WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation is offering nearly $9 billion in grants to upgrade the Northeast Corridor through a Federal Railroad Administration program, the FRA announced on Thursday. FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in a press release that the funding is “a major step towards reversing a half-century of underinvestment in vital rail […]
Railroad: Amtrak
Amtrak cancels more trains as winter storm advances
CHICAGO — As predictions of high winds and subzero temperatures move east, Amtrak has cancelled all service on some regional and long-distance routes while maintaining reduced service on others. Amtrak had originally planned to maintain full service on Friday, Dec. 23, after projecting cancellations for Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday [see “Amtrak cancels Empire Builder, thins […]
Year in review: New Amtrak routes, VIA challenges
Trains News Wire continues our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t make that list. Today: Passenger rail. Service expansion, VIA Rail […]
Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte
Trains LIVE — Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte Trains LIVE — 12-21-2022 — While railroad dining cars of days gone by are a thing of legend, contemporary Amtrak cuisine does have some bright spots. Bryson Sleppy, Model Railroader’s associate editor, found Amtrak’s flourless chocolate torte to be an irresistible offering on the dessert menu during a […]
Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte
Trains LIVE — Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte Trains LIVE — 12-21-2022 — While railroad dining cars of days gone by are a thing of legend, contemporary Amtrak cuisine does have some bright spots. Bryson Sleppy, Model Railroader’s associate editor, found Amtrak’s flourless chocolate torte to be an irresistible offering on the dessert menu during a […]
Trains LIVE — Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte
Trains LIVE — Amtrak-inspired flourless chocolate torte Trains LIVE — 12-21-2022 — While railroad dining cars of days gone by are a thing of legend, contemporary Amtrak cuisine does have some bright spots. Bryson Sleppy, Model Railroader’s associate editor, found Amtrak’s flourless chocolate torte to be an irresistible offering on the dessert menu during a […]
Top 7 1/2 products of 2022
As we enter the holidays and highball into 2023, the MR staff wanted to take a look back at our top model railroad products of 2022. Any of these would make great gifts for any modeler on your Christmas list or even for yourself. Athearn added the General Electric Dash 9-44CW to its Genesis 2.0 […]
Amtrak cancels Empire Builder, thins Midwest departures in advance of winter storm
CHICAGO — With a massive winter snowstorm sweeping into the Midwest from the northern plains this week, Amtrak is canceling some trains out of Chicago to and from Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Pontiac, Mich., on the day the brunt of the blizzard is expected. The same trains also won’t run this Saturday and Sunday, when […]
Grant seeks almost $179 million for Amtrak Gulf Coast route improvements
RIDGELAND, Miss. — A federal grant seeks almost $179 million to fund improvements for Amtrak Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., while CSX Transportation will pay almost $10 million toward the matching funds for those improvements, according to a news report. The non-profit news site Mississippi Today reports the Alabama State Port […]
Amtrak rolls out ‘Airo’ branding, images of Siemens push-pull fleet
NEW YORK — Amtrak today (Thursday, Dec. 15) introduced the graphics and a new brand name — Airo — for its coming fleet of Siemens Mobility push-pull trainsets due to enter service in 2026, replacing 40- to 50-year-old locomotive-hauled equipment. At a press conference in Penn Station’s Moynihan Train Hall, Amtrak President Roger Harris and […]
Amtrak Inspector General report addresses concerns over high-security keys
WASHINGTON — Amtrak should take steps to better address distribution, tracking, and retrival of keys which control access to critical and sensitive infrastructure, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General said in a report issued Wednesday. Citing the sensitive nature of the material, the highly redacted report offers few specifics on the types of locations that […]
Empire Builder fights weather, congestion, track issues
MINOT, N.D. — With winter storm warnings in effect across the northern plains from a windy, frigid blast that has already barreled through the Sierra Nevada and Colorado mountains, there is always the possibility that service on Amtrak’s long-distance network will be disrupted. As was the case during a blizzard last month [“Westbound Empire Builder […]