The January 2015 issue of Trains Magazine has several stories which are worth noting and reading.

The January issue  usually has stories on passenger trains and/or passenger train routes. This year is no exception.

 

There is an interesting article on the efforts of CSX to clear large sections of its mainline for increased stack train operations .A major  portion of the article deals with the daylighting of tunnels on increasing of height in tunnels on the old B&O mainline between Pittsburgh and Cumberland. This include several tunnels in the mountains plus the area of the J&L plant on our South Side.

 

Also featured is an article  on Amtraks ASC-64 Electric locomotive for service on the North East corridor. These engines will provide power for high speed trains between Washington and Boston. In a description of a test cab ride, the crew received a slow order to reduce speed from 120 to 90 MPH!!!

 

A third article is titled Restoring a Railroad Icon. It concerns the rebirth of Hickory Creek, the observation car from the 1948 edition of New York Central's 20th Century Limited. After the Century was discontinued, the car was part of a Ringling Brothers circus train, and later wound up in a scrap yard. It has been restored by a company which leases private cars. To say that this is a prime example of Pullmans Coach building art is a bit of an understatement!!