Norfolk Southern funding will help bring railcars to Pullman National Park and State Historic Site

Ornate multistory brick building with clock tower

CHICAGO — Norfolk Southern has made a $250,000 contribution to help create an interactive exhibit at the Pullman State Historic Site and Pullman National Historical Park that will give visitors a chance at a close-up experience with historic railcars, including those once manufactured at the site. The Historic Pullman Foundation and Illinois Department of Natural […]

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Locomotives We Love: Lionel Santa Fe Alco diesel

Lionel Santa Fe Alco diesel Q: What toy train locomotive means the most to you? A: The locomotive that means the most to me is the Lionel Santa Fe Alco diesel. Yes, that’s right, Lionel only called it an “Alco diesel” with no designation of Alco model. It’s decorated in the attractive Santa Fe “Bluebonnet” […]

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CSX: Norfolk Southern lawsuit over Pan Am matters is now moot

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation says Berkshire & Eastern’s operation of Pan Am Southern, which began today, should moot the concerns that Norfolk Southern raised last month in a lawsuit alleging that CSX was hampering its access to New England. NS asked a Delaware court for an expedited preliminary injunction that would bar CSX and […]

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Michael J. Del Vecchio, editor, writer, railfan, dies at 63

Cropped image of Mike Del Vecchio

DOVER, N.J. – Railroader, editor, and writer Michael Del Vecchio, 63, died Thursday, Aug. 31, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He is best known as an associate editor at Railfan Magazine, and later at the industry publication Railway Age. Prolific at any endeavor he set his mind to, his booming voice and New Jersey […]

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AAR says STB erred in decision ordering BNSF Railway to haul more coal from Montana mine

WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing BNSF Railway in its appeal of the Surface Transportation Board’s decision ordering the railroad to haul more export coal from a Montana mine to tidewater in British Columbia. The brief, filed yesterday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, […]

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Regulators pause environmental review of proposed Union Pacific line near Phoenix

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have put a hold on their final environmental assessment of Union Pacific’s proposed 6-mile branch to a new industrial park being built outside Phoenix. The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis, in a decision released on Thursday, said it was delaying a decision indefinitely due to the discovery of “significant […]

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Massachusetts legislator seeks to revive commuter rail service to Cape Cod

Side view of pasenger train in grassy field

HYANNIS, Mass. — A Massachusetts legislator has announced plans for a bill that would revive daily commuter train service to Cape Cod, currently served by the summer-weekend-only CapeFlyer service. The Cape Cod Times reports state Rep. Dylan Fernandes said this week that the service would ease congestion on the Cape’s major roadways and bridges across […]

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Mid-Continent Railway Museum celebrates milestone, continued progress

Mid-Continent Railway Museum NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Mid-Continent Railway Museum celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year, marking the milestone with special events as well as reminiscences of the Wisconsin museum’s growth from a fledgling museum to one with some 500 volunteer members who share their interest in and knowledge of the “Golden Age of […]

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News Photo: A quiet finale for Pan Am Southern

Train with two blue locomotives passes tower at yard

Pan Am Southern quietly wrapped up operations on Thursday. Shown is one of the final trains, EDBF, making a late-afternoon departure from the former Boston & Maine yard at East Deerfield, Mass., for to Bellows Falls, Vt. Effective today (Sept. 1, 2023), Pan Am Southern lines in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York […]

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NJ Transit engineers vote to strike (updated)

Electric locomotive hauls commuter train through S curve

NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit engineers have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has announced. The union said in a Thursday press release that 81% of those eligible to vote returned their ballots, and 100% of those ballots supported a strike authorization. The exact breakdown: 494 members […]

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NTSB releases preliminary report on track worker death in Great Barrington, Mass.

Aerial view of railroad track in rural area with notation showing accident site.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The worker who died in an Aug. 4 accident on state-owned tracks in Great Barrington was operating a leaf blower on those tracks when he was struck by a maintenance-of-way machine, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary accident report issued on Thursday. The accident victim was identified in […]

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Caltrain energizes second major power substation for electrification project

Two trainsets parked at station

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Caltrain has energized the second traction power substation for the electrification of its San Francisco-San Jose main line, another step toward the planned launch of electrified operation in fall 2024. The agency announced the substation, built by Balfour Beatty and its partners had been powered up by Pacific Gas & […]

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