For 146 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train criss-crossed the nation as America’s longest passenger train. With a mile-long train of passenger cars and container flats and housing about 300 performers and crew, the circus train was a regular sight on American railroads. The Ringling Bros. shut down operations in 2017 […]
CHICAGO — Metra has seen a 70% increase in bicycles brought onto its trains since it made its more bike-friendly policy permanent on Feb. 1, Streetsblog Chicago reports. Metra had relaxed its policy, which previously restricted bikes to non-peak trains, during the COViD-19 pandemic, when it also began introducing its fleet of bicycle cars [see […]
CHICAGO — Quentin Schulte has been named president of Northern Lines Railway, Anacostia Rail Holdings has announced. Schulte has previously been the general manager of the 25-mile railroad that operates BNSF Railway trackage in the St. Cloud, Minn., area, handling more than 10,000 carloads annually. He joined the short line after 15 years with BNSF […]
DECATUR, Ill. — Decatur was not within the narrow 13-state path of totality for the solar eclipse today (April 8, 2024) but — as shown above, in an image taken just before totality — the community did not miss by much, experiencing a 97.6% partial eclipse. The effect of the eclipse is visible as a […]
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — After 63 years operating at the Milwaukee County Zoo, steam locomotive No. 1916 Harry J. Grant went back home to the Riverside & Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells. The Sandley Light Railway Equipment Works built the 15-inch gauge 4-4-2 at what is now the R&GN shops in 1960-61. Today, a crew […]
CARBONDALE, Ill. — For a few hours Thursday, travelers along Illinois’ Chicago-Carbondale Amtrak corridor could book a daytime round trip to next Monday’s solar eclipse “path of totality,” thereby avoiding monumental traffic jams along parallel highways that occurred during a similar event in August 2017. But that window of opportunity closed when seats that briefly […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Michael D. Engel and Larry F. Kaelin, who played key roles in the success of the Indiana Rail Road during their tenure as executives, have retired, the railroad has announced. Both men retired as of March 31. Engel held the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer; Kaelin was vice president, […]
CHICAGO — With spring having arrived, at least according to the calendar, commuter operator Metra on Wednesday outlined plans for capital projects planned for the 2024 construction season. The Metra budget calls for $332.4 million in projects this fiscal year, including $140.7 million for bridge projects; $81.6 million for station and parking improvements; $66.2 million […]
Conrail train COSY-4 eases through Berea, Ohio, on Aug. 14, 1979. The train came up the old Big Four route from Columbus and will continue east to Syracuse, N.Y. Albert D. Saleker photo […]
Most offset-side hoppers were built to AAR common designs. This two-bay Minneapolis & St. Louis 2,081-cubic-foot-capacity car, built in 1936, is typical of those in service through the 1960s. Classic Trains collection […]
Our host Gerry Leone heads for the hills in this episode of Spaces to Places! More specifically, he works a bit on the topography of the underpass area and how the highway routes through it all. Wisely, Gerry elects to make a template of his initial design, and then uses it to guide his efforts shaping up […]
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly known as the Burlington Route, had many Zephyrs. But out of all the streamlined trainsets and services famously named after the Greek God of the West Wind, which of the five where considered the most prestigious? Pioneer Zephyr Rolled out on April 7, 1934, by the […]
