LOWER SAUCON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — National Transportation Safety Board investigators have released control of the site of Saturday’s collision and derailment involving three trains to Norfolk Southern for its crews and contractors to address cleanup, the Allentown Morning Call reports. The NTSB turned the site over to NS late this afternoon [Sunday, March 3], but […]
Zone & Region: Northeast
Three-train NS accident in Pennsylvania sends locomotives into Lehigh River
LOWER SAUCON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a derailment involving three Norfolk Southern trains that occurred today (Saturday, March 2) near Allentown, Pa., the safety agency said on social media site X. The incident sent two locomotives partially into the adjacent Lehigh River; NS reported diesel fuel and a small […]
Amtrak awards contract for Philadelphia maintenance facility
PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak has awarded a contract to Herzog Contracting Corp. for design and construction of a new Heavy Maintenance Facility at the passenger operator’s Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia, the first of six major projects planned for maintenance facilities around the country. The projects at five locations in the Northeast and one in the […]
Commuter rail workers tell MBTA they are prepared to strike
BOSTON — Union workers operating the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail operator for its contract operator, Keolis, are prepared to strike over wages and other conditions, the president of one union told the MBTA’s board on Thursday. “We don’t want to strike, but we will when we are legally able to,” Transportation Workers Union […]
Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway | 2024 Winter Photo Special
Welcome to winter in Maine! Host Kevin Gilliam takes you along for trackside action featuring steam in the snow and chilly temperatures too. It’s all part of the charm that made the historic WW&F Rwy. such an ideal location for capturing the sights and sounds of narrow gauge railroading in February 2024. Sample these and […]
Video: Wabtec provides look at locomotive painting process
ERIE, Pa. — If you’ve wondered what it looks like to paint a locomotive, Wabtec has released a short video condensing the 7-to-10-day process — requiring two-person crews working two shifts — to just over a minute and a half. The locomotive being painted in this video, incidentally, is not your run-of-the-mill diesel with your […]
LIRR makes schedule changes to allow track work
NEW YORK — Trains will be replaced by buses on the eastern portion of the Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkonkoma Branch on weekdays beginning Monday, March 4, the most significant of a series of schedule changes to allow for track work throughout the LIRR system. A number of other changes, involving new trains, new start […]
Baltimore & Annapolis car at Carroll Tower
Having just departed its Baltimore terminal adjacent to B&O’s Camden Street Station, a Baltimore & Annapolis car curves off B&O trackage and onto B&A’s line to Annapolis at Carroll Tower in 1946. William D. Middleton photo […]
Safety commission orders DC Metrorail to address certification issues for operators
WASHINGTON — The independent agency that oversees DC Metrorail safety issues says in a new report that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is allowing personnel to operate trains that do not meet the agency’s safety requirements, and has ordered WMATA to address the issue. The report issued Wednesday by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission […]
Train Watching — Short line: Connecticut Southern Railroad
Connecticut Southern Railroad was created by short line holding company RailTex in 1996, assuming Conrail’s freight operations over 55 miles of Amtrak’s Springfield Line between Springfield, Mass., and North Haven, Conn., as well as branches the new railroad purchased from Conrail. Four years later, RailTex was purchased by RailAmerica, which in turn was acquired by […]
Fixed forward and backward seating to speed Northeast Regional equipment turns, allow more frequencies
WASHINGTON — Coaches where half of the seats face backwards have been standard for years on Amtrak services ranging from many regional state-supported corridors to Acela First Class. Beginning March 2, that configuration is being extended to all Northeast Regional Amfleet-equipped trains. Acela Business Class will transition to permanent “fixed forward and backward” seating later […]
MTA details projects at risk without congestion pricing funds
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which had previously announced it was placing much of its capital spending on hold because of uncertainty over implementation of Manhattan’s congestion pricing plan, on Monday detailed the projects at risk while the lawsuits against congestion pricing are pending. Congestion pricing, intended to discourage driving in Manhattan below […]