’s top 10 railfan spots

CSX intermodal train at Bear Mountain, N.Y.

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 […]

Read More…

MRVP Insider: Modelers in a Minivan along the Main Line

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 […]

Read More…

Expensive questions surface with changed passenger car order

SiemensCalifornia

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 […]

Read More…

O gauge F40PH diesel from MTH

f40ph

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

PTC and passenger speeds

TRNAT1115_01

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 […]

Read More…

UP conditionally OK’s Flatonia, Texas, ‘Sunset’ stop NEWSWIRE

IMG_1164

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

Coast-to-coast passenger train

TRNAT0815_02

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, […]

Read More…