CHICAGO — A line blockage earlier this week and equipment shortages have led to the cancellation of westbound Empire Builder departure from Chicago today (Wednesday, Aug. 3), as well as the eastbound Builder departures from Seattle and Portland on Friday, Aug. 5. The move comes after the Builder slated to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday, […]
CHESTERTON, Ind. — The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District is reviving long-dormant plans to relocate the South Shore Line station at the airport in South Bend, Ind. At its Monday meeting, the NICTD board of trustees voted to issue a request for proposals to update engineering and environmental planning for a project to move the […]
OWOSSO, Mich. — The Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) has launched a fundraising campaign for the restoration of Chicago & North Western R-1 class 4-6-0 No. 175, which the museum acquired in 2018 from the Mineral Range Railroad in Ishpeming, Mich. Built in 1908 by American Locomotive Co. at its Schenectady Works, the 175 was one […]
KEYTESVILLE, Mo. — An Amtrak train attendant injured in the June 27 derailment of the Southwest Chief has become the latest person to file suit over the fatal accident, and apparently the first to name the Missouri Department of Transportation as a defendant. KSHB-TV reports attorneys representing California-based employee Iesha Coleman say the state DOT […]
The Iowa Interstate Railroad has reactivated SD38-2s Nos. 152 and 153 after three of its General Electric ES44-AC locomotives suffered damage in grade crossing accidents. The locomotives handed train PESI (Peoria-Silvis, Ill.) on Sunday, July 31, with ES44AC No. 508, pulling 90 grain empties and two steel loads. The non-turbocharged, normally aspirated engines are fan […]
COOK, Minn. — Fourteen cars of a Canadian National train derailed Saturday night north of the town of Cook, KMSP-TV reports. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported the accident occurred about 7:45 p.m. and involved a 123-car northbound train. A county emergency management team responded because some of the cars involved contained hazardous materials, […]
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Gulf, Mobile and Ohio locomotives selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was one of the first major railroads to completely dieselize, with the last steam locomotive dropping its fire in October 1949. The GM&O was an early Alco customer, operating a […]
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad freight trains remembered: All through July 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit, panache, and charm that was the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. As part of the celebration, please enjoy this freight train photo gallery as the perfect accompaniment. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have showcase one “Fallen Flag” railroad — one […]
ELM GROVE, Wis. — In an unusual and unheralded move, Amtrak moved an eight-car train of privately owned legacy equipment from the Twin Cities to Chicago on Thursday, July 28. The train, scheduled to originate at Midway in the Twin Cities at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at 8:30 p.m., was photographed in the […]
BLUE ISLAND, Ill. — Metra has broken ground on a $3.8 million rehabilitation of the Vermont Avenue station in Blue Island, a structure dating to 1868 on Metra’s Rock Island District. A Thursday, July 28, ceremony including Metra CEO Jim Derwinski and other state and local officials marked the start of a project including a […]
Rock Island perishable traffic: One thing you learn quickly as a new railroad employee is that if you can hold a regular job, it’s because nobody else wants it. In 1973 Rock Island perishable traffic stopped icing at Silvis, Ill. This coincided with Pacific Fruit Express’s exit from the iced reefer business and represented the […]
Church garden railroad display: During the Kansas City Garden Railway Society tour, I met the pastor of the Heartland Community Church in Olathe, Kansas, Dan, and his father, Mike who was from California and had his own railroad garden. Dan told me his church had an enclosed area in the lobby called a “light box” […]
