Chicago-St. Louis trains begin 110-mph running By Bob Johnston | May 3, 2023 Schedules to be shortened to reflect higher speed at a later date An Amtrak test train speeds through Chenoa, Ill., during 90-mph testing on June 25, 2020. Speeds were first raised to 90 mph before separate tests recently certified Wabtec’s IETMS positive train control system for 110 mph. Bob Johnston CHICAGO — Starting today, Amtrak’s Lincoln Service trains will begin operating at 110-mph maximum speeds over Union Pacific’s former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio speedway between Laraway Road, south of Joliet, Ill., and the Alton, Ill., Amtrak station. Shortened schedules will be established at a later time “to ensure everything on the system is running properly and to monitor the actual travel time between stations,” says John Oimoen, Illinois Department of Transportation deputy director, rails. The state and federal investment in Chic...

  What happened to EMD’s Triclops locomotives? By Chris Guss | April 20, 2023 Once limited to a few railroads, the second-hand market has spread these unique locomotives far and wide Triclops locomotives Triclops locomotives: Four SD60Ms, all with the three-piece windshields, power a Wisconsin & Southern train near Rondout, Ill. Chris Guss At the beginning of the comfort cab revolution in the United States, EMD constructed its first “North American cab” SD60M for customer Union Pacific. Numbered 6085, it was a similar design to what Canadian National had been using for years, with one visual difference. The new cab featured three front windows instead of the four-window design on CN’s orders. Nicknamed “triclops“ by railfans, this design would only last for a handful of years beginning in 1988 and would be replaced by EMD’s refined design that used a two-piece windshield on future comfort cab-equipped ...