‘Yoho Park’ brings up the markers on the eastbound ‘Canadian’ at Fenwood, Saskachewan, in December 2012. Thomas R. Schultz TORONTO – In an apparent effort to mediate access to its popular Park-series observation cars on its famed Canadian, VIA Rail Canada has announced new rules for passengers traveling in two sleeping-car classes. Travelers in Prestige […]
A Puget Sound & Pacific locomotive working for the recently created Olympia & Belmore Railroad in and around Olympia, Wash. Miguel Guzman OLYMPIA, Wash. — Make way for the Pacific Northwest’s newest short line: the Olympia & Belmore. The new operation was possible after G&W signed a lease agreement with BNSF Railway to operate the […]
Former Texas South-Eastern No. 301 in R.J. Corman colors in Diboll, Texas, on Monday, April 4. Mike Harbour Texas’ Mike Harbour heard rumors that R.J. Corman was about to do a nice thing for a member of an older generation. Turns out, he heard right and arranged to meet up with a vintage Baldwin formerly […]
Wigwag signals protect a highway crossing in Baraboo, Wis., for the last time on Monday, March 28. When a Wisconsin & Southern train passed the crossing the next day, the signals were inactive. Crews took down the signals later that day on March 29. John Gruber A pair of rare, former Chicago & North Western […]
Workers and investigators swarm Amtrak’s southbound Palmetto in Chester, Pa., on Sunday. The train struck a backhoe causing the shutdown of the Northeast Corridor between Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia. TRAINS: Brian Schmidt PHILADELPHIA — A backhoe struck by an Amtrak train in a fatal accident Sunday on the Northeast Corridor apparently did not have clearance […]
Gone, though much beloved. Peru’s Ferrocarril Central Andino recently painted former Conrail C39-8 No. 1031 in a “Tribute” paint scheme. In addition to wearing the South American railroad’s Conrail-inspired logo, the locomotive has been painted in Conrail colors and named the James A. Hagen, in honor of Conrail’s former chairman. Railroad Development Corp. owns share […]
GOLDEN, British Columbia — Whitewater rafters using Canadian Pacific’s right-of-way to gain access to a section of rapids along the Kicking Horse River in rural British Columbia are now learning that the Class I railroad will enforce its trespassing rules. Locals familiar with the tourist attraction, which draws in more than 40,000 tourists each year, […]
UNION, Ill. — After years of wishing and hoping, Illinois Railway Museum has finally gotten a turntable as the centerpiece of its long-term plan for a roundhouse to protect and display its not-inconsequential collection of steam locomotives. During the auction on March 24 of Union Pacific’s former Denver & Rio Grande Western Burnham Shops complex […]
Norfolk Southern maintenance-of-way crews recently severed the rails of its idled West Virginia Secondary. Here, orange spray paint identifies where the rails have been cut near Milepost 116.5 in Middleport, Ohio. CSX Transportation-owned track to the south remains in service, while the NS segment to the north has been mothballed. James C. Trivett III MIDDLEPORT, […]
A recent screen image of a real estate listing for a Norfolk Southern-owned beach house in Florida. Zillow.com NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern has put its Florida beachfront compound on the market for $12 million as the railroad continues to tighten the corporate belt amid tumbling coal traffic and unwanted merger advances from Canadian Pacific. […]
Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 Steve Glischinski MINNEAPOLIS — Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 will steam again this spring, pulling a 300-mile round trip over BNSF Railway from Minneapolis to Duluth, Minn., on June 4 and 5. The Minneapolis-based nonprofit Friends of the 261 owns the locomotive. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the […]
A crane lifts the boiler off the frame of Northwest Railway Museum’s former Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. No. 108 a 2-6-6-2T Mallet-type locomotive. The museum is “deaccessioning” the locomotive. It is now on its way to the Black Hills Central Railroad in South Dakota. David Honan SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Another big steam locomotive is headed toward restoration. […]
