Railnews from Railfan & Railroad Magazine

by Otto Vondrak/photos by the author

Launching on July 4, a new seasonal tourist train operation is coming to upstate New York’s Finger Lakes region. The new Finger Lakes Rail Experience will take visitors on a scenic excursion along portions of the Finger Lakes Railway with departures from Canandaigua, Geneva, and Seneca Falls throughout July and August.

The genesis for the project came from Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK), who approached consultants FMW Solutions (FMW) to help establish a new tourist rail operation in the region. Founded in 1995, FGLK operates freight service on a 167-mile system of former New York Central, Pennsylvania, and Lehigh Valley tracks from its headquarters in Geneva. While the railroad has previously operated its own seasonal passenger excursions over the years, a shift in business priorities led to the end of charters and the sale of its excursion fleet in 2024.

ABOVE: Visitors enjoying the ammenities in the plush observation lounge of Hickory Creek during a special media preview day on July 1.

“The key success of our freight railroad has been ensuring that the farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses in our region receive reliable freight service, but we acknowledge how important tourist rail operations are to attracting visitors to the Finger Lakes region,” said FGLK President Eric Betke in a press release. The railroad turned to FMW as their partner to help put together a new tourism experience with the help of several partners, including the United Railway Historical Society of NJ (URHS) and the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.

Key to this new experience are the five vintage passenger cars provided by URHS, some of which became available when Amtrak cancelled charters out of New York Penn Station earlier this year due to an extensive tunnel repair project affecting the schedule. The cars include observation-lounge Hickory Creek (Pullman, 1948, the tail car from New York Central’s famed 20th Century Limited), tavern-lounge NYC 43 (Budd, 1947), and NYC sleeper-buffet-lounge Swift Stream (Budd, 1949). To support this expanded service schedule, URHS also refurbished tavern-lounge NYC 37 (Budd, 1947) and Pennsylvania Railroad coach 1547 (Budd, 1949, ex-PRR sleeper Cambridge Inn). Work was performed by URHS volunteers and contractors at their shop in Boonton, N.J., and the cars were shipped out at the end of June to FGLK in Geneva. Also included was a generator car loaned by Operation Toy Train (TOYX) to support the operation of the trains, which will be led by FGLK locomotives.

ABOVE: The refurbished interior of sleeper-buffet-lounge Swift Stream.

“Not only will the FLX Rail Experience introduce heritage rail to a new audience, but it will also support URHS’s efforts to expand our operational fleet of historic railroad cars,” said URHS Executive Director Kevin Phalon in a press release. “We’re proud to be working with partners who understand the value of tourism and support our nonprofit mission of preservation and education.” The five-car set will also allow FLX Rail Experience to offer different tiers of service, including deluxe coach, premium, and first class; plus additional options for families or individuals with sensory issues seeking a more relaxed ride experience.

Key to the experience is a partnership with the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, helping to bring in more than a dozen local wineries and breweries to provide tastings on board. The specific microclimate around the Finger Lakes has encouraged the growth of vineyards and the production of wine since the 1860s. However, it was only in the last 50 years that the Finger Lakes have developed into a major tourist attraction centered around the region’s various award-winning wineries.

ABOVE: The interior of New York Central tavern-lounge 43.

The current schedule calls for train rides to be operated through July and August, with a special “Railfan Train” scheduled for September 1. FMW is using this ten-week schedule to test the concept and make adjustments for possible future expansion into the fall and winter months. Train rides range in length from one hour to two and a half hours round-trip, departing from Canandaigua, Geneva, and Seneca Falls, operating on a portion of the former New York Central Auburn Branch.

Tickets are on sale now. For detailed schedules and reservation information, please visit the FLX Rail Experience website.

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New Hampshire’s Conway Scenic Railroad recently repainted its former Maine Central GP38 into its original owner’s iconic harvest gold and green livery. The locomotive, GP38 255, made its public debut on June 29, leading CSRR’s Mountaineer excursion alongside sister locomotive 252, also in MEC gold and green. 

CSRR acquired 255 in 2021 from Vermont Rail System. The engine spent the last few years running in its previous owners’ red and white livery, until it was repainted this spring. CSRR officials said 255 and 252 will be paired up often this year, leading excursions on the former Maine Central Mountain Division between North Conway and Crawford Notch. —Justin Franz 

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The VIA Historical Association (VHA) unveiled the first phase of its heritage train during a ceremony at VIA Rail Canada’s Toronto Maintenance Centre, celebrating the facility’s 40th anniversary. 

VHA is presently building an early 1980s-era long-distance train that they hope will be ready to celebrate VIA’s 50th anniversary in 2028. The train will be a mix of former Canadian National cars in VIA blue and yellow, which VHA is restoring, and stainless steel former Canadian Pacific cars, which are still in service. The first phase of the heritage train included FP9A 6539, baggage car 9604 and Dayniter coaches 5700 and 5714. VHA has acquired additional cars, and those are currently being restored. 

During the event on June 25, the 6539 and train were posed alongside modern VIA equipment. The heritage train is not presently accessible to the public, but that is expected to change as the anniversary nears. —Justin Franz 

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Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., is set to begin on August 18, following years of delay. Amtrak announced it was selling tickets for the train beginning July 1, during a series of media events along the Gulf Coast route. The train will run twice daily, with departures from New Orleans and Mobile every morning and evening. 

“We encourage customers to get their tickets now to experience this new, comfortable, and scenic service, and have the first opportunity to travel by train on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in nearly 20 years,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “Guests can plan travel for football trips this fall, for November and December holiday travel – and even Mardi Gras Season next year.”

Amtrak last ran east of New Orleans in 2005, until Hurricane Katrina damaged the route between there and Mobile. While freight service was eventually restored, passenger service never resumed. It took years of negotiations with Amtrak and the two host railroads, Norfolk Southern and CSX, to get the track back. 

Adult coach fares end-to-end start at $15 each way, and less for shorter distances. The train will make five stops in Mississippi, including Bay Saint Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. 

Visit Amtrak.com for more information.

—Justin Franz 

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The National Railroad Historical Society announced in June that it had awarded $150,000 in grants to 31 organizations across the country as part of its annual Heritage Grants program. 

