FRA chooses route for new NEC Baltimore tunnel NEWSWIRE

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Baltimore’s current rail tunnel alignment Federal Railroad Administration Baltimore tunnel project overview Federal Railroad Administration BALTIMORE — For Amtrak passengers in Baltimore, the Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel is like a jump back to medieval times. The train slows, tunnel walls close in, and take on the appearance of a dungeon, illuminated by occasional lights and […]

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Judge sides with freight carriers in Amtrak time-keeping case NEWSWIRE

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Train No. 28, the ‘Empire Builder,’ departs Portland, Ore., on March 15. Brian Schmidt WASHINGTON – A ruling issued Thursday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is likely to be the final decision in a case that dates back to 2010. District Judge James E. Boasberg, an Obama appointee, found the […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: The Red Canyon

A blue-and-silver-painted Amtrak diesel locomotive leads a passenger train on a shelf with track through a snowy mountain scene.

An ongoing chase into Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Range leads Charlie Conway to various mountain canyons. That’s where he discovers Union Pacific freight, long-distance Amtrak trains, and snow-covered roads winding along the Colorado River. […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Rocky Mountain Zephyrs

A silver-and-blue painted Amtrak diesel locomotive moves through a treeless snow covered mountain landscape under clear skies.

What’s a guy to do on New Year’s Eve when the ambient temperature is -22˚F? Chase Amtrak long-distance trains into the Rocky Mountains, of course! Naturally, Charlie Conway’s effort was rewarded with picture-perfect postcard scenery, dashing diesels, and roads routing along the Union Pacific right-of-way for his final day in Colorado. […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Rocky Mountain Zephyrs

A silver-and-blue painted Amtrak diesel locomotive moves through a treeless snow covered mountain landscape under clear skies.

What’s a guy to do on New Year’s Eve when the ambient temperature is -22˚F? Chase Amtrak long-distance trains into the Rocky Mountains, of course! Naturally, Charlie Conway’s effort was rewarded with picture-perfect postcard scenery, dashing diesels, and roads routing along the Union Pacific right-of-way for his final day in Colorado. […]

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Amtrak in Deshler, Ohio

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Amtrak’s ‘Three Rivers’ passes through Deshler, Ohio, in January 2003. Brian Schmidt Q While watching a DVD recently, I noticed an Amtrak train heading west through Deshler, Ohio. In what years did Amtrak go through that piece of Ohio? – David Harnisfeger, Findlay, Ohio A Amtrak operated on the former Baltimore & Ohio main line […]

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UPDATE: Amtrak to take over ‘Hoosier State’ by March 1 NEWSWIRE

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The Hoosier State passenger train with its Iowa Pacific consist. Don Nickel INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa Pacific Holdings is dropping its popular Hoosier State passenger train after only 20 months of operation. Amtrak will take over the service on March 1, according to Amtrak officials and the Indiana Department of Transportation. Officials said that Iowa Pacific […]

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Communication a factor in fatal Amtrak accident NEWSWIRE

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Amtrak ACS64 No. 627 shortly after it crashed into a maintenance-of-way backhoe that was fouling a track on the Northeast Corridor near Chester, Pa., in April 2016. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — Faulty communication between maintenance workers appear to have played a significant part in last year’s fatal collision between an Amtrak train and […]

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Donner Pass snows clog highways but delay trains little NEWSWIRE

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Norden, Calif. Google Maps ROSEVILLE, Calif. — While snow and zero visibility shut down numerous highways, Union Pacific and Amtrak soldiered on over California’s Donner Pass this week. But now flooding is the threat as the forecast calls for heavy rain, some of it on several feet of snow. “In preparation of the coming weather […]

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