TRAIN News Blogs

Grand Canyon Limited – May 2012

Nov 2nd, 2011 by admin

New River Train 2011

Mar 15th, 2011 by admin

The Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society, Inc., will be hosting the New River Train Excursions for the 45th year oon October 15,16,22, and 23, 2011. In cooperation with Amtrak, we will operate four, 300 mile round trip excursions to the town of Hinton, WV for the Railroad Day’s Festival. The Festival features Arts, Crafts, Local Entertainment, and Food along with an indoor Railroad Museum. Amtrak locomotives and a mixture of twenty-eight Amtrak and privately owned Amtrak approved Heritage coaches, lounge cars, parlor cars, and glass top dome type cars will make up the train consist.
Call 866-639-7487 or visit our web site.

WWW.NEWRIVERTRAIN.COM

Cascade Rails 2011 NRHS convention

Mar 1st, 2011 by admin

Amtrak 40th Anniversary Commemorative Locomotive Enters Revenue Service

Feb 28th, 2011 by admin

The first of four 40th Anniversary commemorative P-42 locomotives joined revenue service on 1/31/11 as the lead engine on the Washington-bound Capitol Limited.

With a paint scheme first introduced in 1979, locomotive #145 displays one of four historic paint schemes. All four P-42 diesel-electric locomotives will be in service by the end of April, and will operate on trains across the system. Each locomotive had been previously scheduled to receive a new paint job and is being painted at the Beech Grove maintenance facility.

To view a photo of engine #145, please visit the photos tab on Amtrak’s Facebook page (facebook.com/Amtrak). As each locomotive becomes available for service, Amtrak will issue a Twitter message at twitter.com/Amtrak and post a photo on its Facebook page.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Amtrak will debut a special exhibit train on National Train Day in Washington, D.C., on May 7, and then travel through major employee hubs across the country for a one-year period. It will include two locomotives with historic paint schemes and use renovated baggage cars to display educational exhibits focusing on each decade of the railroad’s existence with vintage advertising, past menus and dinnerware, period uniforms, photographs and other memorabilia. Dates and locations of when and where it will travel will be announced soon.

Other elements of the 40th anniversary activities will include a book entitled “Amtrak: An American Story”, a documentary DVD illustrating the history of Amtrak, and a special anniversary website that will be launched this spring.

3751 Invited to Attend San Bernardino Railroad Days

Feb 28th, 2011 by admin

3751 has been invited to participate in the 2nd Annual San Bernardino Railroad Days on April 16 and 17, 2011. As currently planned, the locomotive will depart Los Angeles enroute to San Bernardino the morning of the 16th and return to Los Angeles the afternoon of the 17th. For more information, contact the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum at www.sbdepotmuseum.com

Also, on May 7, 2011 locomotive 3751 will particpate in National Train Day at Los Angeles Union Station. The engine will be part of the displays and the crew will be out selling merchandise. Don’t forget to stop by and be sure to buy a shirt and hat too.

3751 Trip to Train Festival 2011 Suspended

Feb 28th, 2011 by admin

Train Festival 2011 organizers, California Zephyr Railcar Charters and the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society regret to announce the operation on Santa Fe steam locomotive #3751 to Rock Island, IL in July of 2011 has been suspended.When planning of Train Festival 2011 began several months ago, Train Festival organizers shared their proposal of steam locomotives and their proposed movements with high-ranking officials at BNSF Railway. Provided that they were to be Amtrak trains, it was communicated that BNSF would ‘likely’ approve the requests, including that of the ATSF 3751, from Los Angeles to Rock Island and return. In the intervening time, circumstances have changed, and BNSF is now projecting greatly increased traffic volumes this summer on their Transcon corridor. The Train Festival trips would use the Transcon between Albuquerque and Los Angeles.

Steam specials are highly consumptive of management time, and of course attract hundreds, sometimes thousands, of railfans, which in turn requires significant efforts on the part of the railroad’s police. The 3751 trip would have had us on the property for 18 days, during the time when traffic volumes would be at or near their peak.

For this reason, BNSF has reconsidered their position, and respectfully declined the proposed move of ATSF 3751 via the Transcon corridor to Train Festival 2011.

Other options are being explored to bring the #3751 East. In the meantime other excursions are being worked on and proposed for Train Festival 2011. They will be announced on the website www.trainfestival2011.com when they have received approval.

Anyone that had purchased a ticket to ride behind the #3751 may get a FULL refund, hassle free. Just email your request to tickets@trainfestival2011.com and a refund will be given. Please provide the name the order was under in your request.

Santa Fe #3751 Scheduled to Attend Train Festival 2011

Nov 30th, 2010 by admin

Huffington Post Adds “Trains” Section

Sep 17th, 2010 by admin

The Huffington Post now has an entire section devoted to “Trains”. Pieces range from hard hitting serious news to entertaining. Many of them are focused on high speed trains around the world, and how the US is lagging behind in that sector.