“The mission of the NRHS is to help preserve railroad history in all its forms. The NRHS Heritage Grants program is a prolific and visible funder of restoration and preservation projects. I’d like to acknowledge the significance of donations by our membership towards this program: Thanks to the generosity of NRHS members and other donors, NRHS is distributing a total of $150,000 in Railroad Heritage Grants this year,” said NRHS President Tony White. “These grants will help enable 31 non-profit organizations to continue to preserve America’s rich railroad history.”

This year’s winners included…

Midwest Old Settlers and Threshers Association, Mount Pleasant, Iowa: $5,000.00 toward restoration of Rio de Janiero car 1779.

Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society, Darlington, Wisconsin: $3,000.00 to complete restoration of a 1937 steel caboose.

Army Transportation Museum Foundation, Fort Eustis, Virginia: $10,000.00 to restore an Army 1952 Brown Hoist steam crane.

Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Boonton, New Jersey: $5,000.00 to cosmetically restore Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad GE 44 ton locomotive number 700.

Harrisburg Chapter-National Railway Historical Society, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: $5,000.00 to install a fire and burglar alarm system in the preserved Harris Tower.

Connecticut Electric Railway Association, East Windsor, Connecticut: $2,837.00 for exterior repainting of New Orleans Public Service car 836.

Kittitas County Railroad History Association, Ellensburg, Washington: $2,000.00 for the addition of 1/8th scale railroad structures and 2,800 feet of 7 1/2 gauge track at Rotary Park.

Fox River Trolley Association, South Elgin, Illinois: $3,561.00 to complete the exterior restoration of Soo Line caboose number 130.

Whitman County Historical Society, Colfax, Washington: $5,000.00 toward the exterior restoration of 1946-vintage Northern Pacific coach car 508.

Friends of Historic Finlayson, Finlayson, Minnesota: $5,000.00 applied to the total restoration of Finlayson’s 1909 Northern Pacific combination depot.

Old Dominion Chapter-National Railway Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia: $10,000.00 for exterior paint renewal of RF&P heavyweight passenger car 706 and Southern heavyweight passenger car 1006.

Navajo County Historical Society, Holbrook, Arizona: $5,000.00 toward restoration of Apache Railway RS36 800.

Wichita Falls Railroad Museum, Wichita Falls, Texas: $3,562.00 to repair and repurpose a World War II troop sleeper car into a community meeting and event space.

Missouri Pacific Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri: $3,000.00 for the digitization of 200 large-format locomotive drawings.

Garner Area Historical Society, Garner, North Carolina: $5,000.00 for interior restoration of early 1950s Southern Railway bay window Caboose X771.

Friends of The Harrisville Depot, Harrisville, Michigan: $5,000.00 for restoration and renovation of historic doors of the Harrisville depot.

Friends of the East Broad Top, Upper Marlboro, Maryland: $5,000.00 will provide archival-quality shelving for EBT archives located in a new archives headquarters building in Mount Union, Pennsylvania.

American Industrial Railroad Society, Eldridge, Iowa: $5,000.00 toward restoration of Indiana Northern 4, a 1913 standard gauge 0-4-0 steam locomotive.

The Milwaukee Road Historical Association, Antioch, Illinois: $2,575.00 to create a web database for images showing Milwaukee Road equipment, facilities, structures and people.

Center for Railroad Photography and Art, Madison, Wisconsin: $5,000.00 to acquire a new digital photo printer to create prints for traveling exhibitions. This is a grant awarded in honor of long-serving NRHS Heritage Grants committee member George Hickok.

North Carolina Railway Museum, New Hill, North Carolina: $5,000.00 for procurement and installation of boiler tubes for Steam Locomotive 17.

Burkburnett Historical Society, Burkburnett, Texas: $5,000.00 to repair or replace thirteen windows in the Burkburnett depot.

Hoosier Heartland Trolley Company, Russiaville, Indiana: $4,915.00 for restoration of the wooden batten strips and window sills of Indiana Union Traction interurban number 429, “Noblesville.”

The B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland: $5,000.00 for restoration of the interior of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad observation tavern car number 3316. This grant is awarded in tribute to the memory of NRHS Heritage Grants committee member Carl Jensen.

Niagara Frontier Chapter NRHS, Tonawanda, New York: $5,000.00 for restoration of Standard Elevator GE Erie 25-ton locomotive number 1.

Electric City Trolley Museum Association, Scranton, Pennsylvania: $5,000.00 to be used toward restoration of brass window on Scranton Transit number 505, a 1929 Osgood Bradley trolley car.

The American Passenger Train History Museum, Charles City, Iowa: $5,000.00 for restoration of windows and exterior and interior painting in an Illinois Central diner lounge car.

Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society, Avoca, New York: $5,000.00 will assist with the purchase of archive-quality shelving to allow ELRHS to properly store, catalogue, digitize, and preserve primary source materials.

Friends of the New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn, New York: $4,550.00 for digitization of color slides depicting New York City’s rail transit system.

Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation, Irvine, Kentucky, $5,000.00 for restoration of office and shop facilities at Ravenna shop.

United Railroad Historical Society, Boonton, New Jersey: $5,000.00 will be used to return New Jersey’s long-lost “Merci Train” boxcar back home to New Jersey.

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SEPTA’s board of directors voted on June 26 for what has been called “doomsday” cuts as the agency grapples with a $213 million budget deficit. The cuts are expected to lead to a 45 percent reduction in service and a 20 percent increase in fares. 

Officials said they remain hopeful that the state legislature will step in to help, but so far that hasn’t happened, ABC 6 in Philadelphia reports. Cuts will begin to take effect on August 24, when 32 bus routes and special train services (like post-game express runs) will be eliminated. Then, in September, a 21.5 percent fare increase will occur. And finally, on January 1, five regional rail routes will be closed, including the Cynwyd Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, and Wilmington/Newark Line.

“This is a vote that none of us wanted to take. It does not have to happen if an agreement is met in Harrisburg,” said SEPTA Chairman Kenneth Lawrence, according to ABC. 

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

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The Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and Maine Central Railroad Historical Society recently received thousands of historic documents as donations from CSX Transportation. CSX obtained the documents after its 2022 purchase of Pan Am Railways. 

The historical societies said the donations were significant and included priceless, one-of-a-kind artifacts, some dating back to the early 19th century. The documents had been stored in buildings at Rigby Yard in South Portland, Maine, and at Iron Horse Park in North Billerica, Mass. 

