SACRAMENTO, Calif. – “A new statewide train system, over 700 miles in length, capable of travel at speeds up to 200 mph,” reads a 2005 brochure published by the California High Speed Rail Authority. The system will “carry as many as 68 million passengers annually by 2020.” Those dreams are stalled somewhere in the arid […]
Knoxville Locomotive Works SE10B No. 30 is new power for San Francisco Belt Railway. Doug Wooton Alco No. 23 loads cars with “dirty dirt” at the SFBR yard. Davis Strench No. 25’s engine will be removed, and the unit placed on display. Kyle Stockman SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Bay Railroad is in the […]
Nickel Plate Road No. 765 puts on a show at Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn PENINSULA, Ohio — The 2019 mainline steam picture just got a little brighter. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad representatives said Monday they’ll happily host Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 again on excursions this fall for two […]
The SPMW 222 at Crystal Lake, Calif., about 15 minutes before its bearings failed. S.R. Bush TRUCKEE, Calif. – Winter on Donner Pass is only at the halfway mark but already is proving one to be remembered. November and December were mild, but in January things began to shift the pace and strength of storms […]
ELLENDALE, Minn. – Two Union Pacific trains stuck in deep snow near Ellendale are free this week following the efforts of railroad and contractor crews to free them. Ellendale is located on the so-called “Spine Line” between Minneapolis and Des Moines, Iowa, about 30 miles north of the Minnesota-Iowa state line. The work took place […]
Union Pacific’s LOA32 local finishes up its day passing the now-removed Lemon Avenue wig-wag in Anaheim California on July 6, 2018. Charles Freericks ANAHEIM, Calif. – The era of the wig-wag signal in Southern California made a step closer to its conclusion with the removal of Union Pacific’s Lemon Avenue crossing signal in Anaheim in […]
Trains editors discuss all the news that is fit to publish for the week of March 1, 2019. This week, Editor Jim Wrinn and Digital Editor Steve Sweeney talk about the Coast Starlight stuck in Oregon, Union Pacific receives go-ahead to run steam locomotives up to 11,000 miles in 2019 from the FRA and more. […]
UP crews built a switchback to reach a tunnel during construction. In many ways, the work done on the transcontinental railroad were feats of ingenuity and engineering. Union Pacific Importance of The Transcontinental Railroad In the 1850s, major railroad projects were viewed as projects for the public good, in much the same way we justify […]
UP No. 844 rolls south at Greeley, Colo., in July 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has told Union Pacific it doesn’t need waivers in 2019 to operate non-PTC-equipped steam locomotives Nos. 844 and 4014 on three excursions covering 11,111 miles, according to letters between UP and FRA that Trains Newswire […]
Big Boy 4014 near Green River, Wyo., on its way to restoration in 2014. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. — Fans of Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014, eager to make travel plans for the engine’s debut trip from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Ogden, Utah, in May, will have to wait a bit longer for […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — BNSF Railway’s bridge across the Columbia River was reopened about 5:30 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, after a late-morning fire closed the bridge to all traffic, TV station KOIN reports. The Oregonian newspaper quoted a Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman as saying the fire was started by workers using acetylene torches on […]
Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data The Class I railroad average operating ratio rose slightly in 2018 — the first increase in a decade — as congestion-related costs and an accounting rules change pushed the closely watched efficiency metric up at four of the seven big systems. CSX Transportation […]
