New York, Susquehanna & Western RDC M-5 arrives at the Armory Square station in downtown Syracuse, N.Y., with an OnTrack City Express shuttle on June 28, 1995. John Godfrey OnTrack City Express is a 3.5-mile rail shuttle serving Syracuse, N.Y., linking the Carousel Mall, Armory Square (downtown), Syracuse University, and Colvin Street (a flag stop). […]
Zone & Region: Northeast
New Jersey Transit
Two electric multiple-unit New Jersey Transit trains pause at Elizabeth, N.J., during an evening rush hour along the four-track Northeast Corridor. Matt Van Hattem NJ Transit Rail Operations is the subsidiary of New Jersey Transit Corporation charged with managing and operating commuter rail service in the Garden State. Commuter service that had been provided by […]
Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC)
Passenger service on the 200-mile MARC system is distinguished by the need to serve commuters working in two different metropolitan areas. Rush-hour trains operate both ways on two separate routes between Baltimore and Washington: Amtrak’s electrified Northeast Corridor via New Carrollton (the Penn Line), and CSX’s Capital Subdivision via Jessup and College Park (the Camden […]
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
Two SEPTA MU trainsets are seen laying over between runs near Powelton yard, just west of 30th Street Station Philadelphia, on March 4, 2000. Matt Van Hattem SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, operates a network of commuter trains, buses, trolleys, subways, and trackless trolleys that serve Philadelphia and surrounding areas. SEPTA’s commuter rail service […]
Riding Maine’s Downeaster
Twenty minutes out of Portland, Downeaster train 682 crosses Scarborough Marsh. Bob Johnston The return of passenger rail service to Maine was a story 13 years in the making, as Bob Johnston explained in the June 2002 issue of TRAINS Magazine. The passenger corridor, which launched in December 2001, could be a model for future […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: P-S
Penn Central Company Penn Central was created February 1, 1968 by merger of Pennsylvania and New York Central. Entered bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. Because of PC’s failure and its size, the federal government created Conrail, to which PC was conveyed on April 1, 1976. Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad chartered April 13, 1846; by 1852, […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: C
Canadian National Canadian National Railways was incorporated June 6, 1919, to operate several carriers that had come under governmental control owing to financial problems: Intercolonial (1913); National Transcontinental (1915); Canadian Northern (1918); Grand Trunk Pacific (1920); and Grand Trunk (1920). The Grand Trunk name survived on the U.S. portion of the Montreal-Portland (Maine) line until […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: L-O
Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Warwick Valley opened in 1862 as 6-foot-gauge line, standard-gauged in 1880. It was extended southwest as Lehigh & Hudson River, a name adopted for both lines in 1882. L&HR filed for bankruptcy on April 18, 1872, and was among the properties conveyed to Conrail on April 1, 1976. Lehigh & […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: D-K
Delaware & Hudson Railway Delaware & Hudson, calling itself the longest-lived transportation company in the U.S., dates to an 1823 charter of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. “The D&H” operated the first steam locomotive on rail in the U.S., the Stourbridge Lion, in 1829. Amid modern Northeastern U.S. railroad uncertainty, D&H came under Norfolk […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: T-Z
Tennessee Central Railway Tennessee & Pacific dates from 1871. By 1900 one of several “Tennessee Centrals” ran east to Emory Gap; western extension reached Hopkinsville, Ky., in 1904. During receivership 1904-1913, TC, divided at Nashville, was controlled by Illinois Central and Southern. After years of unprofitability, TC was split in May 1968 among IC (west […]
Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: A-B
Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railway Akron, Canton & Youngstown incorporated in 1907, completed its line in 1913. Purchased by N&W at time of Nickel Plate merger in October 1964. Dissolved by N&W successor Norfolk Southern Corp. on January 1, 1982. Trackage included in May 17, 1990, sale to new regional Wheeling & Lake Erie. Alabama, […]
Bound Brook, N.J., March 17, 1976
Wanting to get a look at the Jersey Central and Lehigh Valley just before they disappeared into Conrail, future Classic Trains magazine Editor Rob McGonigal spent several hours on March 17, 1976, at CNJ’s Bound Brook station. Here is his train log. 08:51 Reading RDC2 9165 and RDC1 9164, Crusader, eastbound 08:55 CNJ GP7 1524 […]