Just some of the documents that were recently donated to the Maine Central and Boston & Maine historical societies. 

“The documents include vast quantities of engineering, mechanical, property, and signal records, maps, drawings, files, and indices. The old B&M vault includes early handwritten volumes from the B&M and predecessor companies dating to as early as 1804,” the B&MRHS wrote on social media. 

The two groups are currently trying to move as much of the material as possible before the building where some of it is stored is remodeled later this year.

—Justin Franz 

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Portland’s transit agency is preparing to donate one of its “trailblazing” Type 1 light rail vehicles to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum. The donation coincides with TriMet’s retirement of the cars that helped establish its inaugural service back in 1986.

Type 1 101 has been chosen for preservation and is currently being repainted at TriMet’s shop in Gresham. This week, the agency announced it will host a “farewell” party at the Ruby Junction facility for invited guests on July 8. TriMet is holding a contest to give away eight spots to attend the event. The contest runs through June 27 at 9 a.m. 

TriMet purchased 26 Type 1 cars from Bombardier. The cars were based on cars used in Brussels, Belgium and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While Bombardier tried to market the cars elsewhere, they were the only ones ever built and became the backbone of TriMet’s fleet for nearly four decades. TriMet began retiring the cars a few years ago as new Siemens SD700s (known as Type 6s on TriMet) began to arrive on the property. Presently, there are three to five Type 1s still running daily.

—Justin Franz

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While Metra officially took over operating responsibility for Union Pacific’s three commuter lines in the Chicago area in May, the transit agency and Class I are still battling over the fees the latter will charge the former for using its tracks. 

Shortly after Metra took control on May 16 of the UP North, Northwest, and West lines, UP issued a press release urging the commuter agency to accept its terms for a new contract that will take effect on July 1. UP officials stated that the “market-based rates” are consistent with other passenger agreements it has in Illinois, Colorado, and California. 

“For more than a decade, Metra has paid rates that are significantly below commercial market value for the use of Union Pacific’s assets,” said Liisa Stark, Vice President for Public Affairs for Union Pacific. “It is our hope these new rates will resolve the issue without further expensive litigation or regulatory appeals that has no benefit to Metra, Union Pacific nor Chicago taxpayers.”

But in a filing with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, Metra officials wrote that the rates would result in a 100 percent increase in its costs to use UP’s facilities. To maintain service after the current agreement expires, Metra has asked the STB to grant it trackage rights on the Class I’s trackage. UP responded that the federal government could do no such thing because it can only regulate interstate commerce and Metra’s “essential character” is that it only serves Illinois. Metra replied that it has at least one station in Wisconsin on the UP North line. —Justin Franz

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The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is bringing in new management following a tumultuous start to the 2025 season. 

On June 19, the historic narrow gauge railroad announced that Eric Mason, who previously served as CEO and general manager, would return as interim general manager, replacing Ed Beaudette. Beaudette is now the strategic programs officer. Steven Butler, who was the general manager in 2023, will return as chief mechanical officer. Additionally, Merrill Gutierrez, who has been with the railroad for four years, has been promoted to shop manager in Chama. 

In a press release, the railroad’s commission attributed the shake-up to a rocky start to the 2025 season, which included canceled trains due to a lack of operating locomotives. However, the railroad has seemingly experienced a revolving door of leadership in recent years, with multiple general managers. Additionally, in 2023, four former employees sued the railroad and its managing commission, alleging that it was a “toxic and hostile workplace.” That suit is ongoing. Officials with the C&TS said the management transition was not related to the litigation. 

“It’s been a disappointing start to the season,” Commissioner Scott Gibbs stated in a press release about the cancellations this season due to mechanical issues. “The good news is that the Cumbres & Toltec is going to be in a much better position as key repairs have been made. We’ll be back to running two trains a day, six days a week, ensuring we can meet the demand from passengers who travel from all over the world to experience the thrill of historic steam railroading.”

In the same press release, Mason said that he was looking forward to a successful season and encouraged people to come out and ride. 

The C&TS is owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, and is managed by a four-person commission. The railroad was founded in 1970 to preserve one of the most scenic and rugged sections of the famed Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge system. 

—Justin Franz 

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It’s a big day for fans of the American Locomotive Company. On June 23, Delaware-Lackawanna announced that it had completed the operational restoration of its Alco PA — the only operating one in the world — and that it had repainted one of its RS-3s into the iconic lighting stripe livery of the Delaware & Hudson. 

RS-3 4068 was painted last week at DL’s Scranton, Pa., shop, and the engine made its public debut on Monday morning. The locomotive was built in March 1952 for the D&H. In the 1970s, it was sold to the Lamoille Valley Railroad in Vermont, where it became that railroad’s 7801. In the 1990s, the locomotive was briefly used by the New Hampshire Central before being sold to the York-Durham Heritage Railway in Canada. Eventually, the locomotive made its way to the DL, one of the last Alco strongholds in North America. For years, it sported D&H’s original black and yellow livery, alongside two other RS-3s, numbers 4103 and 4118. Those units were sold in 2024 to the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railway. 

The DL operates on several county-owned rail lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the former D&H line to Carbondale, Pa.

Photo by Otto Vondrak. 

Posed alongside 4068 on Monday morning was “Nickel Plate Road” PA-4 190, which the DL had acquired from preservationist Doyle McCormack back in 2023. The engine was originally built for the Santa Fe, gained notoriety on the D&H in the 1970s, before being sold to Mexico. In the 2000s, McCormack brought the engine back north and restored it as a Nickel Plate Road locomotive (his favorite railroad growing up). Since acquiring it, the DL has been completing the operational restoration that McCormack began. 

On Monday morning, DL officials said the engine would make its public debut in passenger service on July 11 and 12, with McCormack at the throttle. Additional public excursions are planned for later in the year. 

—Justin Franz and Otto Vondrak  

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Flash floods that spread across the area surrounding Rochester, N.Y., on the evening of June 18 caused extensive damage to the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum right-of-way. The storm, which dumped more than seven inches of rain in less than three hours, also washed out tracks on the neighboring Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad near Avon, temporarily stranding the daily road freight just a mile south of the museum until the tracks could be cleared the next day.

