JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Gulf & Atlantic Railways has completed its acquisition of three railroads in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, expanding the company to five railroads. The company announced today (May 16) that it closed on May 12 on the acquisition of the Camp Chase Railroad; Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad; and Vermilion Valley Railroad. It had […]
Zone & Region: Midwest
Light duty for a Milwaukee 4-8-4
With a consist of just two freshly painted boxcars, two dead Fairbanks-Morse diesels, and a bay window caboose, Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 is westbound at Elm Grove, Wis., in September 1954. The dirty, underutilized S3 looks like she’s at the end of her rope, but remarkably she began a second career in 1993 as […]
Hudson carrying the mail
New York Central J-3 Hudson 5437 rushes west with mail train 257 at Millbury Junction, 7.5 miles east of Toledo on the Water Level Route, in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Mid-Continent Museum prepares for 60th Anniversary celebration
NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The Mid-Continent Railway Museum will mark its 60th anniversary with a day-long celebration on Saturday, May 27. Along with the museum’s regular 55-minute train ride aboard Delaware, Lackawanna & Western steel passenger coaches, the museum will also run a second train consist of its two wooden Copper Range Railroad passenger cars […]
News photo: PA heads east
Restored Alco PA No. 190, after a week-long pause at Chicago’s Clearing Yard on its cross-country move from Portland, Ore., has resumed its trip to its new home with Genesee Valley Transportation. Photographer Bruce Stahl caught No. 190 eastbound Friday on a Norfolk Southern train west of South Bend, Ind., trailing four NS and BSNF […]
News photo: Another Metra SD70MACH delivered
CHICAGO — Metra has taken delivery of another SD70MACH, part of an order of 15 of the remanufactured freight locomotives currently in progress for the commuter agency. No. 505, the fourth in the series to arrive in Chicago, was delivered on Thursday, May 11. This unit is slated to have positive train control equipment added […]
Chicago suburbs sue over CPKC merger
CHICAGO — A group of western Chicago suburbs opposed to the union of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern is asking that regulators reconsider the CPKC merger. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday with the U.S. Seventh Circuit, the eight communities and one county that make up the Coalition to Stop CPKC called the Surface […]
Jackson, Mich., station to receive historical markers
JACKSON, Mich. — Jackson’s Amtrak station, said to be the oldest continuously operating rail passenger station in the United States, is about to receive additional historical recognition. The news site Mlive.com reports ceremonies this Saturday, May 13, will place two sets Michigan historical markers at the building to note its role in the Underground Railroad, […]
Hiawatha 4-6-4 cab
Ready for service at the head of the Milwaukee Road’s 100-mph Hiawatha trains, a brand-new F7 streamlined 4-6-4 shows off its cab interior. Classic Trains coll. […]
Largest 2-6-2 Prairie fleet: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Unsurprisingly, the largest 2-6-2 Prairie fleet operated on the U.S. prairies with the railroad that originated the type. As the railroad industry approached the late 19th century, it became obvious that what had been considered the preferred locomotive — the 4-4-0 American — could no longer provide the horsepower nor the speed necessary […]
Grand Trunk Western F3s on freight
Two Grand Trunk Western F3s, dressed in the memorable but short-lived livery of parent Canadian National, wheel fast freight 492 (68 cars, all loads, including 63 reefers) near GTW’s crossing with the Pennsy and Nickel Plate west of Valparaiso, Ind., in May 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Norfolk Southern tells senators it will reimburse property-value losses because of East Palestine derailment
WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern will establish a fund to reimburse homeowners near the site of the East Palestine derailment who sell their homes for less than they were worth before the incident, Reuters reports. NS CEO Alan Shaw informed U.S. senators of the plan in a letter on Tuesday, saying those eligible will be “within […]