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Benny,

Thanks. So the front separated and formed a walkway when put up?

Interesting.

The challenge with the MPXpress platform is weight; the spec sheet shows an axle load of 70-72 tons, which is greater than many freight locomotives and almost exactly the same as the ballasted 436,000 lb freight units meant for heavy haul service. This kind of weight thrown around at higher speeds m...

Haha, that's a great photo! People don't seem to respect trains...

The rumor mentioned FCCA specifically. I have a suspicion they're being purchased for parts and not service, but I suppose they could fit wherever the SD40T-2 and B39-8 fit.

Benny, rumor has it that two ex-CSX C40-8Ws are headed your way. I don't think the wide cab will fit most places, so we will see if this is true and if so what FCCA uses them for!

The blunt ends are definitely not as nice as the streamlined ones.

Older electrics in Italy were sure built well. Lasting that long is impressive.

Restaurant railcars, particularly in such small single units, are very interesting! Thanks!

Thanks, Benny!

Those are some good looking railcars. It's interesting how much many of the modern railcars look like those. I think I like the split front window best.

The coal trains come from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and some might still come from Montana. They head up to Roberts Bank, BC to unload. Oil trains are bound for the refineries at Cherry Point and Anacortes, with the exception of some Canadian oil trains that head south loaded. I'm not sure w...

Benny,

Interesting tales. Stuff in Switzerland tends to have long lives; the older electrics were built to handle huge overloads, so they lasted quite a while.

Many of the first generation units made it until the 1990s.

While it isn't railroad-specific, Flickr has hundreds of people posting railroad photos. I've had a lot of success on the platform, and recommend it.

The pilot was a pilot engineer, similar to those in the United States when trains are detouring. Due to a signal failure, pilots were taking trains through the section where the signal system was down. The crew were told to ignore signals due to the failure, and so hit a misaligned switch at speed a...

A lot of the problem is that the schedule south of Portland was changed in the last schedule change to be far less useful. 500 leaves Eugene at 5:30 and doesn't get into Portland until 8:05. If they moved it up half an hour it would be great for commuting. 511 leaves Portland at 9:45 and gets into E...

Sorry for delayed reply; life gets in the way sometimes... That should be more than enough time to see everything. Calgary's an interesting city with a fun light rail system, though I'm not sure I'd spend that many days there. I highly recommend the Calgary Heritage Park; they run steam quite a bit ...

The whole area is spectacular and there are dozens of great spots. Be aware that it will be the middle of winter, though, so many will be snowed in or inaccessible. There are no timetables but CP and CN are busy enough that you usually don't need them. If you could be more specific, I can give more ...

A lot of this has to do with how the service developed. The evening run to Vancouver originally turned overnight in Bellingham, rather than continue across the border. The trips were set up to generally allow commuting, with a train south into Seattle in the morning, and one out in the evening, with...