MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — South Shore Line commuter trains began operation on the first portion of the Double Track project between Gary and Michigan City on Wednesday, with trains running between Michigan City and the Dune Park station in Chesterton for the first time in more than a year. The resumption of rail service between […]
Thanks to a friendly crew, here is the Indiana countryside between Kokomo and Elwood as seen from the cab of Penn Central E7 4211 on April 20, 1971. No. 66, a remnant of the Pennsy’s Buckeye, had just 10 days to live. Photo by J. David Ingles […]
Amtrak Twin Cities services started on May 1, 1971, at the Burlington Northern (former Great Northern) station in Minneapolis. Service levels ebbed and flowed through the years as trains were added or subtracted. Amtrak opened a new Twin Cities station on March 1, 1978, using a standard plan that was also built in […]
The first rail-to-trail conversion in the U.S., the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, gives riders an opportunity to traverse three tunnels. Wisconsin isn’t usually associated with railroad tunnels, but it once had a number of them. Today only Canadian Pacific’s bore at Tunnel City is active, but next door is the closed tunnel of the Chicago […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak business-class passengers no longer receive free admission to Chicago Union Station’s Metropolitan Lounge, although a $35 day pass is available. Enlarged and reimagined at a new location within the sprawling facility in 2016, the Metropolitan Lounge’s primary function has been to serve transferring long-distance sleeping car passengers. It is a multi-level place […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has signed a 10-year naming-rights agreement for the stadium currently under construction for the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League, which the team says is the world’s first stadium built for a women’s professional sports team. CPKC Stadium, under construction at Berkley Riverfront Park, […]
CHICAGO — It’s a measure of how large CREATE’s 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project is that, even having been divided into more manageable parts, it’s still too big, from a financial standpoint, for one of those parts to be fully funded through the federal government’s Mega Grant program. So, when CREATE — the Chicago Region […]
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to perform additional cleanup work on creeks in the area of the Feb. 3 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, saying disturbance of sediment on those streams can lead to an “oily sheen” in the water. The order issued Wednesday covers a 5-mile area […]
RIVER GROVE, Ill. — Metra has recently accelerated testing of its SD70MACH locomotives, with the first test run with one of the remanufactured units leading a train taking place earlier this week. Unit No. 509, accompanied by F59PH No. 99, is shown at River Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 17, on a test run that took […]
CHICAGO — Metra will receive a federal grant of almost $170 million — the largest discretionary grant in its history — to buy battery-powered trainsets, the commuter rail operator announced Tuesday. The grant under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program was approved last week by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the […]
The Continental elevator at Milwaukee, shown in 1986, had a capacity of 3.1 million bushels. Located on a Lake Michigan harbor, the elevator could load 30,000 bushels per hour onto ships. It was served at the time by the Chicago & North Western, whose cars are shown alongside the facility with its Alco switcher. Photo […]
Host James McNab explores methods for handlaying track on his portable HO scale Hills Line module, including spiking, using adhesive and pinning. He shares his experiences and challenges with each method, with the aim of helping viewers find the best approach for their own projects. This episode is a practical guide for model railroaders, offering […]
