Amtrak adding New York State service

Train stops at open-air station shelter next to lake

NEW YORK – Amtrak will operate two additional round trips between New York and Albany/Rensselaer, N.Y., beginning Dec. 5. The new departures will bring the total number of weekday round-trip trains to 12, one fewer than Amtrak’s pre-COVID schedule for the route. A new southbound train will depart Albany/Rensselaer at 11:10 a.m. Sunday through Friday, […]

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TH&B Geeps on a freight

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Although its tracks didn’t reach the first and last places in its name, the 110-mile Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo served several important points in southern Ontario. Here, maroon-and-cream GP7 No. 76 and GP9 No. 402 lead a Toronto–Coburg freight on the rails of TH&B parent Canadian Pacific in April 1976. A. J. Sutherland photo […]

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Union Pacific asks customers to meter traffic or face embargoes

Train passing under signal bridge

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific once again will meter traffic to limit congestion if certain customers don’t voluntarily reduce the number of private freight cars operating on the railroad. UP informed shippers last week, Trains News Wire has learned. “Union Pacific regularly reviews our network to monitor for elevated inventory,” UP spokeswoman Robynn Tysver says. […]

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Amtrak extends suspension of Missouri River Runner

Passenger train at station platform

ST. LOUIS – Amtrak has extended to Dec. 4 the suspension of one of the Missouri River Rail Runner round trips between St. Louis and Kansas City. The suspension began Oct. 24 and was scheduled to end Nov. 16. An Amtrak spokesman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the suspension is due to continued delays in […]

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Get your old trains running again

Get your old trains running again steam locomotive from Lionel catalog

Get your old trains running again! It’s time to take them out of the boxes and have some fun. In this chapter from Beginner’s Guide to Repairing Lionel Trains, Ray L. Plummer offers advice on how to do it. Get your old trains running again “Old electric train” – that’s what it says on the […]

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Volunteers navigate new Grand Central Madison Terminal

Commuter train in unfinished station

  NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority held a station operations exercise No. 13 at Grand Central Madison, the new 700,000 square-foot Long Island Rail Road terminal set to debut this year at Grand Central Terminal. Around 200 volunteers participated in an exercise to navigate the concourse and make notes on travel paths throughout […]

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BNSF opens bypass around Minnesota city

BNSF Railway logo

WILLMAR, Minn. – BNSF Railway has opened a new 2.8-mile wye track west of Willmar that allows trains to bypass the city. Referred to as the “Willmar Bypass” the new track links BNSF’s busy Marshall Subdivision and its Morris Subdivision, the former Great Northern mainline. It allows eastbound Morris Subdivision trains to head onto the […]

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North Carolina passenger service breaks monthly record

Blue locomotive with star on nose at passenger station

RALEIGH, N.C. – After reporting a record-breaking month in September, North Carolina’s state-sponsored intercity passenger service achieved another monthly high for ridership in October. The Carolinian and Piedmont trains carried 55,493 passengers in October, beating September’s record of 48,488 passengers by over 14%. “What a fantastic accomplishment for the traveling public,” state Transportation Secretary Eric […]

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Amtrak long-distance capacity to remain tight through 2023

Amtrak passenger train arriving at station

WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s Vice President of Long-Distance Service, Larry Chestler, said the company will be without more than a tenth of its equipment for those operations during the current fiscal year, which began in September. Participating in a Rail Passengers Association webinar on Tuesday, Chestler also reviewed the status of onboard dining, workforce hiring, internal […]

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Baltimore area takes next step in assessing transit corridors

Map of Baltimore area showing options for north-south transit routes

BALTIMORE — Three rail options are among the seven alternatives for a north-south transit corridor in the Baltimore region, for which the Maryland Department of Transportation ended public comment on Nov. 7. Comment on seven alternatives for east-west corridors concluded Aug. 1. Both sets of corridors are part of the Central Maryland Regional Transportation Plan, a […]

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Plymouth Locomotives, Vol. 2 from SilverLake Images LLC 

Plymouth Locomotives, Vol. 2 from SilverLake Images LLC  Price: $35 Publisher: SilverLake Images LLC, available from Ron’s Books, P.O. Box 714, Harrison, NY 10528; 914-967-7541; ronsbooks.com Plymouth Locomotives, Vol. 2 features: Softcover, 142 pages Reproduction of a number of Plymouth Locomotive Works bulletins, including Plymouth Locomotives for All Motor Fuels, Plymouth Gasoline & Diesel Locomotives Model […]

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