CHICAGO — Metra’s policy of allowing passengers to bring small pets aboard trains on weekends and holidays has proven so successful and problem-free that the commuter rail agency is expanding the practice to weekdays. During a six-month test beginning May 1, Metra riders will be allowed to take pets in carriers aboard trains during off-peak […]
Passenger frustration and confusion reigned in early April after emergency track repairs at Penn Station snarled commuter train schedules for five days. Joseph M. Calisi New York Penn Station track diagram Trains Magazine: Rick Johnson NEW YORK — Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman’s April 6 mea culpa laid bare what went wrong in two relatively minor […]
Williston, Vt. Google Maps WILLISTON, Vt. — In spite of a state report that downplayed the feasibility of commuter rail service in northern Vermont, a private company last week announced the purchase of 12 Budd Rail Diesel Cars with the intent to use them for commuter service between Montpelier, Burlington and St. Albans, Vt. AllEarth […]
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 […]
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 […]
PHILADELPHIA – The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has awarded a $185 million contract for 45 new double-deck commuter cars to CRRC MA Corp., a Chinese-owned company with a new plant in Springfield, Mass., at a board meeting on March 23. Delivery of the cars will begin in 2019. The Chinese company underbid Bombardier, the other […]
CHICAGO — Metra is starting the next phase of its in-house railcar rehabilitation program in which the agency will restore more than 300 Nippon Sharyo passenger cars. The bilevel commuter cars were delivered to the agency between 2002 and 2008. Metra workers plan to rehab about 35 passenger cars per year until 2020, when the […]
A southbound VRE commuter train arrives at Alexandria, Va., in August 2013. Alex Mayes ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Managers at Virginia Railway Express have decided to table further studies on extending commuter rail service to Gainesville or Haymarket in northern Virginia, Inside Nova reports. Instead, the agency is shifting its efforts on a rehabilitation of its […]
A Connecticut Department of Transportation GP40 leads a westbound Shore Line East train at Clinton, Conn. Scott Hartley MT. VERNON, Ill. — National Railway Equipment will overhaul six Connecticut Department of Transportation GP40-2H locomotives, according to an NRE press release. The release states that NRE will produce over 90 percent of the locomotive content in […]
DURANGO, Colo. — Rail Events Inc., the company which licenses Polar Express events, is suing Iowa Pacific Holdings for unpaid royalties. Attorneys for Rail Events allege in court filings in Colorado that Iowa Pacific has failed to pay royalties on events hosted on several of the railroads that it operates as subsidiaries, including the Texas […]
FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art Santa Fe passenger train No. 1, the westbound ‘San Francisco Chief,’ is seen at Dearborn Station in Chicago in December 1970, just a few months before the creation of Amtrak. FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art A […]
MTH HO scale New York City subway cars The MTH model includes working headlight, marker lights, and local and express indicators. The lead car in the four-car set is powered and houses the Digital Command System and Proto-Sound 3.0 electronics. The unpowered cars have a rudimentary interior and overhead lighting. Next stop, Dyer Avenue! You […]
