Free Republic

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 4-8-4 2926 will be under steam on September 27 and 28 for New Mexico Railroad Days at the Albuquerque South Rail Yards. The free, family-friendly event will give attendees the chance to see the recently restored locomotive up close. ATSF 2926 was built by Baldwin in 1944 and retired after just nine years of service. New Mexico Heritage Rail (also known as the New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society) spent nearly two decades restoring the locomotive and it returned to service in 2021. Since then it has made brief trips around Albuquerque on...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate Democratic leader, has spoken out against the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. In remarks Thursday (July 31, 2025) on the Senate floor, Schumer said approval of the merger “would cut down the industry from four major players to just three, pushing us even further down the road of dangerous consolidation and monopoly power.” Schumer noted the companies are saying the merger will promote competition, improve service, and benefit workers and customers. “History tells us the opposite,” he said. “The last four decades of railroad mergers have led to worse service, worse safety,...

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern executives touted their proposed merger as a way to return to volume growth after losing market share to the highway since rail traffic peaked in 2006. “We can only go so far independently. And let’s face it, this industry has faced contraction over the last couple decades in terms of volume growth,” NS CEO Mark George told investors and analysts on a conference call this morning. “We’ve been losing share to truck — and this is one way to reverse that trend.” The historic combination — which would create the first transcontinental...

The dream of high-speed, magnetically propelled trains zipping between Washington, D.C., and New York City will, at least for now, remain just that — a dream. The Federal Railroad Administration has officially canned the environmental review process for the section of the proposed Northeast Maglev train between D.C. and Baltimore, halting a plan that would be transformative for the region but has drawn the ire of community groups in parts of Maryland along its path. The proposal would cause “significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property,” according to a letter the FRA sent Thursday to Maryland Transportation Secretary...

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — A new era of train travel is set to begin in the Pacific Northwest as Amtrak Cascades introduces a fleet of new trains in 2026. The eight new trainsets and two locomotives will operate along the I-5 corridor, connecting cities such as Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., Eugene, and Portland. The new trainsets will feature the iconic Amtrak Cascades color scheme of evergreen, cream, and mocha, adorned with Cascade Range mountain graphics. The trains comply with the Federal Railroad Administration Buy America Standards and were manufactured in the U.S. at Siemens facilities. Earlier this year, Amtrak pulled it's...

' A cabin crew members has listed things travellers should be careful of during their flightA flight attendant has issued a warning to people who fall asleep on a plane. While many people like to relax during their travel and take a nap throughout their flight, a flight attendant warned those sitting by the window to be careful as some parts of the plane are dirtier than others. Tommy Cimato said: "Do not fall asleep or lean your head on the window. He warned that you never knew how many people had done the same and whether the window had...