How the ‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’ came to be

End of blue passenger train with sign highlighting railroad spikes

The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]

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Environmental groups sue over STB approval of Utah rail project

Map showing proposed rail route in Utah

WASHINGTON — A coalition of environmental groups have sued the Surface Transportation Board, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and federal government over the STB’s approval of Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway project. The suit filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by the Center for Biological Diversity and four […]

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BNSF employee killed in Denver yard accident

BNSF Railway logo

DENVER — A BNSF Railway employee has died following an accident at the railroad’s Globeville yard in downtown Denver on Wednesday. According to the Denver Post, Denver police reported they were responding to an accident involving a train and a pedestrian shortly before noon, and announced the man had died about 3:40 p.m. The victim’s […]

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Continental Divide

20200622

Five black-and-gold Northern Pacific F units lift a freight up the west slope of the Continental Divide at Elliston, Mont., in the 1950s. The NP relied on F units for both freight and passenger service. R. V. Nixon photo […]

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Colorado county plans to challenge approval of Utah rail line

Logo of Eagle County, Colo.

EAGLE, Colo. — Officials in a Colorado county plan to challenge the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of a new rail line in Utah over concerns about resulting crude-oil shipments that will pass through their area. The Vail Daily News reports commissioners in Eagle County have approved pursuing action in U.S. District Court, in either Denver […]

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Civil trial against Durango & Silverton is delayed

Steam locomotive leads train onto dirt street

DURANGO, Colo. — A trial in which more than 30 property owners and businesses are seeking damages from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad over a 2018 wildfire has been delayed, the Durango Herald reports. The civil lawsuit was delayed by 6th Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson to Aug. 29 because of ongoing negotiations […]

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