CHICAGO — Metra’s weekend of free rides to mark its 40th anniversary will also see the debut of the commuter operator’s new museum car at its LaSalle Street station, downtown terminus of the Rock Island District. The commuter operator will offer free rides across its system this Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9, to […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Metrolink board approves five-year contract extension for CEO Kettle
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink and CEO Darren Kettle have agreed to a five-year contract extension, the commuter rail operator announced on Thursday. The Metrolink board of directors unanimously agreed to the extension, which runs through September 2029, on May 24. Kettle, formerly executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission — one of the five […]
Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad receives grant to restore track to operation
ELBE, Wash. — The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has received a $50,000 grant from the Port of Tacoma Local Economic Development Investment Fund for track expansion and restoration between Elbe and New Reliance, Wash., the railroad has announced. The 5.5-mile project will almost double the Mt. Rainier’s operable mileage and move it closer to its […]
Toronto transit workers say they will walk out at midnight
TORONTO — The union representing Toronto Transit Commission workers said its members will walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Friday after seeing “no progress” in negotiations on a new contract today (Thursday, June 6). However, a subsequent union update has left some hope a strike could be averted. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 represents […]
New York subway track worker in intensive care after being struck by train
NEW YORK — A Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee is in intensive care at a Brooklyn hospital after being struck by a subway train early today (Thursday, June 6). WABC-TV reports the 64-year-old man, serving as a flagger for a group of four other workers performing track inspections, was hit by an out-of-service northbound F train […]
Teamsters Canada turns down CN offer for binding arbitration
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway said today that it had formally offered binding arbitration to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference in an effort to reach a new contract. The labor union turned down the offer, made earlier this week, CN said in an update on the dispute between the railroad and its operating crews. CPKC […]
G&W’s Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern celebrates its 10th anniversary
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Genesee & Wyoming regional Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad commemorated its 10th anniversary with celebrations at the 743-mile railroad’s yards in Rapid City, Pierre, and Huron this week. “When our crews started up operations in June 2014, they were facing a tremendous backlog of grain from the 2013 harvest and […]
BNSF train moving molten sulfur derails in Washington state
CUSTER, Wash. — No injuries were reported and no spills resulted after a BNSF train transporting molten sulfur derailed late Tuesday night, the Bellingham Herald reports. The derailment occurred about 10:45 p.m. near Custer, 14 miles north of Bellingham, Wash., on BNSF’s Bellingham Subdivision, and about 100 miles north of Seattle. Six cars derailed. The […]
Friends of EBT reaches $1 million in donations since 2020
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Already powering past its current-year fund-raising goal, the volunteer Friends of the East Broad Top group has hit another milestone, announcing this week that since the historic East Broad Top Railroad was reopened in 2020, the group has raised $1 million in donations. The 33-mile-long narrow gauge EBT, a National Historic […]
Restored snow plow to be unveiled at Naugatuck Railroad event
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England’s Naugatuck Railroad will formally unveil the museum’s restored Russell snow plow during its Connecticut Open House Day this Saturday (June 8). The plow was refurbished after being damaged by vandals last May. The plow, Maine Central No. 70, was built by the Russell Snow Plow Co. […]
U.S. rail traffic shows modest gain in May
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic was up 1% in May over the same month in 2023, the fourth straight month of modest gains over the previous year, according to the Association of American Railroads. Traffic for the week ending June 1 was also up over the same week a year earlier. May volume included a […]
Taking pride in the fleet: Cleaning a Union Pacific steam locomotive
Union Pacific steam locomotive Every operating steam locomotive you see: Union Pacific No. 4014, Canadian Pacific No. 2816, NKP No. 756, Reading & Northern No. 2102, and many others all have one thing in common. They are always clean. It does not matter how large or small they are, how old they are, or what […]