SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is preparing to buy the first trainsets for its high speed rail system. The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors last week approved a Request for Qualifications for the purchase of six trainsets for use on the initial 171-mile, Merced-to-Bakersfield section of the long-delayed LA-San Francisco high speed system. “Our […]
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Transportation Safety Board concerned about fire risk from distributed power units
RICHMOND, British Columbia — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has expressed concerns about fire risks posted by distributed-power locomotives as part of its final report on a July 2021 incident involving a Canadian Pacific freight train at Elko, B.C. In a press release accompanying Thursday’s release of the final investigation report, the TSB says […]
CSX unveils L&N heritage locomotive
WAYCROSS, Ga. — CSX has released its latest heritage diesel, this time honoring predecessor Louisville & Nashville. The ES44AH locomotive will wear number 1850, which the railroad explains signifies the year the L&N was chartered by the state of Kentucky. The railroad later became part of the Seaboard Coast Line, then part of Chessie System […]
Dates still to be determined for CRRC delivery of long-delayed MBTA subway cars
BOSTON — The delivery schedule for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway cars being built by Chinese firm CRRC remains undetermined, but MBTA and Massachusetts officials believe the company will eventually complete its troubled order for the railcars. CommonWealth Magazine reports that MBTA CEO Phillip Eng told a Thursday board meeting that he, MBTA Deputy […]
Victim identified in death at Massachusetts track project
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The contract worker killed in a maintenance-of-way accident earlier this month on state-owned tracks operated by the Housatonic Railroad has been identified as Rodolfo G. Rocha, 51, of Los Fresnos, Texas, the Berkshire Eagle newspaper reports. Survivors include a wife and son. Rocha was hit by track equipment while working in […]
Rail data firm shows impact of British Columbia fires on CN, CPKC operations
Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City operations have returned to normal in wildfire-ravaged British Columbia, where a fire halted rail traffic for a day last week, according to RailState, a company that tracks freight rail movements across Canada. The Kookipi Creek Fire shut down the railroads’ directional running zone in the Fraser River Canyon […]
LGB Norfolk Southern Rescue Train now available
LGB Norfolk Southern Rescue Train Scale: 1:22.5 Price: $2,000 Manufacturer: LGB (Märklin, Inc.), 800-321-8811, lgb.com Features: Three-piece set includes diesel locomotive, tank car, and boxcar. Locomotive includes an mfx/Digital Command Control decoder with various light and sound functions and two Bühler motors. Running sounds also work in analog. Tank car can be filled with water […]
R&LHS announces 2023 scholarship awards
Five students have received Railway & Locomotive Historical Society scholarships for 2023, the organization has announced. The awards to graduate and undergraduate students are each worth $3,000. This year’s recipients are: — Harun Celik of Ames, Iowa (Edward Myers Scholarship), an international student pursuing a Ph.D.in history at Iowa State University. He is writing a […]
BART to retire last original cars on Sept. 11
OAKLAND, Calif. — The last original Bay Area Rapid Transit cars are set to be retired next month, public broadcaster KQED reports. With some 560 of the next-generation “Fleet of the Future” now in service, BART plans to retire its legacy equipment as of Sept. 11, 51 years after the system opened. The transit operator’s […]
Brightline, FEC set several days of work on St. Lucie River drawbridge
STUART, Fla. — Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway will perform additional rehabilitation work on the St. Lucie River drawbridge beginning tonight (Friday, Aug. 25), with extended overnight closures Aug. 27-28 and Aug 28-29, in order to complete the work before the start of Brightline service to Orlando, the two rail companies have announced. To […]
SMART-TD president named to STB’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council
WASHINGTON — Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), has been named to the Surface Transportation Board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. Ferguson, who joins the RSTAC as an at-large member, has nearly 30 years in the rail industry, having begun his career as a conductor. […]
Toronto’s Scarborough RT line will not reopen after July derailment
TORONTO — The Toronto Transit Commission says it will not reopen the Scarborough RT rail line in the wake of last month’s derailment that sent five people to the hospital. The route — an orphan in Toronto’s four-line subway system because of its use of a different type of equipment — was already scheduled to […]