While the full extent of flood damage is still being assessed by museum volunteers, several areas of the railbed appeared to be compromised enough to warrant the cancellation of public train ride events through the end of July. According to museum officials, there was no damage to locomotives, rolling stock, or the restored 1909 Erie Railroad depot at Industry. Museum volunteers are partnering with engineering firms and New York State DOT to plan a course of action to effect repairs so the museum can resume train rides as soon as possible. The museum’s railroad is built on a mile-and-a-half of private right-of-way in the rural town of Rush, just 12 miles south of Rochester.

“As a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization, we rely on ticket sales to support our mission. However, the safety of our guests, volunteers, and equipment must always come first,” the museum said in a prepared statement, “We appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued support as we work to restore operations and preserve Rochester’s rich railroading heritage for generations to come.”

Founded in 1971, the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum is the largest operating railroad museum in New York State. Donations can be made at www.rgvrrm.org/donate

—Railfan & Railroad staff

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Amtrak’s newest trains are set to debut on the Cascades route between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., in 2026, according to the railroad. Amtrak recently shared images showcasing both the interior and exterior of the new trains being constructed by Siemens Mobility in California.

Siemens is currently constructing 83 dual-powered train sets for the Northeast Corridor and state-supported services nationwide. These new trains will replace Amtrak-owned Amfleet, Metroliner, and state-owned equipment across the country, which is now nearly 50 years old. The trainsets will be paired with Siemens Charger locomotives. The first units will enter service in the Cascades, which will receive eight new trainsets and two new locomotives next year. —Justin Franz 

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At one time, most major cities in North America had grand passenger stations. Their architecture varied; some had soaring canopies of glass and iron, some the form of Greek temples or Roman baths, and some were mock Jacobean great houses or pretend Parisian palaces. Such structures, then, were about more than efficiency — they were about making a statement, a vast sign that said something like, “Behold, traveler; the Railroad resides here.”

Of course, this is a chapter from the past. Publicly subsidized highways, the introduction of the commercial jetliner, and changing patterns of travel all hit the railways hard. By the late 1960s, cities that once saw hundreds of trains per day were reduced to seeing one or two; meanwhile, some secondary routes were greatly reduced, quite often to none. Many stations closed, and Amtrak, which resumed responsibility for most long-distance services in 1971, had little need for expansive urban stations. All too often our grand downtown edifices were closed, many meeting the wrecking ball.

A select few survive to this day, still serving Amtrak’s passenger trains on a daily or better basis. My favorites are all “union stations,” buildings constructed by several railroads to consolidate urban services into a single, convenient location. My favorite is probably Portland, Ore., the station of my youth, but I also love three others — Los Angeles; St. Paul, Minn.; and Chicago. Each is a beautiful example of railroad architecture at its peak.

This stated, each also has its flaws. Portland’s is a cramped and confusing combination of an 1890s Romanesque Revival exterior and a 1920s Art Deco interior. St. Paul’s is located in, well, St. Paul, rather than in the more populous Minneapolis. Los Angeles is a beautiful 1930s combination of Mission Revival and Art Deco, but remains an inefficient stub terminal design — a problem to be fixed by Metrolink at a cost of $2 billion.

And then there’s Chicago. Planned and directed by Pennsylvania Railroad, Chicago Union Station opened in 1925. The Windy City’s Union Station remains impressive outside, with its long colonnaded façade; inside, its main hall with its 219-foot-high ceiling is as breathtaking as the day it opened. The scale of things, with its hulking interior columns, is more than a classical revival fantasy, it is a powerful expression of Chicago’s robust, monumental architectural character. Yet, over time, the station has also suffered. Metra and Amtrak must cooperate in this bustling shared space. Its passenger concourse has been rebuilt several times since 1969, and today remains a cramped, maze-like space that makes the seasoned traveler sigh, “Well, at least it’s not New York Penn Station.”

Still, it is a minor miracle that so much of what is good about the station remains intact. Relatively few of its companions in Chicago survive unscathed; Chicago & North Western’s nearby Beaux-Arts edifice, for example, was razed for an office tower in 1984, with the station operations shoved into an uninspired glass box at the tower’s base. Given the location in the heart of the city, proposals to build an office tower atop Union Station show up from time to time — Amtrak itself proposed such a thing in 2017 — but so far, each has faded after a short flurry of press. For now, it is possible, as one critic once said of New York’s long-departed Pennsylvania Station, to “enter the city like a god” — at least, if you can find your way up into the reception halls from the concourse. There, among columns larger than redwoods, and roofed in under vast skylights, there remains that sense of wonder that rail travel once instilled.

—Alexander Benjamin Craghead is a transportation historian, photographer, artist, and author.

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By Nick Benson/photos by the author

It was October 2016, and I had a hot tip that Canadian Pacific’s business train, in Minneapolis for the Ryder Cup, would be returning to Calgary. Time has made a few details fuzzy, but it lingered near the Twin Cities early in the day, a fortuitous courtesy that allowed the autumnal sun to swing into position and collude with vibrant blue skies. CP had done all of the gathered railfans a favor by providing a consist right out of a Lionel catalog — A-B-A F-units and a healthy consist of matching Tuscan passenger cars. I followed that train for 175 rail miles into the sunset, fortunate to be the last foamer standing as I set up my panning rig for one final shot of 4107 as it passed through the hamlet of Oswald, N.D. I’ve had no shortage of fun railroad photography experiences, but that day I clearly remember thinking this will be a top-ten lifetime chase.

Another memorable day trackside that stands out, even more than a dozen years later, was one spent chasing Union Pacific’s Job 23, which operates out of New Prague, Minn., on one of the few segments of Minneapolis & St. Louis that wasn’t ripped up in the 1980s after becoming redundant by the many mergers of Chicago & North Western and its successors. It was classic Midwestern branch line railroading — a standard-cab EMD delivering a handful of cars to a mill and a vegetable cannery. A little off the beaten path, running only on weekdays, and something that’d “always be there,” it was largely overlooked by my fellow railfans. Fortunately, I caught it in beautiful weather and spent several hours following it through the modest scenery of southern Minnesota, catching it passing a depot (the crew invited me in for a tour), an apple orchard, several farms, and even the local grocery store, where the crew stopped to grab refreshments. The mill has since closed, relegating the former week-daily job to as-needed, making it even more challenging to document. I strive to get out and spend a day capturing fall color each year, but meeting the high expectations I set that day in 2012 is tough.

