CSX’s Seaboard System heritage locomotive makes its debut

WAYCROSS, Ga. – CSX Transportation’s third heritage locomotive is No. 1982 honoring the Seaboard System. CEO Joe Hinrichs posted photos of the locomotive today on LinkedIn, with the ES44AH posing outside the paint shop in Waycross, Ga. The Seaboard locomotive joins CSX’s Baltimore & Ohio and Chessie System heritage units. Each locomotive is numbered for […]

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Santa Fe’s Madame Queen deserves some love

Smoking steam locomotives with freight train in mountains

  Family road trips usually involve self-inflicted detours to see park steam engines, “stuffed and mounted” for the sake of local posterity. They’re usually easy to find, thanks to J. David Conrad’s standard reference “Steam Locomotive Directory of North America, Vols. I and II,” which I’ve consulted for decades, or, in a pinch, Google. A […]

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Can CPKC’s hydrogen fuel cell locomotives doom the diesel?

Green and gray cowl locomotive with blue trim

KANSAS CITY — You know the story: In November 1939 Electro-Motive FT No. 103 embarked on an 11-month, 83,764-mile demonstration tour on some of the toughest territory that American railroads could throw at the 5,400 horsepower, four-unit locomotive set. In test runs with freight and passenger trains, the experimental diesel-electric proved itself superior to even […]

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Rail service remains halted at site of Coast Starlight derailment

Equipment lifts wreckage from front of damaged locomotive

MOORPARK, Calif. — Scheduled rail service through the site of Wednesday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Coast Starlight remains disrupted while an investigation and clean-up continues. The derailment occurred about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday when the train hit a water truck at private, unprotected grade crossing near Moorpark [see “Coast Starlight derails after hitting truck …,” Trains News […]

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Pennsylvania tourist railroads you must visit

Steam locomotive with red passenger cars

Pennsylvania is rich in railroading heritage. There are dozens of museums, tourist railroads and railroad sites in the Keystone State, many in close proximity to one another. From the famous to the hidden gems, here are Pennsylvania tourist railroads you must visit from the Trains Magazine Tourist Trains Guidebook! Pennsylvania Tourist Railroads and Museums Southcentral […]

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Metrolink could add two Los Angeles County stations

White and blue commuter train rounds curve

LOS ANGELES — Metrolink could add two new stations within Los Angeles County based on work in progress by LA Metro, the county transit agency that helps fund the five-county commuter rail operator. The LA Daily News reports new stops are being considered near the Los Angeles County Medical Center in Boyle Heights and in […]

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Senators reintroduce bill to address rail service

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators have reintroduced a bill they say is intended to address service issues and shipping costs for rail customers. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) on Wednesday introduced the Reliable Rail Service Act, which seeks to clarify the definition of railroads’ common carrier obligation and establish specific criteria for […]

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New York offering more than $100 million for rail, port projects

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State is offering $121.6 million in funding for rail and port projects within the state under its Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program, with applications for funding accepted through Oct. 6. Eligible projects include track and bridge rehabilitation; yard, terminal and siding construction; grade crossing resurfacing; wayside detectors; and other […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic again shows moderate drop

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus intermodal totals

WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. freight rail traffic remains down, but for a second straight week, the degree of decline seems to be a bit more moderate. Traffic for the week ending June 24 was 469,453 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.2% drop from the same week in 2022, according to the latest statistics from the […]

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Museum of the American Railroad profile

Museum of the American Railroad logo

The MARR boasts a comprehensive collection representing the railroad history of almost every part of the U.S. Located about 15 miles north of Dallas in Frisco, Tex., the MARR has long-term plans to construct a replica roundhouse and a shop complex on its grounds. In 2018, the MARR opened TrainTopia, a 3,000-square-foot model railroad display. […]

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