90200 isn’t just any former locomotive

Passenger train about to pass over water on a bridge in a city landscape.

CHICAGO—Non-powered control unit 90200 isn’t just any former locomotive that lost its prime mover and traction motors when converted to a glorified baggage car with cab controls. Seen here outside Amtrak’s Chicago locomotive shop on June 2, 2022, coupled to an Illinois-owned Siemens SC-44 Charger, the carbody once was number 200. It is the first […]

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MTH RailKing SD70ACe and caboose look good, run great

MTH RailKing SD70ACe and caboose

The MTH RailKing SD70ACe and caboose aren’t a set with a bunch of cars and track and a transformer. But they do make a great pair! The RailKing Imperial SD70ACe and a nice bay-window van (Product no. 30-20954-1) as they call them in Canada are available in a variety of roadnames. This set is decorated […]

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Engineer concerned about balloon before crash with train

Man with safety gear near a locomotive.

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Bruce Rogers says that when a hot air balloon with people in it was caught in his train Wednesday evening in southeastern Wisconsin, he felt helpless. “The worst thing is watching it unfold and not being able to do something about it,” Rogers tells Trains News Wire. What Rogers says he saw […]

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‘Texas Eagle’ show Amtrak failure to capitalize on advantages of rail travel: Special report

Passenger train passing Amtrak coach yard

ABOARD THE TEXAS EAGLE — “There is no Sightseer Lounge on this train. Once again, there is no Sightseer Lounge on this train,” emphasized the public-address announcement. “You must buy food to sit in the café car; if you don’t buy food and we see you sitting in the café, we will ask you to […]

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CRISI grant announcements continue

Federal Railroad Administration logo

WASHINGTON — More Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement, or CRISI, grants from the Federail Railroad Administration have been announced by members of Congress whose areas will receive the funding. Among the latest announcements: California grants worth more than $46 million U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.) announced awards of more than […]

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Metra restores full Saturday service on seven lines, adjusts UP Northwest schedule

Amtrak pulling into a station

CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra will restore Saturday schedules to pre-pandemic levels on seven lines as of this Saturday, May 29, and has also announced it will revise its weekday schedule on the Union Pacific Northwest line. The new schedules will be introduced on the BNSF, Milwaukee North, Milwaukee West, Rock Island, Union Pacific […]

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Work progresses on South Shore Double Track project, is set to begin on West Lake Corridor

PORTER, Ind. — As one major construction project remains on schedule, another is about to begin for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. The Times of Northwest Indiana reports that at a Monday meeting in Porter, the district’s board of directors was told that the South Shore Double Track project, building a second main line […]

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Becker named CEO of National Railway Equipment

Logo of National Railway Equipment

MT. VERNON, Ill. — Merritt Becker is the new CEO of National Railway Equipment Co., the rail, marine, and power company has announced. Becker joins NRE from engine and power generation company Cummins Inc., where he has spent the last 12 years, effective June 1. He was most recently president and managing director of Cummins […]

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