A red cap walks past businessmen who’ve just arrived at Chicago’s LaSalle Street Station on New York Central’s New England States streamliner one morning in 1952. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
New England States at Chicago
Zone & Region: Midwest
Train, truck entered grade crossing simultaneously in fatal Cleveland accident, NTSB says in preliminary report
WASHINGTON — The conductor of a Norfolk Southern train was killed earlier this month when the freight car he was riding in a shoving move and a dump truck “simultaneously entered” a private grade crossing at a Cleveland steel mill, pinning the conductor between the railcar and dump truck, according to the National Transportation Safety […]
Seven injured in Minnepolis light-rail accident
MINNEAPOLIS — Seven people were injured — two in a vehicle, and five on the trains — in a collision between a car and two Metro Transit light-rail trains Monday night, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. The collision occurred shortly after 9 p.m. at the corner of South 5th Street and Portland Avenue South. Preliminary information […]
Empire Builder on the Stone Arch Bridge
Great Northern’s Chicago–Seattle/Portland Empire Builder is seen on the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in a 1929 publicity photo. Amtrak’s Empire Builder does not use this bridge, which, though preserved as a landmark, has been devoid of tracks for years. GN photo […]
B&O and NYC at Shelby, Ohio
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-2 4594 waits behind horizontal semaphore blades as New York Central E8’s breeze through with a westbound passenger train at Shelby, Ohio, in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Metra to launch expanded service on UP Northwest Line
CHICAGO — Metra will expand service on its UP Northwest Line as of Monday, April 3, increasing operations beyond pre-pandemic levels by adding 12 weekday trains. The new schedule will provide service at least every 30 minutes during morning and evening rush hours, and hourly service during off-peak periods. It will increase service to 78 […]
Metra, Chicago suburbs see few concerns addressed in merger decision
WASHINGTON — Commuter rail operator Metra and a group of Chicago suburbs received few of the conditions they had sought when the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger was approved on Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean their concerns couldn’t be addressed later, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman said during a Wednesday press conference, thanks […]
Ohio sues Norfolk Southern over East Palestine derailment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state of Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern over the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, claiming the incident was “entirely avoidable and the direct result of Norfolk Southern’s practice of putting its own profits above the health, safety, and welfare of the communities in which Norfolk Southern operates.” The 58-count, […]
Milwaukee Road’s ‘Olympian Hiawatha’ at Mayfair Tower
The Skytop sleeper-observation car of Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha bangs across the C&NW diamonds in a 1952 view from the tower at Mayfair, on the north side of Chicago. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]
BLET members ratify agreement with CP, Soo Line (updated)
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has ratified a new five-year U.S. agreement with Canadian Pacific and its subsidiary Soo Line. The CP/Soo agreement is similar to the national agreement signed in 2022, including a 22% wage increase over the life of the contract, compounding to 24% over the life of […]
F unit donated by Union Pacific arrives at Iowa heritage railroad
BOONE, Iowa — A former Chicago & North Western F7 donated by Union Pacific has arrived at the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, where it will eventually be restored to operation. Locomotive No. 401, built in 1949 and stored in Cheyenne, Wyo.., since the 1990s, saw service as one of C&NW’s executive train units in […]
Banana train on the IC
Illinois Central 4-8-2 2605 is northbound near Peotone, Ill., with a long train of reefers filled with bananas. IC did a brisk business hauling the popular Central American fruit from New Orleans to Chicago. IC photo […]
