WEST CHESTER, Pa. — A third county has approved formation of a new agency to lead efforts to restore rail passenger service between Reading, Pa., and Philadelphia, making official the organization’s creation. WFMZ-TV reports commissioners in Chester County unanimously approved a resolution on Wednesday to form the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority, following similar approvals […]
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — U.S. and Massachusetts officials have reached agreement on a plan to develop the long-discussed East-West Rail project, which will extend existing rail service west from Worcester to Springfield and Pittsfield, Mass. State House News Service reports Gov. Charlie Baker and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) announced the plan for the state legislature to […]
NORTH READING, Pa. — It is appropriate that the Reading & Northern, which calls itself The Road of Anthracite, would road-test its recently rebuilt 4-8-4 by putting it on the head end of a 50-car train of coal hoppers. R&N’s 77-year old former Reading Class T-1 No. 2102 departed the railroad’s North Reading yard at 9:00 a.m. […]
HARTFORD — As of Monday, April 25, Amtrak has restored Hartford Line service — between New Haven and Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., to pre-pandemic levels, the company announced Monday. The move means the return of seven trains — two on weekdays, one on Saturdays, and four on Sundays. The partnership between Amtrak, Connecticut’s CTrail […]
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum will return a former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western electric multiple-unit commuter coach to its home state of New Jersey for display at a new retail facility at the former DL&W terminal in Montclair, N.J. An agreement between the museum and developer BDP Holdings will see […]
Antique Trackmobiles in railroading, is one way to describe them. The photographer of Pennsylvania Railroad No. 445 uses “doodlebug” in his caption. They’re more descriptively described as “rubber tired switchers” on a Pennsylvania Railroad railfan site. Whatever you call them, the trackless locomotives once employed by railroads are clearly ancestors of today’s Trackmobiles and similar […]
NORTH READING, Pa. — The Reading & Northern will conduct another test run of 4-8-4 No. 2102 on Tuesday, April 26, the railroad announced on the Facebook page for its passenger operations. The test train is slated to leave North Reading at 9 a.m. en route to Jim Thorpe, Pa. The T-1 locomotive built by […]
WESTBROOK, Conn. — A Metro-North/Connecticut Department of Transportation Kawasaki M8 electric multiple-unit trainset passes through Westbrook on Saturday, April 23, during training runs for Amtrak crews to operate the equipment. The qualifying runs between New Haven and Old Saybrook, Conn., are reportedly in preparation for use of the M8s on Connecticut’s Shore Line East commuter […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Mileage from four of the railroads which helped form today’s Reading & Northern were featured on a Saturday, April 23, excursion by R&N Rail Diesel Car. Trackage from the Reading Co., Central of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley Railroad, and Lehigh & New England were included in the fundraiser for the Railroad […]
PALMETTO, Fla. — A Palmetto company says it working with CSX Transportation to launch intermodal service from SeaPort Manatee, a port at the entrance to Tampa Bay in Palmetto County, to the Northeast. The Bradenton Herald reports Daniel Blazer and his father, Robert Blazer, owners of World Direct Shipping, appeared at Thursday’s meeting of the […]
READING, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania counties have agreed to create a passenger rail authority to support restoration of service between Reading and Philadelphia, leaving just one more county needing to approve formation of the authority. The Pottstown Mercury reports commissioners in Berks and Montgomery counties approved creation of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority on […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad has acquired an industrial complex located near the center of its 400-mile system that has previously been occupied by a fire truck manufacturer. The nine-building, 10-acre complex is in Nesquehoning Borough in Carbon County, adjacent to the town of Jim Thorpe and about 30 miles from […]
