CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Union Pacific Railroad‘s Big Boy No. 4014 is en route for its second outing of the 2024 steam season. During its “Heartland of America” tour, the 4-8-8-4 will travel eastbound toward Illinois before pointing its headlight south to Texas. Before looking more into the fall trip, here’s a recap of both the […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has received thousands of pages of documents as part of its investigation into the substandard on-time performance of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited. And yet regulators still have a mystery on their hands. The key question they want answered: Which railroads officially host the easternmost 15.5 miles of the Sunset Limited’s […]
While searching the Trains archives the other day, I stumbled upon a December 1973 commentary by Editor David P. Morgan, who was pondering the future of railroading. I was struck by how many of the same concerns that he raised during one of the darkest periods in rail history still ring true today as the […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has outlined in more detail plans for an extended shutdown of Red Line rapid transit service between the JFK/UMass and Braintree stations, set for Sept. 6-29. The agency has also announced two weekends of commuter rail outages between South Station and Braintree, Sept. 7-8 and 14-15. The Red […]
CASS, W.Va — Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, the facility including the 11-mile heritage railroad and preserved lumber company town, will add its first campground as part of $13 million in improvements in the state park system announced by Gov. Jim Justice. The campground will feature 100 campsites with water and electrical connections, two bathhouses, […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —Charlotte would pay $91 million to Norfolk Southern for right-of-way and other land needed for a long-discussed commuter rail line running to the north under a proposal presented to city council members on Monday. The plan includes $74 million for 22 miles of rail line and $17 million for 1.6 acres of land […]
CHICAGO — Metra’s “Rails, Trails, and Ales” program — a series of Saturday trips on the normally weekday-only Heritage Corridor — will return for a fourth straight year starting Sept. 7, the commuter operator announced Monday. The trains will operate on six consecutive Saturdays from Sept. 7 to Oct. 12, with three round trips each […]
Pennsylvania’s U.S. 22 It takes less than 6 hours to drive across Pennsylvania using Interstate 80 (boring) or the Pennsylvania Turnpike (expensive and boring). Instead, drive through Pennsylvania on U.S. Route 22 for a plethora of really interesting railroad sites and plenty of trains. Even on a multi-day trip there is almost too much to […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will expand Regional Rail schedules as of Sept. 8, adding 99 weekday trains and 24 on weekends, the agency announced today (Monday, Aug. 26). The additional trains will increase weekday service to 80% of pre-pandemic levels (up from 77%) and weekend operation to 84% (up from 63%). Ridership […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 18th heritage locomotive in the CSX fleet is No. 1900, a tribute to predecessor Seaboard Air Line. CEO Joe Hinrichs unveiled the locomotive today in a post on LinkedIn. “This railroad played a significant role in what is now CSX (Chessie Seaboard X) — especially our strength across the Southeastern United […]
MELVINDALE, Mich. – Norfolk Southern hotshot 255 has a 2:20 a.m. date with destiny. It’s the last departure — ever — of a Triple Crown RoadRailer train. In the Detroit terminal at Oakwood Yard, crews have 95 of the bimodal trailers staged on three tracks, ready to be assembled into tonight’s train for the 715-mile […]
Top 10 hot spots I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively during my almost 60 years of rail photography, and have been able to see and photograph railroads throughout the continent. In addition, I’ve lived in the Midwest, the Northeast, Texas, Georgia, and in Virginia for the past 25 years. Here are 10 of […]
