B&O Indy Line Semaphores 1999

 

Amtrak GP7 diesel locomotives served for decades in supporting roles for America’s passenger carrier throughout its network.

 

Amtrak GP7 diesel locomotive No. 761 works at Chicago on April 14, 1981, wearing the three-stripe phase 3 paint. James Claflin photo, Brian M. Schmidt collection

 

Electro-Motive Division produced the 1,500-hp, four-axle GP7 from 1946 through 1958, making a total of 2,729 units, including five cabless B units, for more than 40 railroads. By the time Amtrak needed more support motive power in the late 1970s, the GP7 had fallen out of favor with its original purchasers and was plentiful on the secondary market.

 

Amtrak rostered 26 GP7 locomotives for maintenance-of-way and switching service. They carried Nos. 760-785. A majority were acquired through dealer Precision National in March 1978. This acquisition came less than two years after Amtrak acquired the Northeast Corridor infrastructure and became directly responsible for its maintenance and improvement. They were built for Chicago & Eastern Illinois; Chicago & North Western; St. Louis-San Francisco; Louisville & Nashville; Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis; Quebec North Shore & Labrador; Rock Island; Union Pacific; and Wabash between 1950 and 1957.

Amtrak GP7 diesel locomotives

By Brian Schmidt | March 18, 2024

 

The units served Amtrak in a variety of paint schemes. Those include solid maintenance-of-way orange, three-stripe “phase 3,” a variation of the large “phase 1” “pointless arrow,” and plain platinum mist-and-black.

 

They often appeared as terminal switchers, especially at Chicago Union Station where visiting railfans would photograph them from the famous Roosevelt Road overpass. But they are perhaps best remembered in maintenance-of-way service on the Northeast Corridor wearing bright safety orange paint, often pulling matching orange cabooses. They would also be called upon as rescue engines when an electric locomotive, or the larger electric supply infrastructure, would become disabled.

 

Retirements started in the early 1990s. The last purge ran throughout 2005 with the last units coming off the roster in September of that year. Today, a mix of General Electric P32-8BWH and EMD GP15, GP38-3, and MP15 units share the same duties.

3 Norfolk Southern SD40's "Elephant-Style!" at Piat, IL

 

Illinois senators meet with CN CEO about Chicago Hub project

By David Lassen | March 20, 2024

   

Legislators describe meeting to advance passenger improvements as ‘productive’

Amtrak’s California Zephyr departs Chicago Union Station on 

Dec. 2, 2023.

 Illinois senators

 met with Canadian National’s CEO on Tuesday regarding plans to 

modernize Union Station 

and passenger routes. David Lassen

---

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (both D-Ill.) met with Canadian National Railway CEO Tracy Robinson on Tuesday to discuss the railroad’s involvement in the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, the plan to modernize Chicago Union Station and rail routes leading to the station.

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) also participated in the meeting by phone.

Durbin, in a press release, described the meeting as “productive,” saying, “we want all stakeholders, including CN, to share the same vision of modernizing Midwest rail for the future, 

though improvements to Chicago Union Station and its connectivity.” Said Duckworth, 

“To move forward with the improvements needed at Chicago’s Union Station that will improve rail service and reliability across the Midwest, it’s critical for all parties to work together. …  I’ll keep pushing for more funding and to move this forward, because this critical project isn’t just beneficial for Chicago and Illinois, it’s also a win for the Midwest and a win for our entire country.”

According to the press release, CN has been closely engaged in the project and Robinson expressed her willingness to help it advance.

The Hub program is a more than $1.1 billion plan that would involve track realignment on Chicago’s south side and infrastructure improvements near Dowagiac, Mich., as well as improvements at Union Station. Amtrak and its partners have made unsuccessful bids for major federal funding each of the last two years. They sought more than $250 million from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (or Mega) Program in 2022, and an $872.8 million Federal-State Partnership grant last year [see “Chicago Hub project vies for big chunk of federal grant money,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 3, 2023].

Union Station did receive $93.6 million in Federal-State Partnership money for station platform and ventilation-system improvements, as well as a project to repurpose the station’s mail platform, out of use since 2005, to be repurposed for passenger use [see “Chicago Union Station to receive more than $93 million …,” News Wire, Dec. 6, 2023].

Grade Crossing Accident in Octolan, Mexico

 

CSX at Wellsboro, IN 6/5/17

 

 

Canadian government provides more than $13 million for Ontario rail safety projects

By Trains Staff | March 8, 2024

Money funds 112 projects for grade crossings, other measures

MARKHAM, Ontario — The Canadian government is providing more than C$13.5 million for 112 rail safety projects in the Toronto and Hamilton areas, as well as other regions of Ontario, Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez and Member of Parliament Paul Chiang announced Thursday, March 7, at the former Unionville station in Markham.

The funding is under the Rail Safety Improvement Program, which addresses safety at grade crossings and elsewhere along rail lines; supports research study and new technology pilot projects, and funds safety outreach and awareness initiatives.

The announcement in Markham highlighted a dozen projects in that community, such as a nearly C$280,000 grade crossing improvement project at Main Street Unionville where pedestrian gates, fencing, and other protective measures have been added.

“We’re investing to improve the safety of Canadians, especially those who work and live along our railway lines,” Rodriguez said in a press release. “The projects we’re funding in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas and across Ontario will keep our communities safe and our railway systems efficient.”

The Rail Safety Improvement Program has funded more than 1,000 projects with a total value of more than $230 million since its inception in 2016.