NEWINGTON, Conn. — Shore Line East commuter rail service will gain two additional round trips and see the resumption of direct service between Stamford, Conn., and New London as of Monday, Oct. 7, the Connecticut Department of Transportation has announced. Added are westbound trains No. 1633, departing New London at 5:46 a.m. and arriving at Stamford […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Railfanning the last runs of the RoadRailers
Last runs of the RoadRailers The RoadRailer era is over. Once extending to a number of railroads — and for several years exclusive to Norfolk Southern — the RoadRailer period came to an end on the weekend of Aug. 24-25, 2024. NS, having previously pared back its offering of Triple Crown-branded routes to a single […]
Pennsylvania’s Northern Central Railway adds GE 80-ton diesel
NEW FREEDOM, Pa. — Northern Central Railway of York has added to its roster with purchase of a GE 80-ton locomotive that will be used in excursion service. “As part of our strategic growth plan, we have been considering buying another train for some time,” Ashley Zimmerman, the railroad’s executive director, said in a press […]
Startup company proposes novel way to speed passenger service
Imagine if you could launch faster passenger train service on a dedicated right of way for half the cost of traditional high speed rail — or speed up conventional service by 30% while still running at 79 mph. It’s possible, a startup company claims, to slash transit times by eliminating the station stops that pull […]
Young Guns in Preservation: Stephen Hook
Like the song once performed by Johnny Cash, Stephen Hook seems to have been everywhere, man. Starting his rail preservation venture as a volunteer for Nashville’s Tennessee Central Railway Museum at age 13, the now 25-year-old criss-crosses the United States as the mechanical technician for FMW Solutions — a railroad contract and consulting firm out […]
BNSF tells regulators it’s set to handle ongoing surge in West Coast container volume
WASHINGTON — With an East Coast port strike set to begin tomorrow, BNSF Railway says it’s ready to handle additional container volume from West Coast ports, citing the record volumes it has already moved this year while maintaining service levels. “Although no work stoppages have occurred yet, volume shifts to the west coast have already […]
Norfolk Southern lines from Georgia to West Virginia still out of service after Hurricane Heline
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern crews are out across the network tending to widespread damages caused by Hurricane Helene on Friday. Rail service is still suspended across many lines from Georgia to West Virginia. Railroad crews are spending today (Monday, Sept. 30) clearing trees across a 70-mile section of its Brunswick District between Macon, Ga., and […]
Restored Lehigh & New England varnish ready to roll
DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. — After a 10-month restoration, former Lehigh & New England office car No. 100 is ready to start carrying first-class passengers for its new owner, the Everett Railroad. After L&NE quit running in 1961, the car served as a restaurant annex near Philadelphia before trolley broker Ed Metka of Windber, Pa., bought it […]
Saved by the beep
BC Rail In May 1996, during the long Canadian weekend celebrating Victoria Day, a national holiday, there was a crew shortage in Lillooet, British Columbia, on BC Rail. Normally, Lillooet had a fairly quiet joint conductors spare board — one could sit second-out for the better part of a week! That weekend, most of the […]
CSX contributes $100,000 to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts
JACKSONVILLE — CSX Corp. will donate $100,000 to American Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in communities hit by Hurricane Helene, the company has announced. The company will also provide a dollar-for-dollar match for donations by employees to the Red Cross. “The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene has deeply impacted the communities where our employees, […]
News photo: Bound for rebuilding
MONTREAL — Five VIA Rail Canada F40PH-2Ds head for CAD Railway Industries in Lachine, Quebec, on Saturday, Sept. 28, for the start of the latest round of rebuilding of the passenger operator’s longtime workhorses. The VIA F40 fleet last went through rebuilding between 2007 and 2012, also by CAD. VIA solicited bids for refurbishing its […]
InnoTrans show wraps up in Berlin with record numbers
BERLIN — The global InnoTrans trade fair closed Friday evening, and the organizers have reported record numbers of visitors: at least 170,000 from 133 countries, according to provisional figures, visiting the 2940 exhibitors from 59 countries. Organizers report that about 600 new exhibitors took part – some representing countries never previously never represented, such as […]