Autumn Colors Express
In 2019, I was fortunate to be chosen as a volunteer staff photographer for the revived passenger excursions through the New River Gorge in West Virginia, marketed at the time as the Autumn Colors Express. The train consisted of 21 private cars and was assembled in Chicago, where I met it, and we deadheaded down to West Virginia. On our way to Huntington, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with a musician aboard the Super Dome. I had been told who he was, but I hadn’t heard of him and was too bashful to ask for clarification. In any event, after dinner, we all gathered in Skytop Lounge Cedar Rapids, where the musician would be performing an acoustic concert for the crew under the beautiful glass solarium. As he played, a lightbulb went off when I recognized several of his songs — he was Glen Phillips, lead singer of the legendary ’90s alt-rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket. Why he was aboard exactly, I still don’t know, but he hopped off to much adoration in Indianapolis, and I was left scratching my head. Had that really just happened?

There were three days of excursions, which I spent roaming the train documenting as much as I could — car interiors, staff loading and unloading supplies and passengers, people getting haircuts en route in the salon, folks enjoying the Railroad Days festival in Hinton, breakfast prep in Chairman’s Class’s kitchen, a newly engaged couple, people enjoying themselves in the domes and lounges. It was a fun assignment.

My home that week was the ex-Frisco sleeping car Cimarron River, and two of the nights were spent on the move to or from Chicago, hot on the heels of Amtrak’s Cardinal. On the return deadhead move I stayed up late, a fly on the wall listening to amusing stories of rival Milwaukee Road and Soo Line preservationists, before returning to my roomette and being rocked to sleep. It was a short night, though; I woke up at dawn and had the train to myself, as the vast majority of the staff slept in, too exhausted to enjoy an Indiana sunrise. I once again found myself in Cedar Rapids, just me and my camera, our silhouette projected by early light on the passing scenery. The photographic finale happened as we arrived in Chicago and were pulled through the wash rack — the colors and water splashing off designer Brooks Stevens’ handiwork were breathtaking.

ABOVE: Berk excitedly points out an approaching BNSF train from the window of Northstar, as his younger brother Lucas looks on, from our ride in 2015. Ten years later we’d ride again, and this time they were the ones taking most of the pictures.

Family Foaming
It wasn’t an obvious highlight to my thick skull, but in retrospect some of my best times trackside were just normal days hanging out with the family. We rode the caboose at Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul, the trolleys at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum, and the North Pole Express at St. Paul Union Depot. We made several trackside trips, just out to see the usual day-to-day traffic, often with a stroller safely perched on an overpass.

Milwaukee Road 261’s fall color trips, often coincident with my oldest son’s birthday, became an annual family tradition. The relaxed pace and scheduled stops make it an easy chase. The kids are old enough to take photos on their own now, but I got them started by getting my cameras pointed at the right spot and handing over the shutter release cable. There’s nothing more compelling to a child than pushing a button, especially if it’s connected to one of Dad’s prized gizmos and produces a great photo that they took all by themselves. My three children are growing up fast and enjoy visual arts. Mila, the youngest, is generally more interested in arts and crafts, usually things that don’t have wheels. Berk and Lucas, on the other hand, have my affliction for transportation photography, especially of planes and trains. As a parent, it’s fun seeing the boys following in my footsteps directly, and so interesting to see my daughter applying the mechanical aptitude she inherited from me as an ability to paint, sculpt, and craft so creatively.

These days we probably aren’t getting out to document railroads as much as we ought to — our time is usually spent on aviation now — but the boys and I recently took a trip on our local commuter railroad, Northstar, an out-and-back from Minneapolis to Big Lake. Unfortunately, our local commuter rail is a victim of poor implementation, lack of support from several communities served, and lingering effects from pandemic restrictions. It sounds like Northstar’s days are numbered now, and we needed to get out and ride it again before it was gone.

It was fun to see the boys, who were grooving on riding a train 10 years ago, now excited by photographic opportunities, looking for interesting reflections, framing devices, dragging the shutter to get motion blur, lying on the ground to get a more dramatic angle, noticing station signs that provide context, and chatting up the crew to get better access. I found myself having more fun watching them take pictures than being the photographer myself. Did I just discover what it means to be a parent?

The Oblivious
Lord willing, I have plenty of years and chases left in the hopper, but I am as confident today as I was nearly a decade ago that it’ll be tough to top that perfect chase of the CP office car train. You needn’t spend much time trackside to appreciate the confluence of light, power, and scenery. But as I sit here now, 40 years old, realizing time slips by faster than most of us younger are capable of acknowledging, there’s something to appreciate about the ordinary time trackside, especially if friends and family are involved.

Without straying too far into contemplative reflection and nostalgia, our time here is ephemeral, and as everyone learns as the years go by, none of us are guaranteed another tomorrow. Just as our favorite railroads, equipment, and industries morph as time passes, children grow, friendships change — the special people in our lives aren’t always going to be able to go on that next chase, or be waiting for us when we get home a few hours late because the light was so good.

While chasing a perfect westbound into the sunset can be a self-evident photographic triumph, embarrassingly, it wasn’t obvious to me how good things were when I was spending time with my family chasing Milwaukee 261 on its fall color trips, or loading up the stroller at Union Depot ahead of a walk up the Kellogg Boulevard overpass to appreciate the usual parade of traffic passing below us. It should have been obvious, of course; I fondly remember “checking the crossing” at Talmage Avenue with my dad when I was young, forming core memories of watching Burlington Northern and Soo Line rumble past, and learning how to be a good father myself.

I wish it’d been more obvious to me how great it was — perhaps I ought to appreciate how good it still is.

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by Andrew Cox/photos by the author

Seattle’s waterfront dates to the late 1880s, when the city was just a small lumber and mineral town on the shores of Puget Sound. In the early years, Seattle grew slowly with few settlers reaching the unknown waterfront town, tucked away in a remote corner of Washington Territory. Logging camps in the western Cascades used the Duwamish River, Mount Rainier’s western drainage, to shuttle timber to a developing waterfront market. In 1897, however, the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Region completely changed the trajectory of Seattle’s development. Similar to the effect that the California Gold Rush had on the rise of San Francisco and Sacramento, Seattle’s waterfront exploded into a metropolis that served as a jumping-off point for prospectors hoping to strike it rich on the frontier. Suddenly, a prosperous city resided on the tide flats of Elliott Bay where the Duwamish River flowed into Puget Sound, and with it came the railroads.

