ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginia Railway Express has named Chris Henry as its new chief operations officer, the commuter agency announced on Friday, March 13. The appointment was effective Saturday, March 14. Henry, who had been serving as VRE’s director of rail operations, becomes the first COO for the agency since 2019, when Rich Dalton was […]
The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust has announced its restoration grants for 2026, awarding 20 projects a total of $250,000. The recipients were selected from 32 applicants seeking a total of almost $900,000. The grants were created by John Emery, a longtime Chicago resident and rail enthusiast who rode trains worldwide. His goal was […]
A Clinchfield Railroad 4-6-6-4 gets under way with a long string of northbound coal hoppers at Ridge, N.C., in 1952. Floyd A. Bruner photo […]
ESSEX, Mont. — The former Izaak Walton Inn is up for sale. A listing on a real estate website — restored as of Tuesday morning, March 17, after being removed for part of Monday — says the recently closed LOGE Glacier hotel is being offered for $18 million. It describes the facility on 89.87 acres […]
Railroads changed almost endlessly in 20th-century America, due to bankruptcies, mergers, and takeovers. Regional lines combined to improve efficiency, retain customers, and upgrade their rosters; larger ones blended their networks of rails and brought employees together to remain profitable and counter big rivals. Among the most significant of those changes was the formation of Conrail […]
NORTH BAY, Ontario — The province of Ontario has purchased 125 miles of track from Canadian National for the Ontario Northland Railway as part of its preparations for the return of Northlander passenger train service, ensuring operational priority for the passenger service. The government announced on Thursday, March 13, that it is purchasing the 205-kilometer […]
TRONA, Calif. — The remote, unincorporated town of Trona is used to earthquakes. But not the type that hit on Feb. 3. Searles Valley Minerals President and CEO Dennis Cruise announced in a company-wide letter that the soda ash mining company would reduce its workforce by about half. Included will be many of its railroad […]
HAMLET, N.C. — Two CSX trains collided on Saturday, March 14, in Hamlet, leading to the derailment of 18 cars and one locomotive. No injuries were reported. The incident occurred at 10:29 a.m. on Saturday near Louis Breeden Boulevard in Hamlet, the railroad said in a statement. The derailed locomotive lost a small quantity of […]
CENTRALIA, Wash. — A mudslide south of Centralia on Friday, March 13, has triggered a BNSF-imposed ban for occupied passenger trains through the area, resulting in cancellation of all Amtrak Cascades Seattle-Portland service. Trains won’t resume until Monday, March 16, though already-ticketed Cascades and Coast Starlight passengers are being offered substitute bus transportation during the […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Friday, March 13, approved Union Pacific’s plans to build 6 miles of new rail line in Maricopa County, Ariz., a project that had been delayed because of concerns over damage to archaeological sites along the right-of-way. The Pecos Industrial Rail Access and Train Extension project, or PIRATE, will […]
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Friday denied requests from Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific to open an investigation into Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s handling of UP-NS interline intermodal trains on the Meridian Speedway. The Surface Transportation Board said there was no need to intervene because any service problems have been resolved. The board also said […]
KEARNY, N.J. — The Northeast Corridor’s new Portal North Bridge was pressed into revenue service ahead of schedule today (Friday, March 13), as trains were rerouted onto the new structure because of problems with catenary poles on the 116-year-old Portal Bridge. An Amtrak spokesman told NJ.com that trains were rerouted onto the new bridge beginning […]
