Amtrak’s ‘Three Rivers’ passes through Deshler, Ohio, in January 2003. Brian Schmidt Q While watching a DVD recently, I noticed an Amtrak train heading west through Deshler, Ohio. In what years did Amtrak go through that piece of Ohio? – David Harnisfeger, Findlay, Ohio A Amtrak operated on the former Baltimore & Ohio main line […]
Railroad: Amtrak
UPDATE: Amtrak to take over ‘Hoosier State’ by March 1 NEWSWIRE
The Hoosier State passenger train with its Iowa Pacific consist. Don Nickel INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa Pacific Holdings is dropping its popular Hoosier State passenger train after only 20 months of operation. Amtrak will take over the service on March 1, according to Amtrak officials and the Indiana Department of Transportation. Officials said that Iowa Pacific […]
Communication a factor in fatal Amtrak 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 — Faulty communication between maintenance workers appear to have played a significant part in last year’s fatal collision between an Amtrak train and […]
Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Dawn at the East Portal
Charlie continues his chase into Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Range. The destination for Day Two is the historic Moffat Tunnel, where Union Pacific and Amtrak trains take turns powering through the East Portal. […]
Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Dawn at the East Portal
Charlie continues his chase into Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Range. The destination for Day Two is the historic Moffat Tunnel, where Union Pacific and Amtrak trains take turns powering through the East Portal. […]
Donner Pass snows clog highways but delay trains little NEWSWIRE
Norden, Calif. Google Maps ROSEVILLE, Calif. — While snow and zero visibility shut down numerous highways, Union Pacific and Amtrak soldiered on over California’s Donner Pass this week. But now flooding is the threat as the forecast calls for heavy rain, some of it on several feet of snow. “In preparation of the coming weather […]
Northeast Corridor safety
Extra tall fences (seen on the overpass in the background) often protect electrified lines from road debris. Michael S. Murray Q I have driven over the Northeast Corridor and have seen guardrails on the bridge get higher over the tracks themselves. Why is that? – Dan Wescott, Louisburg, N.C. A The primary reason higher barriers […]
Snows only slow Amtrak’s ‘Empire Builder’ NEWSWIRE
An on-time eastbound Empire Builder pauses at Minot, N.D., for servicing on Aug. 20, 2014. Bob Johnston RUGBY, N.D. — Snow and ice are burying much of North Dakota this week, but Amtrak’s Empire Builder soldiers on. While national TV news and published reports recounted how thousands of flights were cancelled, trucks jackknifed all over […]
Book Review: The Metroliners: Trains that changed the course of American rail travel
The Metroliners: Trains that changed the course of American rail travel By Bruce Goldberg and David C. Warner White River Productions, P.O. Box 48, Bucklin, MO 64631; 124 pages, hardcover, 8 ½ x 11 inches; $59.95 shop.whiteriverproductions.com Recounting the history of the Northeast Corridor’s first premium service in a breezy narrative that knows what to […]
First Viewliner II diner on the move NEWSWIRE
Viewliner II dining car Annapolis deadheads on the rear of the southbound Silver Meteor at Kissimmee, Fla., on Nov. 18. Scott A. Hartley MIAMI — Amtrak employees will soon train in the newest dining cars on the continent now that the first of 25 new Viewliner II dining cars has arrived at Amtrak’s Hialeah Maintenance […]
More than 20 charged with drug smuggling on the ‘Southwest Chief’ NEWSWIRE
CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors have accused 24 people of using Amtrak’s Southwest Chief to move cocaine and heroin from California to Chicago, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago says the charges were the result of a multi-year investigation called “Operation Derail.” According to court documents, the suspects would often hide the […]
Amtrak equipment usage
Amtrak’s ‘Empire Builder’s consist will vary, but the number of trainsets for a route depends on schedules. Here it is westbound in June at Duplainville, Wis. Steve Sweeney Q For the past few years I have been trying to figure out how many trainsets are needed for a given train such as the Empire Builder. […]