Cowl locomotives: Six-axle cowl locomotives purchased for freight service have been rostered continuously on Class I railroads since Santa Fe first purchased EMD’s F45 model in 1968. More than a half century later, the industry is down to a single Class I railroad operating this locomotive design, Canadian Pacific. Although cowls have been hauling freight […]
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has named Ira F. Jaffe to chair the three-member Presidential Emergency Board addressing the rail labor dispute, Reuters reports. Also named to the board were Boston College professor David Twomey and independent arbitrator Barbara C. Deinhardt. Jaffe has served on five previous emergency boards — four involving rail disputes and one […]
WASHINGTON — Passengers who booked reservations between Sept. 11 and Oct. 2, 2022, on the Silver Meteor, or on the two days a week when the Crescent and City of New Orleans had not been running, will have to change their travel plans. Daily operation of those trains is now scheduled to commence in both […]
Two more new trainsets to support Brightline’s expansion of service to Orlando, Fla., are on their way to the passenger operator. The Bright Pink 2 and Bright Green 2 trainsets, which departed Siemens’ Sacramento factory on July 8, were photographed Saturday, July 16, on CSX Transportation’s Henderson Subdivision (Evansville, Ind.-Nashville, Tenn.). Brightline had said it […]
NEW YORK — The subway car termed “The Last Redbird” has been auctioned off for almost a quarter-million dollars by the City of New York. The car had been displayed outside Queens Borough Hall in Queens, N.Y., since it was acquired by then-Borough President Helen Marshall in 2005, and was employed as a welcoming center. […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — Three people were injured after an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train hit on-track maintenance equipment late Friday morning, disrupting rail service for several hours. The San Jose Mercury News reports a front-load tractor owned by Union Pacific was working on the middle of three tracks when it was struck by San Jose-bound train […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginia Railway Express will eliminate fares for passengers in September, and for parts of its system in October, to offset closures of parts of the DC Metrorail rapid transit system. The VRE Operations Board approved the plan during a Friday meeting. It will make the entire system fare-free in September; in October, […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The owner of the dump truck involved in June’s derailment of the Southwest Chief has a federal judge to halt a lawsuit by Amtrak and BNSF Railway, saying the federal investigation of the accident prevents it from responding to allegations. KMBC-TV reports MS Contracting says federal law prevents the company from […]
PALERMO, N.D. — The second of two main lines on BNSF’s Glasgow Subdivision was slated to be reopened about 3 p.m. Sunday after a July 14 derailment involving an intermodal train at Tagus, N.D., near the town of Palermo and about 48 miles west of Minot. BNSF said in a customer advisory that the first […]
MINNEAPOLIS — A dispute over funding continues for the Twin Cities-area Northstar commuter rail service, which continues to operate on a significantly reduced schedule introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Anoka County — one of the entities which funds the 40-mile line between Minneapolis and Big Lake — says its $1.95 million […]
TRENTON, N.J. — Three of NJ Transit’s busiest stations will receive more than $600 million for renovations and upgrades as part of $814 million in capital funding added to the New Jersey budget for fiscal 2023. NJ.com reports that the budget includes $250 million for replacement and expansion of the Walter Rand Transportation Center in […]
Looking for the loneliest Amtrak station in California? Consider Lompoc-Surf, population: zero, an alternative to crowded California passenger stations. You won’t worry about parking your car, long walks to trackside, or even other people. There may be about 40 million people in California, but unless they are waiting for the train, or someone on it, […]