The turn of the century could not have been any better for railroads that began gobbling up access to the waterfront. By 1911, Seattle hosted two downtown depots serving four transcontinental railroads. Northern Pacific and Great Northern shared a depot on King Street while The Milwaukee Road and Union Pacific built an ornate station just a block east. All four had dedicated trackage, with NP dominating the waterfront. Just a few blocks west of the two downtown depots, and down a very steep grade, NP and GN jockeyed for trackage along Seattle’s Railroad Avenue district, serving several docks and wharfs. Northern Pacific built a yard and port access on marshlands south of downtown, now known as SODO (SOuth of DOwntown). Just north of downtown, GN built a large yard and roundhouse between Magnolia and Queen Anne neighborhoods, calling it Interbay Yard. Union Pacific set up shop a few miles south of downtown at Argo Yard which has remained under UP control to this day.

ABOVE: Harbor Island offers an unusual opportunity to see BNSF and Union Pacific working side by side. Take this cold morning of February 5, 2024, for example, as BNSF spots loads at Shell Oil while UP shoves reefers for PCC Logistics and custom loads for the Alaska barge. The cement hoppers are just along for the ride, as they’ll be switched at Ash Grove Cement just off the island.

The growth of Seattle’s waterfront coincided with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, causing several West Coast ports to modernize and expand their ability to handle anticipated surges in marine traffic on a global scale. The two world wars further spurred growth in Puget Sound with the addition of shipyards and steel mills, all served by the railroads. During summer 1964, GN would contract with Alaska Railroad out of Whittier, Alaska, to provide the nation’s first permanent rail-barge interchange between Alaska and the lower 48. To this day, Alaska Railroad operates weekly barge service to Seattle, making it the longest rail/barge transfer in the U.S.

By 1970, the great consolidation of America’s railroads was in full swing. In Seattle, GN and NP — along with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Spokane, Portland & Seattle — had merged to form Burlington Northern. The Milwaukee Road was on its way out, and had shifted its traffic to Tacoma; it would abandon its western route altogether in 1980. Three miles south of downtown, Union Pacific was still working its own trackage at Argo Yard, a small blip in the far northwest reaches of UP’s western division. The Emerald City, which had once hosted four of the nation’s premier railroads, was now blanketed in a sea of Cascade Green and just a touch of Armour Yellow.

ABOVE: The afternoon barge job has just started work on Harbor Island, delicately shoving its first cut of cars onto the barge under cloudy skies on November 1, 2023. The unique vantage point is thanks to a pedestrian overpass connecting Vigor Shipyards to its employee parking lot.

In the 21st century, BNSF has emerged as the primary operator in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle continues to host a thriving network of international trade, making it the ninth-largest port in the world. In 2022, the port of Seattle handled 3.4 million “TEUs” (20-foot container equivalent unit), 20 percent of which moved by rail. Seattle’s geographic positioning on the globe provides the shortest distance from seaports in Asia to the continental U.S. It is also the shortest distance between a West Coast port and Chicago, where both domestic traffic and marine traffic splinter off to markets farther east. It’s not just container traffic that keeps the Seattle waterfront humming; Seattle ports moved 3.5 million metric tons of agricultural products for export in 2023, consisting mostly of grain and soybeans, much of which was brought to Seattle on unit trains.

Harbor Island
In 1907, Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Company embarked on a world-record-setting project in the southwest corner of Elliott Bay and metropolitan Seattle. Over the course of two years, the dredging company would forever change the geography of Seattle’s waterfront by splitting the Duwamish River into separate eastern and western waterways. Twenty-four million cubic yards of dirt from regrading projects in the city and dredged material from Seattle’s tide flats would create Harbor Island, at the time the world’s largest man-made island.

ABOVE: A mild winter’s sunrise casts long shadows across Harbor Island and BNSF organizing a cut of freshly delivered barge cars on January 15, 2025. Next, the railroad will deliver a fresh cut of loaded petroleum tanks to both Shell and ARCO tank farms seen in the distance on both sides of the yard.

Early industrial and commercial use of the island consisted of fish processing facilities, shipyards, and industries such as flour mills, grain elevators, lumber yards, and cold storage, primarily located on the island’s eastern shore. Commercial and industrial development continued after the 1940s, including oil terminals, shipyards, rail transfer terminals, and sand and gravel transfer stations. The first industry to occupy the island was Fisher Flouring Mills, which began milling grain in 1911. Served by NP, the towering grain silos of Fisher defined the western half of Harbor Island’s skyline. At the time, it was the largest grain mill in the western U.S., and was known locally for its scones and quality malt for scotch. The mill even had ties to famous Northwest bootlegger Roy Olmstead, who supposedly used Fisher’s milled grain to produce his infamous hooch.

Today, Harbor Island trackage is served by both Union Pacific and BNSF. The busiest location on the island is the 196-acre Terminal 18 that runs almost the entire length of Harbor Island’s east side and is jointly operated by both railroads. The 420-acre island is home to about 50 active businesses, six of which are served by rail. Two petroleum tank farms, Ray-Mont Logistics, Westway Feed Products, and Pacific Coast Container (PCC) complete the industrial leads. The large and very active Vigor Shipyard on the northwest corner of Harbor Island sadly no longer takes rail service at any of its leads. However, it does provide services for Washington state’s world-class fleet of passenger and car ferries…

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by Justin Franz/photos as noted

Chicago Union Station. Trains Editor David P. Morgan once compared it to a holy place of worship, and if Chicago is America’s railroad capital, then Union Station would undoubtedly be a fitting National Cathedral.

Outside, set against a backdrop of towering glass skyscrapers, Union Station’s stone pillars resemble something from the Roman Empire. Embedded in the high cornerstones are clocks announcing Elgin – Central Time, a nod to the railroad watchmaker located northwest of the city and the railroad’s impact on establishing time zones. In the glass windows are the names of the railroads that built and once served this storied terminal: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Pennsylvania Railroad’s subsidiaries Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago; and the tiny Chicago & Alton, which didn’t have an ownership stake but was a tenant of the others.

