Look buster, get out of my way

Kansas City Southern’s crack passenger train, the “Southern Belle,” ran head on into a standing freight train at Baton Rouge, La., on Dec. 8, 1967. A northbound freight with three GP30s was set to hold the main, and await the passenger train, which would take the siding. The front end brakeman on the freight was […]

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From Sweden to Rhode Island

As a prelude to today’s high speed Acela Express service, Amtrak tested two types of European high speed trains, a German ICE trainset and this tilting X2000 train from Sweden. The demonstration equipment made revenue runs on the Northeast Corridor and toured other parts of the country. Pushed by two Amtrak Tubroliner power cars, the […]

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Kato USA N scale Amtrak intercity set

Kato USA N scale Amtrak intercity set

Kato USA N scale Amtrak intercity set Just in time for the 40th anniversary of America’s national passenger rail service, Kato USA is offering a sharp-­looking, smooth-running Amtrak intercity express train set in N scale. The set’s General Electric P42 Genesis locomotive, Heritage baggage car, Amfleet lounge and coach, and twin Viewliner sleepers are decorated […]

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Roger Williams new employer

Amtrak inherited from Penn Central these self-propelled Rail Diesel Cars with distinctive front ends built for the New Haven Railroad’s Roger Williams. Budd Co. delivered six RDCs in an A-B-B-B-B-A formation to the New Haven in 1956. The slapped-on Amtrak logo from this February 1975 view would be replaced four years later with the company’s […]

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Amtrak offering employee buyouts NEWSWIRE

WASHINGTON – Amtrak announced to employees yesterday that it would be offering buyouts to employees not covered by labor agreements. In a special employee advisory, Amtrak said starting next week it would be offering non-agreement employees a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment in order “to better allocate its resources and align the structure of the company […]

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“Silver Chalet” history

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The Silver Chalet, once part of the Western Pacific’s California Zephyr, rests outside Quad/Graphics’ Sussex, Wis., printing plant Nov. 24, 2004. Cody Grivno Q I saw a private car named “Silver Chalet” at Union Station in Washington, D.C. It had an odd-looking observation platform. Can you tell me its history and who owns it now?— […]

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Pennsy Tubular Train

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The Pennsylvania Railroad’s Keystone Tubular Train, built by The Budd Co. in 1956, was designed to hug the rails tighter and enable faster transit times. PRR Q What happened to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Keystone Tubular Train? I heard it was in Michigan and derailed on its way to a new owner for dinner train service.— […]

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