U.S., Amtrak and before: Serving the Pacific Northwest with the Empire Builder and multiple transcontinental trains

By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; April 19, 2023 If you wanted to get from here to there…

Continue Reading →

U.S.; before Amtrak, Broadway Limited and 20th Century Limited’s great rivalry: Speed, luxury and superb Pullman service

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on May 24, 2021. It has been updated and photos and…

Continue Reading →

U.S., Passenger Trains from 1830 to Amtrak: An Incomplete List of Things Not Found Today on Passenger Trains

Editor’s Note: This article last appeared on this platform on November 22, 2021. It has been updated and photos and…

Continue Reading →

U.S.: Stephen Gardner’s Amtrak Empire Builder in past better days competed spiritedly with the North Coast Limited, Mainstreeter, Olympian Hiawatha and Western Star

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on this platform on March 15, 2021. It has been updated and photographs and…

Continue Reading →

U.S.: BNSF unveils newly painted locomotives to recognize 25th anniversary

From Progressive Railroading Magazine; August 27, 2020 BNSF Railway Co. recently unveiled the first of 10 locomotives with special paint schemes…

Continue Reading →

U.S., Commentary: We need a better Amtrak for post-pandemic America

By Jon Talton, The Seattle Times; June 26, 2020 Airlines aren’t the only passenger transportation systems in trouble because of…

Continue Reading →

Remembering Shep, the ‘forever faithful’ dog of Fort Benton, Montana

By John Riley, MTN News, KRTV 3; September 6, 2019 FORT BENTON — On the banks of the Missouri River…

Continue Reading →

Amtrak’s ‘Great Dome’ car has been retired

By Eric Anderson, The Albany Times-Union; August 30, 3019 Rensselaer Amtrak’s Great Dome car, a regular feature during fall foliage…

Continue Reading →

King Street Station was Seattle’s long-awaited link to the rest of the nation

By Meg van Huygen, Curbed Seattle; July 19, 2019 They called him the Empire Builder. James Jerome Hill was born…

Continue Reading →

Amtrak’s Empire Builder route turns 90

From Progressive Railroading Magazine; June 12, 2019 Amtrak yesterday marked the 90th anniversary of the Empire Builder route, which travels…

Continue Reading →

150 years ago, the battle for transcontinental railroads was that era’s Amazon HQ2

By Jon Talton, The Seattle Times; April 5, 2019 This is a year of momentous anniversaries. It marks the 50th…

Continue Reading →

Amtrak’s Last Glass-Ceiling Great Dome Car May Be Headed for its Final Journey in New York

By Nicole Saraniero, Untapped Cities; August 21, 2018 This fall may be the last chance rail riders have to experience…

Continue Reading →

One of the last great Washington State train rides is coming to an end

By Craig Sailor, The News Tribune; December 8, 2017 For more than a century, train passengers have traveled along Tacoma’s…

Continue Reading →