Lionel’s 2024 Catalog Volume II honors the past and present with some superb sets and locomotives operators and even collectors are sure to like. I discovered a number of impressive and desirable new models when I finally found the time to devote an entire evening to exploring the second and shorter catalog from 2024. By […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Jonathan Goldbloom, a member of the VIA Rail Canada board since 2017, has been named as VIA’s board chairman effective April 12, 2025. Goldbloom’s five-year appointment as chairman was announced on Saturday, March 8, by Minister of Transport at Internal Trade Anita Anand. Goldbloom, of Montreal, is a partner at Avenue Strategic […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A strike by members of the Amalgamated Transit Union has shut down the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority as of 12:01 a.m. today (March 10). The union, which represents 1,500 VTA employees, including light rail and bus operators, dispatchers, and maintenance staff, had announced its intent to strike last week [see […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached tentative agreement on a new contract for the transit agency’s engineers, which could end a long-running dispute and avert a potential strike later this month. NorthJersey.com reports the deal was reached on Thursday, March 6, but it was announced today […]
There are standard-gauge tracks close by, but they can’t be seen here, since they’re underground in this neighborhood. We’re at Columbus Circle in New York’s borough of Manhattan, on Thanksgiving Day in 1951, Nov. 22. How can that be deduced? Well, that’s the famous Macy’s parade that’s passing down the street, complete with a […]
Talk of Burlington Northern passenger trains inevitably conjures visions of green E units toting bilevel stainless steel coaches at rush hour. But BN has history, albeit brief, with conventional intercity passenger service. This spanned from its March 1970 inception to the May 1, 1971, startup of Amtrak – just days less than 14 months. […]
WORCESTER, Mass. — Two tank cars of ethanol struck a building after derailing Sunday, but neither car was breached and the structure did not appear to be damaged, according to a fire department official. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports a total of six cars of a Providence & Worcester train derailed, according to a […]
Your latest installment in the occasional Trains News Wire feature offering links to online articles of interest: — The New York Times takes a long look at the fight in Del Mar, Calif., over relocating the former Santa Fe Surf Line, and frames it as part of coastal erosion issues statewide. The link should allow […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The parent agencies of Virginia Railway Express have approved a $155 million agreement to help purchase the commuter operator’s Manassas Line from Norfolk Southern. The nonprofit news site Virginia Mercury reports the boards of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock River Transportation Commission approved the agreement in separate […]
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Eight months after it was devastated by a flood, the Sioux City Railroad Museum has reopened. The museum reopened on Saturday, March 1, and is currently open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Its website notes that restoration and renovation is […]
TEMPLETON, Iowa — Cleanup continues after a BNSF train derailed Thursday, March 6, in west-central Iowa, WOI and KCWI-TV report. The derailment occurred about 3:24 p.m. near Templeton. Video on the stations’ website shows heavy equipment working in deep snow around three locomotives; no information was available on the number of railcars involved, but BNSF […]
CHICAGO — In the latest twist in Union Pacific’s long-running effort to exit Chicago commuter rail operations, commuter agency Metra has asked the Surface Transportation Board to require UP to allow Metra to continue operating on the three UP lines it serves. Metra’s filing today (March 7, 2025) asks the board to provide terminal trackage […]
