News report says new Acela delays have cost Amtrak $140 million

NEW YORK — Delays in launching Amtrak’s next-generation Acela fleet have cost the passenger company $140 million so far, and the figure continues to grow, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in a paywalled article. The figure includes the growing maintenance costs of keeping the current Acela trainsets — the first of which entered service […]

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NJ Transit employee charged with stealing 32 locomotive horns

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ROXBURY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — An NJ Transit mechanical employee has been arrested and charged with stealing 32 locomotive horns, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General has announced. In a press release, the Office of Inspector General said Jeremy Hayes was charged on Oct. 17 in Roxbury Township Municipal Court with having stolen, […]

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Western Maryland locomotive to be refurbished, receive new protective structure

Steam locomotive with end-cab diesel

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The last surviving conventional Western Maryland Railway steam locomotive, Class K2 Pacific No. 202, will be repositioned in Hagerstown City Park, receive a new protective structure, and be refurbished, the Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports. Hagerstown has hired Frederick, Md., firm Proffitt & Associates Architects to oversee the project. Senior Project Architect Kevin Kneer […]

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BLET members vote on contract with Virginia Railway Express operator

Commuter train at station with bridge connecting platforms on each side of tracks

MANASSAS, Va. — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are voting on a tentative contract for engineers who operate trains for Virginia Railway Express through contract operator Keolis Rail Service Virginia. The tentative five-year agreement, covering 11 engineers, is retroactive to 2021 and would include pay increase compounded at 22.2% over the […]

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Altoona museum gets SD60I for university engineering students (corrected)

Aerial view of large blue diesel locomotive and small centercab switcher on turntable

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Altoona Campus of Penn State University has donated a former Conrail SD60I road freight locomotive to the Railroaders Memorial Museum for continued use by undergraduate engineering students. Recently moved into the museum, the 3,800-horsepower unit is now available for public viewing in the Harry Bennett Memorial Roundhouse, near the restoration work […]

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Chryslers for Gotham

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The New York Central had several auto-carrier Flexi-Vans in the early 1960s. This is a publicity shot of carriers with new Chryslers on their way to New York City in 1960. New York Central photo […]

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President Biden announces $16.4 billion in funding for Northeast Corridor projects (updated)

Map of infrastructure projects on Northeast Corridor

BEAR, Del. — President Joe Biden announced that 25 Northeast Corridor projects will receive a total of $16.4 billion in funding in an appearance today at Amtrak’s maintenance facility in Bear, Del., near Wilmington. The funding comes from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Pasenger Rail Program. It includes $4.7 billion for the […]

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Connecticut heritage railway acquires Frisco 2-8-2

Steam locomotive on temporary track

ESSEX, Conn. — The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, a heritage railroad operated by the Valley Railroad Co. on a former New Haven rail line, has purchased Frisco 2-8-2 No. 1352 from the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, the group restoring Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100. The locomotive was built by Alco in 1912 […]

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News photo: New York Central electric locomotives moved

Aerial photo of flatbed trucks with electric locomotive bodies and running ear

GLENMONT, N.Y. — Two historic New York Central electric locomotives, saved last year after long facing a threat of scrapping, have been moved from their site on an Island in the Hudson River after more than three decades, the Danbury Railway Museum has announced. The museum released a photo today of the locomotives on flatbed […]

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