But beyond those heavy doors along South Canal Street lies the real magic. Inside the Great Hall, light from the towering barrel-vaulted skylight illuminates one of railroading’s finest spaces. The concrete pillars of the exterior have been replaced with towering marble ones that encircle the 20,972-square-foot space. Atop the pillars are intricate stone carvings, and on two are statues by American sculptor Henry Hering titled “Day” and “Night.” One figure holds an owl, while the other has a rooster, an unsubtle reference to the night-and-day pace of railroading. But perhaps the most important statue of all is also the simplest — a gold-plated post in the middle of the hall with a sign that reads “To Trains.” While the Great Hall is a setting fit for a papal conclave, the real action takes place one story below on the platforms.

ABOVE: Pennsylvania and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy trains mingle on the south side of Chicago Union Station in this August 1964 scene. This view would be all but impossible to capture now because it is covered by a building (not to mention that the photographer has wandered well beyond the platform to capture it). —John E. Gruber photo, Center for Railroad Art & Photography collection

A century after the completion of Chicago Union Station, this grand building continues to serve as the beating heart of railroading in the American Heartland. From here, more than 20,000 Amtrak trains and 77,000 Metra commuter trains arrive or depart annually (not counting position moves), carrying more than 38 million passengers each year.

Simply put, 100 years after it opened, the excitement and drama of railroading are still being preached from this storied space in the heart of America’s railroad capital.

‘The World’s Foremost Terminal’
In 1897, English journalist G.W. Steevens summarized the chaos of Chicago like this: “Chicago! Chicago, queen and guttersnipe of cities, cynosure and cesspool of the world! Not if I had a hundred tongues, everyone shouting a different language in a different key, could I do justice for her splendid chaos. The most beautiful and the most squalid. The most American of cities. Where in all the world can words be found for such paradox and incongruity? Someday, Chicago will turn her savagery into order and cooperation and she will become the greatest, as already she is the most amazing city in the world.”

ABOVE: In the morning and evening, Chicago Union Station is a scene of constant movement, with passengers rushing to and from their trains and with trains arriving and departing from multiple tracks at once. Passengers are waiting for a Metra train to pull in from the Roosevelt Road coach yard on the afternoon of April 17, 2019. With the exception of the Metra logos on the sides of these gallery cars, this scene has changed little in the last few decades. —Todd Halamka photo

While Steevens mused on the city itself, the passage also described its chaotic web of railroads. Chicago became the crossroads of American railroading due to its geography; on one side, it had easy access to the shipping lanes of the Great Lakes, and on the other, flat and fertile land ideal for railroad construction. The city’s first railroad was Galena & Chicago Union (predecessor to Chicago & North Western), built to connect lead mines in the northwest corner of the state with the Great Lakes. In fall 1848, the railroad opened Chicago’s first station, a simple wooden structure not far from the Chicago River, west of what is now Canal Street and south of Kinzie Street. In the decades that followed the construction of Galena & Chicago Union, the Windy City became a spiderweb of rail lines with routes converging on the metropolis from nearly every direction.

By the 20th century, more than two dozen railroads were operating on thousands of miles of track within the city. To accommodate the hundreds of passenger trains and tens of thousands of riders who arrived or departed from downtown Chicago every day, six major stations were constructed: Central, Dearborn, Grand Central, LaSalle, Chicago & North Western, and Union Depot. The cluster of depots around downtown meant that if you were traveling through Chicago, you not only had to change trains but also probably had to go to an entirely different station. That wasn’t the only issue facing the city at the turn of the 20th century, however.

ABOVE: The exterior of Union Station on South Canal Street is lit up on the evening of April 18, 2011. —Otto M. Vondrak photo

In 1906, the Merchants Club hired architect Daniel H. Burnham (who, a decade earlier, had designed Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair) to create a plan to improve the city. The result was the 1909 Plan of Chicago, one of the country’s first major city planning documents, which called for new and wider streets, parks, civic buildings, and improved harbor and railroad facilities, most notably consolidating the six stations into one, ideally west of the Chicago River.

While the 1909 Plan of Chicago suggested a different location for this centralized station, the most logical choice was near Union Depot (opened in 1882), primarily because it wouldn’t require major track changes on the north and south approaches. Union Depot had been utilized by Pennsylvania; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; Chicago & Alton; and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. By the 1910s, however, it often became overcrowded and could not meet the demands of a growing city. In 1913, the Chicago Union Station Company was incorporated to construct a new Union Station. The company’s stock was divided among Pennsylvania, Milwaukee, and Burlington, although Pennsy was the dominant player. J.J. Turner, vice president of Pennsylvania Lines West, was named the company’s first president. Graham, Anderson, Probst & White was hired to design the new station; the firm was led by Ernest Graham, who had been a business partner of Burnham, who passed away in 1912, three years after his Plan of Chicago was released…

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The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City is hosting the “Star Spangled Steam Up” on the weekend of July 4th, featuring three operating steam locomotives, including a special steam-powered guest. The four-day event, running from July 3 to July 6, will provide train rides, historic lectures by local experts, and unique photography opportunities. 

Virginia & Truckee 4-6-0 25, Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company 2-6-0 Glenbrook, and Nevada County Narrow Gauge 2-6-0 5 will be the star attractions of the weekend. While both 25 and Glenbrook call Carson City home, locomotive 5 will be visiting from the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Museum. 

The museum will be open on July 4, 5, and 6, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Family activities, food trucks, and, of course, train rides will be available throughout the day. Admission tickets will cost $30 for adults, $20 for children, and kids under 3 can enter for free. A special evening program will also be held on July 3, 4, and 5, designed for serious railroad enthusiasts. Each evening will feature one of the operating steam locomotives, with a special excursion (either a mixed train with V&T 25 or double headers with the two narrow gauge 2-6-0s), along with a lecture about the history of each. Evening tickets are $45 per person, or you can attend all three nights for $120. Evening events start at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, visit carsonrailroadmuseum.org. —Justin Franz 

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Forty-one years after its creation, Metra finds itself at a pivotal moment in its history. Five years after a global pandemic upended the agency’s traditional model of moving people into the city in the morning and out in the evening, Metra is seeking to reinvent itself as a regional rail network rather than merely a commuter operator. However, complicating this transformation is an impending loss of federal funding that officials say could lead to “doomsday” cuts to all of Chicago’s transit agencies, including Metra. 

