Onboard analysis: Facing Amtrak’s food and staffing challenges

A meal on a small table in a passenger car overlooking a river.

CHICAGO — Food service on Amtrak’s long-distance trains has become such an exercise in repetition that something as modest as the cold meal service on the Portland, Ore., section of the Empire Builder is both a notable and welcome respite. That’s one aspect of the current state of onboard dining, which suggests both immediate and […]

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Digest: CSX train derails in Harlan County, Ky.

CSX logo

More Thursday morning rail news: CSX train hits boulder, derails in Kentucky A CSX Transportation train has derailed in Harlan County, Ky., after striking a boulder that fell from a cliff face across an adjacent highway, WKYT-TV reports. The rockfall and derailment has closed State Route 2007 between Wallins and Coldiron, Ky. The derailment occurred […]

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Digest: Museum acquires Ontario Northland caboose

the back of a caboose

Thursday morning rail preservation news: Ontario Northland caboose goes to Timmons, Ont., museum A vintage Ontario Northland Railway caboose is now on display at the Timmins, Ontario, Museum, which is on the site of a former Ontario Northland station. CTV News reports the caboose was made available by longtime owner Paul Woodward of Timmins, who […]

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Digest: Norfolk Southern plans mechanical department furloughs

Norfolk Southern logo

More Thursday morning rail news: NS will furlough mechanical department employees, offers no details on number or locations Norfolk Southern will be furloughing mechanical department employees at multiple locations across its system, WSLS-TV reports. In a statement, the railroad did not indicate the locations or number of employees to be affected, but said the move […]

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News Photo: Dual power on the Northeast Corridor

Train pulling up

While Amtrak has cancelled a number of trains in the Northeast as it deals with a major storm, it is also taking extra precautions with those trains that are operating. This morning in Wilmington, Del., train No. 170 had P42 diesel No. 90 operating behind ACS-64 electric No. 619 as a backup in case of […]

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News Photo: No one injured in CSX derailment caused by rock slide

Wreckage of a train derailment

No injuries resulted when a CSX coal train derailed after striking a rockslide in the Harlan County community Wallins Creek, Ky. Two locomotives and eight cars derailed. WYMT-TV quotes CSX spokeswoman Cindy Schild as saying the derailment occurred about 2:09 a.m., and no leaks or spills into waterways occurred. A state transportation department spokesman said […]

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Cumbres & Toltec to convert locomotive to oil firing

A train riding through a field

CHAMA, N.M. — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad will convert one of its locomotives to oil firing, a move the railroad says is to “ensure it is prepared to safely function in a continually evolving operating environment.” The conversion of K-36 2-8-2 No. 489, a 1925 Baldwin product, from coal to oil is to […]

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