Huffington Post – Big News on Trains. Includes blogs, news, and community conversations about Trains
www.huffingtonpost.com/news/trains

Union Pacific Railroad’s World’s Largest Operating Steam Locomotive to Pull ‘Ringling Bros.’ Circus Train on Way to Sedalia, Mo., Celebration

Sep 17th, 2010 by admin

Union Pacific Railroad’s World’s Largest Operating Steam Locomotive to Pull ‘Ringling Bros.’ Circus Train on Way to Sedalia, Mo., Celebration
The Special Steam Locomotive Will Travel 2,200 Miles During the 17-day Tour

Omaha, Neb., September 15, 2010 – Union Pacific Railroad’s “Challenger” No. 3985, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, will be on a six-state, 2,200-mile tour from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Gorham, Ill., to celebrate railroad heritage. To kick-off the tour, Challenger will pull the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus train between Speer, Wyo., and Denver, Colo.

“We are proud No. 3985 will pull the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus train on September 28. History will be made that day when No. 3985 will pull a 65-car train that is more than 6,000 tons and nearly 6,100 feet long, the most for a steam locomotive in the 21st century,” said Dick Hartman, Union Pacific’s director of public affairs for Colorado and Wyoming.

“Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is excited to be part of this railroad heritage celebration; we’ve been riding the rails for the last 175 years, so Ringling. Bros. is a part of rail history,” said Keith Anderson, trainmaster of the Ringling Bros. Blue Unit train. “No. 3985 will pull a mile-long train, stocked full of international performers, animals and all of the gear we need for The Greatest Show On Earth,” he added.

No. 3985 is on the Missouri River Eagle tour to help Sedalia, Mo., celebrate the community’s Sesquicentennial on Sunday, October 10.

“Sedalia has such a rich railroad heritage that it is only fitting that the world’s largest operating steam locomotive help in celebrating their sesquicentennial,” said Ben Jones, Union Pacific’s director of public affairs for Missouri and Kansas.

During this tour, the 67-year-old locomotive will be on display in:

Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 3 and Oct. 11;
Jefferson City, Mo., Oct. 5; and
St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8; and
The Challenger will make overnight stops in:

Denver, Colo., Sept. 28;
Cheyenne, Wyo., Sept. 29;
North Platte, Neb., Sept. 30 and Oct. 13;
Marysville, Kan., Oct. 1 and Oct 12;
St. Louis, Mo., Oct.6 and Oct. 7; and
Sedalia, Mo., Oct. 9.
Union Pacific’s No. 3985, an articulated locomotive with a “hinged” frame to allow it to negotiate curves, is 122 feet long.  It weighs more than one million pounds, has six-foot diameter drive wheels and can reach a top speed of 70 miles per hour. No. 3985 was built in 1943 for fast freight service and was retired in 1959. In 1981, it was restored to running condition by UP employee volunteers for special service. This is the first trip for the locomotive after undergoing maintenance work during the last two years. The Challenger is based in Cheyenne, Wyo.

A Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) transmitter was installed on one of the rail cars that will travel with No. 3985. The GPS system has been integrated with a map on UP’s website. Enter the word “Steam” in the search box on the homepage for a shortcut to the map.

Website visitors will be able to access route maps with varying amounts of detail. The GPS system will update the map every five minutes showing No. 3985’s location. GPS updates are also available at twitter.com/UP_Steam.

During 2010, the Reed Jackson concession car displays a commemorative sign celebrating the National Model Railroad Association’s 75 years of service to the model railroad community.

About National Model Railroad Association

Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn., the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is a nonprofit corporation with members from every U.S. state as well as countries around the world. The organization is charged with establishing and enforcing the standards and recommended practices that ensure compatibility of products in the model railroad hobby. Local divisions host meetings, conventions, home layout visits and train shows. Throughout 2010, the 20,000 members of the National Model Railroad Association are celebrating its 75 years of service to the model railroading hobby and industry. NMRA was founded in Milwaukee in 1935. Learn more at www.nmra.org.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America’s leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers and provides Americans with a fuel-efficient, environmentally responsible and safe mode of freight transportation. Union Pacific’s diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad emphasizes excellent customer service and offers competitive routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada’s rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America’s premier rail franchise.

ASME Call For Input on Steam Locomotive Boiler Standards

Nov 23rd, 2009 by admin

ANNOUNCEMENT A new Part for inclusion in Section I, covering construction of new steam locomotive boilers is to be considered by the Code Committee of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Subgroup needs your input! To initiate a first draft,

prior to ASME’s formal process, we need the first series of your comments and suggestions by 31 January, 2010. Comments must be exclusive to new construction of locomotive boilers, either riveted or welded (both types of construction will be treated in the new Part). Also our mandate does not include miniature boilers as defined in ASME Boiler Code, Section I, Part PMB. train@valornet.com, to be received not later than 31 January 2010. (Email is preferred)