The man tasked with navigating these uncertain times is James M. Derwinski, who has served as the chief executive officer of the nation’s busiest commuter railroad outside of the New York City metropolitan area since 2017. Derwinski is no stranger to Metra—or railroading. After serving in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine electrician, Derwinski hired out on Chicago & North Western in 1993. He joined Metra as an electrician in 1997 and steadily rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the railroad’s chief mechanical officer in 2013. In 2017, he was unanimously elected by Metra’s board to be CEO and executive director of the railroad. 

This week, Railfan & Railroad spoke with Derwinski to discuss the upcoming budget cuts, Metra’s motive power fleet, and the future of passenger rail in Chicago. 

Metra SD70MAC 513 leads a train across Canal Street in Chicago. The commuter agency has turned to rebuilt second-hand units as a way to address its motive power needs as a cost-savings measure. —Brian Caswell photo

This spring, Illinois lawmakers failed to pass legislation to prevent “doomsday” cuts to public transit in and around Chicago. The shortfall stems from the federal government ending pandemic-related funding subsidies for transit agencies, which will lead to a $770 million deficit for the three agencies under the Regional Transportation Authority (Metra, Chicago Transit Authority, and Pace bus service). 

Derwinski said it was too early to know exactly what those “doomsday” cuts could look like, but he anticipated having to eliminate approximately 260 weekday trains, 130 Saturday trains, and 58 Sunday trains from the present schedule. Where exactly those cuts are made would be determined by the Metra board of directors and a robust public engagement effort. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that the cuts didn’t gut the system or negatively impact riders. One way to avoid that would be to add extra cars to existing trains from consists that are parked due to schedule reductions. Currently, Metra has funding to maintain its current level of service through the middle of next year, so it’s possible that no changes will occur before then. However, Derwinski said it was also possible that RTA and Metra might start implementing cuts earlier to avoid more dramatic and sudden reductions later.  

“There is an immense number of scenarios, but the only thing we know for sure is that federal funding runs out in mid-2026,” he said. “It’s unfortunate… but we’re keeping our heads down and getting to work.”

One of the battery-powered trains currently being built for Metra by Stadler U.S. —Courtesy Image.

While Metra faces the possibility of significant service cuts, it continues to upgrade its rolling stock fleet, especially its locomotives. This week, the Metra board of directors was considering a plan to acquire nine additional SD70MACH locomotives, bringing the total to 42 of these unique six-axle passenger units. Derwinski said the next part of the fleet to be refreshed will be the ex-Amtrak F59s that the company acquired in 2018. 

Derwinski has also become a big proponent of finding the next generation of motive power for Metra, including battery-powered units. In 2024, Metra announced it was purchasing zero-emission, battery-powered trainsets from Stadler U.S. for use on the Rock Island Line’s Beverly Branch. Derwinski said the first trainset was expected to arrive next year and enter revenue service in 2027.

“We’re really excited to kick the tires of these units and see how they work,” he said. 

Derwinski said he was hopeful the Stadler trainsets could be the first of many battery-powered units on Metra, including yard switchers. When asked about expanded electrification (as CalTrain recently did), he noted that battery-powered units would require less infrastructure and be more financially feasible. He also said that the Stadler units might not be the final answer in Metra’s search for the next generation of motive power.

“We want to try different things,” he said, adding that he was keeping an eye on other developments within the industry, including hydrogen power.

Perhaps the biggest development at Metra this year — although one that hasn’t resulted in many visible changes — was the agency finally taking over the operation of the three Union Pacific (ex-C&NW) lines. Derwinski said because UP will still be dispatching those lines, it’s unlikely any major operational changes will occur. The main focus will be fully integrating the UP employees into Metra and its customer-focused culture. Eventually, he said there may be opportunities to find efficiencies in some maintenance operations (locomotive and car repair, train cleaning, etc). 

A Metra North Central Service line train at O’Hare Transfer in June 2024, led by MP36PH-3S 420. These units were built by Motive Power Industries more than 20 years ago, augmenting the carrier’s fleet of EMD F40 variants. —Photo by Justin Franz. 

Ridership on Metra remains below its pre-pandemic level, as it does at many agencies across the country, according to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. According to the report, Metra’s ridership from 2019 to 2024 was down 42 percent. However, according to Metra, ridership has been slowly growing, and from 2023 to 2024, it increased by more than 9 percent, from 31 million passengers to 35 million.

Derwinski attributed the overall decline to changing work patterns. That’s why he wants to see Metra transformed into a regional network rather than a traditional commuter railroad. In 2023, Metra released a five-year plan that called for operating more trains outside of the traditional rush hours to serve more people. Derwinski mentioned that a more robust schedule, with additional trains at night or during midday, has been rolled out on the Union Pacific North, Union Pacific Northwest, BNSF, and Metra Electric lines. He indicated that so far, those schedule changes have been well received. Another aspect of making Metra a more regional system is aligning schedules to ensure people can reliably make downtown connections, even if they need to change stations.

While challenges lay ahead, Derwinski and his team are working hard to minimize the impact of reduced funding while introducing what service enhancements they can to keep the Windy City’s commuter rail running smoothly for years to come. —Justin Franz

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Ohio’s Age of Steam Roundhouse has begun construction on a new 10-stall roundhouse that will be separate from its existing 18-stall facility. The new “East Roundhouse” will include an office, a storeroom and 10 stalls for equipment storage. 

The 10-stall roundhouse has long been a key part of Age of Steam’s master plan, drafted by its founder, Jerry Jacobson, in 2008. While the current roundhouse is primarily made of wood, this new one will be constructed of steel, reflecting the style of roundhouses built during the late steam era. The new roundhouse is expected to be completed next year. Although it will not be open to the public, the equipment stored inside will be rotated with that on public display in the main roundhouse. 

“When completed next year, the Age of Steam’s new East Roundhouse will increase our current roundhouse track capacity by 56 percent,” said Chief Mechanical Officer Tim Sposato. 

Age of Steam has a collection of nearly two dozen steam locomotives, many of which were once part of the Ohio Central Railroad fleet. For more information, visit ageofsteamroundhouse.org. —Justin Franz 

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