Bob Johnston/ TRAINS: Steve Sweeney JASPER, Alta. — VIA Rail Canada will drastically alter the Canadian’s train’s schedule and days of operation next spring and summer. Beginning April 29, 2019, westbound and May 1 eastbound, VIA’s Toronto to Vancouver, B.C., flagship train will revert to tri-weekly service after the bi-weekly cutback ends, but only on […]
The New Mexico Railrunner won’t make extra trips this year for the balloon festival. Trains: Jim Wrinn Albuquerque, N.M. — Visitors to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Oct. 6-14 will have to look for a different option if they intended to take the Railrunner train to this year’s event. In the past, the Santa Fe-to-Albuquerque […]
A Railway Post Office clerk looks out from a doorway during a stop at Waterloo, Iowa, in April 1967. The train is Illinois Central’s Sioux City–Chicago Hawkeye. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Milwaukee Road’s westbound Morning Hiawatha pauses at Portage, Wis., in October 1965. Tucked behind the E units are several head-end cars, including a Great Northern express boxcar, Milwaukee express boxcar, and GN baggage express car. Tom Hoffmann photo […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Florida’s Brightline announced Tuesday that it intends to compete in the heavily traveled Las Vegas-Los Angeles Basin market by acquiring XpressWest. That company won the right from the Nevada High Speed Rail Authority in 2015 to build a 220-mile route adjacent to Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif. A […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In written testimony at last week’s congressional hearing on positive train control, Amtrak backed away from earlier statements indicating it would not operate on lines without PTC. The written testimony by Scot Naparstek, Amtrak’s chief operating officer, was offered at the Sept. 13 hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s […]
An artist’s conception of the Avelia Liberty trainset. Amtrak/Alstom Merrill Technologies and Alstom personnel pose with the first completed Avelia Liberty power car shell. Pete Hudeck, Merrill Technologies NEW YORK — The Avelia Liberty, the next-generation high speed trainset for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service, reached a construction milestone this week, as the first body shell […]
The lone breakfast offering on the Lake Shore Limited on Sept. 13, 2018. Amtrak is seeking information for possible outsourcing of its food service. WASHINGTON — Claiming to look for “transformational service models and industry best practices for Managed Food and Beverage Service,” Amtrak issued a request for information on Aug. 31 that could lead […]
This memorial plaque near the accident site recalls the victims of the Chatsworth collision on Sept. 12, 2008. TRAINS: David Lassen The site of the Chatsworth memorial plaque. An Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passes in the background. TRAINS: David Lassen CHATSWORTH, Calif. — On Sept. 12, 2008, an engineer on a commuter train received a text […]
Amtrak’s Auto Train departs Sanford, Fla. The train is among those cancelled because of the approaching Hurricane Florence. TRAINS: David Lassen NEW YORK — Amtrak will cancel much of its service in the southeastern U.S. and modify other schedules beginning Wednesday, in anticipation of the arrival of Hurrican Florence. The following trains have been cancelled […]
A northbound Amtrak Hiawatha passes through the Glen of North Glenview, Ill., Metra station. Glenview’s opposition has led the state of Illinois to slow plans for expanded Hiawatha service. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — A plan to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago has been delayed because of local concerns about noise and […]
Atlas Trainman HO scale GP39-2 with ESU LokSound New road names and factory-installed sound highlight the latest version of the Atlas Trainman Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP39-2. We first reviewed a direct-current (DC) version of the GP39-2 in the January 2010 issue. This latest release has a dual-mode ESU LokSound Select decoder that provides realistic sound […]
