Monticello (Ill.) Railway Museum volunteers pose with two steam locomotives in an attempt to re-create the famed Champagne Photo of the original Transcontinental Railroad ceremony from May 10, 1869. Steve Smedley MONTICELLO, Ill. — Monticello Railway Museum in central Illinois gave a nod to history at the end of Saturday and Sunday runs of Southern […]
An inbound Metra BNSF train stops at the Route 59 station in Aurora, Ill. Metra’s board has approved spending $4.7 million in federal funds to study extension of the BNSF line beyond Aurora into Kendall County, Ill. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — A longstanding effort to extend Metra’s BNSF line service beyond Aurora, Ill., west […]
A Keokuk Junction Railway’s FP9 locomotive leads a train in Illinois. Keokuk’s parent company is being merged with Brookhaven Rail Partners. Steve Smedley PEORIA, Ill. — Pioneer RailCorp, which operates a number of shortline railroads, announced in a news release Friday that the company has entered into a merger agreement with Brookhaven Rail Partners to […]
MINNEAPOLIS — Metro Transit will end around-the-clock service on one light rail line, the agency announced Friday, after five years of 24-hour operation. Beginning in August, the Green Line will shut down from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays, while continuing 24-hour service on weekends, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. That will leave only LA […]
Northbound Amtrak Hiawatha No. 333 passes Tower A20 in Glenview, Ill., on May 18, 2019. This is where Canadian Pacific trains enter and leave the Chicago-Milwaukee main line via the tracks at right to reach the railroad’s Bensenville Yard. Bob Johnston A southbound Hiawatha passes Metra’s Glen of North Glenview station in January 2019. Plans […]
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman Patrick Fuchs says the independent agency is ready to tackle several issues that have been languishing for years, including how reasonable rates are determined and shipper requests for reciprocal switching. The board also is closely watching Class I railroad transitions to Precision Scheduled Railroading and wants […]
Nos. 4014 and 844, their round trip to Ogden completed, cut off from their train and head to the UP steam shop in Cheyenne on Sunday morning. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn CHEYENNE, Wyo. — On a cloudy day in which much of fabled Sherman Hill was socked in by fog, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 […]
An outbound Denver RTD Southeast Rail Line light rail train meets an inbound train at the Denver University station in 2018. The extension of the Southeast line from the Lincoln station to three stations in Lone Tree, Colo., opened on Friday. TRAINS: David Lassen LONE TREE, Colo. — Denver’s Regional Transportation District has opened a […]
CHICAGO — Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority would receive almost $2.9 billion in funding under an infrastructure plan set to be unveiled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Chicago Tribune reports. Those funds would be part of a total of $41.5 billion in a six-year plan to be introduced by Pritzker and paid for in part through […]
Nos. 4014 and 844 pass a stopped westbound freight near Hanna, Wyo. The steam train was following two eastbounds through an area of track work, and the westbound was waiting its turn. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn LARAMIE, Wyo. – No matter how big you may be, you still have to share the railroad. That’s the lesson […]
RAWLINS, Wyo. – Follow 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4014 on its journey back home to Cheyenne. You’ll see it depart Wamsutter, passing the steam era water tower. Then, with flags flying, Big Boy and traveling companion 4-8-4 No. 844 fly through Hadsell, just west of Rawlins. For more on the Golden Spike celebration, pick up […]
BNSF Railway CEO Carl Ice Bill Stephens SAN ANTONIO, Texas — BNSF Railway CEO Carl Ice refused to criticize Precision Scheduled Railroading at a shipper conference on Thursday, saying it inevitably leads to the misperception that his railroad doesn’t care about efficiency. “That’s not true. We do,” Ice says. “And our history shows we care […]
