Palmer, Mass.

CSX in Palmer, Mass.

A westbound CSX freight approaches the diamond at Palmer, Mass., in February of 2000. James B. Winters Palmer, Mass., is one of two New England hot spots profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Railroad Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below: DescriptionGrade-level crossing of CSX’s single-track Boston Subdivision (former Conrail […]

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Perryville and Havre de Grace, Md.

Amtrak at Perryville

A westbound NortheastDirect train crosses the Susquehanna River at twilight in October 2000, seen from the Jean S. Roberts Memorial Park in Havre de Grace, Md. Dale R. Jacobson Halfway between Baltimore and Wilmington, Del., lie the cities of Perryville and Havre de Grace, Md., separated from each other by the Susquehanna River at the […]

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Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

MBTA reeds

MBTA GP40LH-2 1128 pulls into the Newburyport, Mass., layover yard with train 183 on July 30, 2002. James B. Winters The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority serves the city of Boston and outlying areas with 11 different commuter lines and 119 stations covering 402 route miles. MBTA trains operate two Boston stations: North Station and South […]

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Shore Line East

Shore Line East

A Shore Line East commuter train led by GP40-2H 253 rolls through Madison, Ct., in August 1993. This portion of the Northeast Corridor has since been electrified to accommodate Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express. John Locke, III Shore Line East commuter operations began in May of 1990, serving 7 stations on a 33-mile segment of Amtrak’s […]

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MTA Metro-North Railroad

Metro-North

On a July 1996 evening in New York City, Metro-North P32ACDM 202 wheels through Spuyten Duyvil with a northbound diesel-powered Hudson Line train, passing a now-retired 1100-series M.U. that has just departed the station. Matt Van Hattem MTA Metro-North Railroad provides commuter service on five routes covering 412 miles, serving 120 stations. Metro-North is the […]

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MTA Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road replaced its vintage – and worn out – diesel fleet with new locomotives from GM (both straight diesel and dual-mode diesel-electrics) and bilevel coaches. DE30 401, a regular diesel (the dual-modes are class DM30), hauls a string of new coaches through Lynbrook, N.Y., on the Babylon Branch at 12:35 p.m., […]

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OnTrack City Express

OnTrack

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). […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

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 […]

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Riding Maine’s Downeaster

Downeaster in marsh

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 […]

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Railroad Fallen Flag Thumbnails: P-S

Penn Central Company

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, […]

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