CHICAGO — BNSF Railway and CREATE have announced the completion of a CREATE project on the Western Avenue Corridor, the fourth of eight projects completed on that section of the project to improve Chicago rail traffic flow. Overall, 30 projects are now complete of the 70 that make up the entire program. The newest project, […]
Zone & Region: Midwest
Master of the E&W Turn
New York Central SW8 8626 stands at the road’s Avon Yard near Indianapolis in 1966. Another EMD switcher powered the E&W Turn some 140 miles to the north. Louis A. Marre As a struggling schoolteacher in northern Indiana in the early 1960s, I worked a few summers as a brakeman on a couple of local railroads, […]
Auction set for equipment from closed Nippon Sharyo plant NEWSWIRE
Equipment at Nippon Sharyo’s closed Rochelle, Ill., plant — shown in May 2014 — will be auctioned off in June. Bob Johnston ROCHELLE, Ill. — A June auction will sell off equipment from Nippon Sharyo’s former railcar manufacturing facility in Rochelle, which closed in July 2018 after eight years of operation. The plant, which built […]
Chicago suburb to offer premium commuter parking for $1,200 NEWSWIRE
An outbound Metra train arrives at the Barrington, Ill., station in April 2019. Barrington will begin offering a $1,200 premium parking permit at the station. TRAINS: David Lassen BARRINGTON, Ill. — Commuters who want that really prime parking space at the Metra station can now assure themselves of getting it every morning — but it’s […]
Ohio derailment clean-up to take several days NEWSWIRE
WELLINGTON, Ohio — Media outlets are reporting that there are no injuries after a CSX Transportation train derailed in north-central Ohio town of Wellington on Tuesday. The Elyria, Ohio, Chronicle-Telegram reports that 22 cars and two locomotives derailed Tuesday morning in the center of Wellington on the former “Big Four” New York Central main line. […]
UP derailment turns St. Paul Union Depot into stub-end station NEWSWIRE
Union Pacific derailed several cars blocking access to St. Paul Union Depot from the east on May 28. Khang Lu ST. PAUL, Minn. – The derailment of a Union Pacific freight train at the east end of St. Paul Union Depot Tuesday has temporarily turned the station into a stub-end facility. Six cars of sand […]
Ohio tornado outbreak disrupts rail service NEWSWIRE
DAYTON, Ohio – Rail activity is still suspended in Dayton after several tornadoes tore through the city and southwestern Ohio communities late Monday night. CSX Transportation confirms it has temporarily ceased all rail operations through Dayton due to down power lines and other debris across mainline tracks. “CSX personnel are working closely with the electric […]
Masonry, steel structure focus in second phase of Michigan Central Station revival NEWSWIRE
Ford starts the second phase of construction at Michigan Central Station this week after six months of successful winterizing, drying out, and securing the 640,000-square-foot building. Ford Motor Co. DETROIT – The second phase of construction at Michigan Central Station is underway, including restoring eight acres of masonry and repairing the steel structure of the […]
Flooding, tornado affect UP operations in Midwest NEWSWIRE
OMAHA, Neb. – Five Union Pacific subdivisions in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are out-of-service Thursday as a result of extreme weather in that part of the country and the railroad is warning customers that the worst might be yet to come. UP officials say the Cherokee Subdivision between Parsons, Kan., and McAlester, Okla.; the […]
Illinois infrastructure plan would include $100 million for extension of Metra service NEWSWIRE
YORKVILLE, Ill. — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal for a six-year, $41.5-billion infrastructure program in the state includes $100 million for the expansion of Metra service into Kendall County, the Kendall County Record reports. A total of $3.4 billion in the plan is for transit projects, the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week, with $2.9 […]
Next stop for Big Boy No. 4014: Iowa. From there, eastbound? NEWSWIRE
No. 4014 will travel to Iowa on an excursion on July 15. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. – Where is Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 headed next? The UP Museum has confirmed that its fund-raising trip of July 15 from Omaha to Boone, Iowa, will be pulled by the newly restored 4-8-8-4 that returned […]
Monsters of Mingo
Six-axle units from three Conrail predecessors mingle at Mingo Junction, Ohio, in April 1976, the month of Big Blue’s creation. Visible left to right are former Erie Lackawanna GE U33C No. 3302, Lehigh Valley Alco C628 No. 628, and Penn Central C630 No. 3626. Jay Potter photo […]