Open-hearth light show: Benwood at night

A steel mill at night, like this one in the Pittsburgh area, was an unforgettable sight. Baltimore & Ohio At night the atmosphere in many railroad yards was completely different than it is during the daytime. Although few railroaders would admit it, there were scenes that pleased both the eye and the psyche: The colors […]

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Appeals court rejects on-time performance standards NEWSWIRE

Amtrak’s southbound ‘Saluki’ rolls past the Canadian National yard into Champaign, Ill., in Feb., 2015. Bob Johnston ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a U.S. Surface Transportation Board attempt to provide metrics which measure host railroad on-time performance. The action follows a U.S. Supreme Court finding that […]

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Video Review: Chicago, America’s Railroad Capital

Chicago-America’s Railroad Capital Kalmbach Publishing, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Approx. 60 minutes kalmbachhobbystore.com Generations of railfans have been impressed at the magnitude of railroad operations in and around the Windy City. Currently, the Chicago area sees 25 percent of US rail traffic and almost half of the nation’s intermodal shipments. Chicagoland, of course, […]

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VRE throttles back Gainesville, Haymarket expansion plans NEWSWIRE

A southbound VRE commuter train arrives at Alexandria, Va., in August 2013. Alex Mayes ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Managers at Virginia Railway Express have decided to table further studies on extending commuter rail service to Gainesville or Haymarket in northern Virginia, Inside Nova reports. Instead, the agency is shifting its efforts on a rehabilitation of its […]

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Classic Chicago passenger trains

FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art Santa Fe passenger train No. 1, the westbound ‘San Francisco Chief,’ is seen at Dearborn Station in Chicago in December 1970, just a few months before the creation of Amtrak. FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art A […]

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MTH HO scale New York City subway cars

MTH HO scale New York City subway cars The MTH model includes working headlight, marker lights, and local and express indicators. The lead car in the four-car set is powered and houses the Digital Command System and Proto-Sound 3.0 electronics. The unpowered cars have a rudimentary interior and overhead lighting. Next stop, Dyer Avenue! You […]

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Communication a factor in fatal Amtrak accident NEWSWIRE

Amtrak ACS64 No. 627 shortly after it crashed into a maintenance-of-way backhoe that was fouling a track on the Northeast Corridor near Chester, Pa., in April 2016. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — Faulty communication between maintenance workers appear to have played a significant part in last year’s fatal collision between an Amtrak train and […]

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First Viewliner II diner on the move NEWSWIRE

Viewliner II dining car Annapolis deadheads on the rear of the southbound Silver Meteor at Kissimmee, Fla., on Nov. 18. Scott A. Hartley MIAMI — Amtrak employees will soon train in the newest dining cars on the continent now that the first of 25 new Viewliner II dining cars has arrived at Amtrak’s Hialeah Maintenance […]

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