Back after a bit of a hiatus, it’s our latest edition of Recommended Reading: Articles from elsewhere that you might find of interest. First up this time around, former Trains editor Kevin Keefe wrote our obituary of the late, great Don Phillips, but we thought you might also like to see the Washington Post version, […]
WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Friday it would not accept the recommendations of a Presidential Emergency Board appointed to address the dispute between the Long Island Rail Road and five unions. The unions, meanwhile, hailed the recommendations issued earlier in the day, which called for raises totaling 14% (uncompounded) over four years, retroactive […]
CHICAGO — One of the major pieces of Chicago’s CREATE program marked a milestone on Wednesday, Oct. 15, as the first CSX Transportation train crossed the Forest Hill Flyover on the city’s South Side. The new structure separates CSX’s main line from tracks used by Metra, the Belt Railway of Chicago, and Norfolk Southern. The […]
Trains.com sits down with Third & Townsend Models President Jay Escamilla on October 15, 2025, to discuss the recent amalgamation of Sunset Models, 3rd Rail, and Golden Gate Depot brands, and what it means for modelers. Jay details the companies’ commitment to producing the most prototypically accurate O (1:48) and HO (1:87.1) scale models in […]
KNOB NOSTER, Mo. — About 20 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed early today (Friday, Oct. 17) west of the town of Knob Noster, closing a major highway and leading to the cancellation of Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner. KMMO Radio reports the derailment occurred about 2 a.m. and led to a closure of a […]
Like its Midwest rivals, the Chicago & North Western Railway jumped on the idea of brand-named passenger trains. However, it took a different route with the name in the form of a three-digit number: 400. The name [or number] stuck as the railroad rolled out a prominent fleet of Chicago & North Western 400 passenger […]
CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker disclosed earlier this month that his administration seeks to commit almost $1 billion of planned 2026-2031 infrastructure spending to several languishing passenger rail initiatives in the state, but translating proposals into tangible results continues to be a challenge. Hanging over all new construction endeavors is the need for Illinois […]
BOSTON — Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng has been named as interim transportation secretary for the state of Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey announced today (Oct. 16, 2025). He will also continue in his MBTA role. Eng will fill the vacancy created by the decision of Monica Tibbits-Nutt to step down […]
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit could raise up to $1.9 billion for its operations over the next 30 years through development of more than 8,000 acres of unused agency-owned real estate, the transit operator says in a plan released on Wednesday. The proposal dubbed the “LAND Plan: Leveraging Assets for Non-Farebox Dollars” would also address […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Communities represented by two regional commissions, along with the city of Ft. Wayne, Ind., have committed some $650,000 in funding for a proposed Amtrak service linking Chicago and Pittsburgh via Ft. Wayne and Columbus. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission announced the funding, also including backing from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, on Oct. […]
WASHINGTON —New York’s Gateway Tunnel project may be halted, based on a brief comment in a lengthy news conference by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Oct. 15. While not identifying by name the project to add two tracks under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York’s Penn Station, Trump suggested it was the […]
NEW YORK — The environmental review process has begun for Interborough Express, New York City’s first light rail service, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Wednesday (Oct. 15, 2025). The start of the process will include three public meetings to explain the scope of the project and the review process. The first is set for […]
