Prototype News

BNSF Railway and Metra signed a new 10-year agreement to continue having the Class I freight carrier provide passenger service on Chicagoland’s busiest commuter route. 

The former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy route between Chicago and Aurora, Ill., known as the “BNSF Line” to commuters, is the last route on Metra that is operated by a freight carrier under contract. Until last year, the three ex-Chicago & North Western routes were operated by Union Pacific, but the freight carrier withdrew from that agreement. 

The new agreement between BNSF and Metra began on April 1 and includes an initial five-year term. The contract automatically extends for another five years unless either party elects to terminate the agreement. 

“BNSF is proud to continue our long‑standing partnership with Metra through this new agreement, which strengthens a relationship built over decades of collaboration,” said BNSF Assistant Vice President of Passenger Operations Jim Tylick. “Just as our freight network keeps goods moving across the country, we believe passenger rail plays a vital role in keeping people connected to the places and opportunities that matter most. We’re excited to continue shaping the future together with Metra through sustainable transportation solutions.”

BNSF also operates Metrolink commuter trains in California and Sounder in Washington state. Until earlier this year, it also operated Northstar in Minnesota. 

—Justin Franz 

The post BNSF, Metra Ink Commuter Service Agreement appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

by Jordan Rein/photos by the author

Change was in the air on a crystal-clear September day in 2020 as I set out on what I knew would be my “final” Wisconsin & Southern chase while living in Madison, Wis. The moment felt bittersweet. After eight years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison earning both a B.S. and a Ph.D. in engineering, I was ready for the next chapter — yet reluctant to leave behind the place, and the railroad, that had framed so much of that journey. When I first arrived in Madison in August 2012, I was equal parts excited and anxious about what lay ahead. The years that followed brought opportunity, stress, challenge, and ultimately, growth. Through it all, WSOR was there, threading its way past campus and into my daily routine.

As I reflected that September afternoon, it struck me that the railroad had been evolving, too. Shortly after I arrived, Watco Companies assumed full control of WSOR, ushering in its own period of uncertainty and transition. Over the next eight years, the railroad adapted, overcame obstacles, and gradually found its footing. What I did not yet realize, as I chased trains that day, was that even more significant changes were just ahead — changes that would reshape the look and feel of Wisconsin & Southern for the decade to come.

ABOVE: The 14-story Engineering Research Building overlooks the University of Wisconsin campus as Madison–Boscobel Train T007 heads west on May 5, 2016. Madison sits on an isthmus between Lake Mendota (left) and Lake Monona (right), with the state capitol centered on the skyline.

A Hard Road to Success
Change is nothing new for WSOR. The railroad itself emerged from the sweeping upheaval that reshaped the industry in the decades leading up to the 1970s. Years of heavy regulation and declining traffic left many carriers in a fragile financial situation. When a stagnant economy, high inflation, and rising energy and labor costs compounded those pressures, several were pushed past the breaking point. For The Milwaukee Road, that moment arrived on December 19, 1977, when it entered its third and final bankruptcy.

In an attempt to return to solvency, the trustees planned to trim the railroad down to a core system, shedding hundreds of miles of low-volume branch lines; almost 600 of those miles were in the state of Wisconsin alone. This plan alarmed business groups and local and state governments, as large areas would lose their only rail connection, possibly crippling local industry.

ABOVE: A pair of mallards splash down on Lake Monona as a Chicago-bound grain train enters Madison from the Prairie Subdivision on April 25, 2019. The WSOR goose logo nods to nearby Horicon Marsh, where the railroad began operations on July 1, 1980.

In response to this crisis, the state legislature passed the Rail Preservation Act and several additional statutes in 1977. These new laws allowed the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to acquire rail property, the state to issue grants for rail improvements, and for the formation of Rail Transit Commissions (RTC). These commissions could be created by local governments to maintain and operate the railways, providing communities agency to preserve rail lines they deemed important.

In early 1980, the East Wisconsin Counties Rail Consortium (EWCRC) was created to administer a cluster of branch lines fanning out of Horicon toward Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and Cambria. By April 1980, EWCRC contracted with an outside company to operate the railroad. And on July 1, 1980, the newly formed Wisconsin & Southern began operations based in Horicon.

ABOVE: Train T003 rolls east at track speed on newly installed welded rail, passing St. Theresa Catholic Church in Eagle on May 21, 2023. GP-type locomotives from the Northern Division often handle weekend T003/T004 assignments when they are not needed at Horicon.

During its first decade, WSOR showed growth opportunities with improved service and infrastructure. However, economic challenges of the early 1980s and a financially constrained parent company prevented the railroad from fully realizing this growth. That changed in 1988 when Milwaukee area entrepreneur Bill Gardner purchased WSOR outright.
Gardner, who already owned a railcar repair business, recognized that more capital was needed to achieve growth. He began heavily investing in the railroad with increased marketing, motive power, and freight cars. By 1992, WSOR had quadrupled carloads. Within a little more than a decade, the branch lines out of Horicon went from the brink of abandonment to blossoming into a young, yet successful operation.

The same success could not be said for all RTCs in the state. Many state-owned or subsidized lines went defunct. On the brink of extinction was a cluster of lines fanning out of Janesville and Madison administered by several independent RTCs. For the first half of the 1980s, these lines saw a revolving door of operators that failed to stay solvent.

ABOVE: Train T004 passes Whitewater depot on January 29, 2019. WAMX 4219, an ex-CP SD40 delivered in Watco’s black and yellow scheme, was later repainted into the railroad’s newer “V” paint design.

The next operator stepped through the door on January 31, 1985, when Wisconsin & Calumet (WICT, nicknamed “the Wicket” by railfans) began operations over a core segment of the southern Wisconsin RTC lines. WICT took a slower approach to growth, reopening lines when customers could guarantee enough carloads to support operations. Over time, WICT carefully expanded, and by 1989, most of the southern Wisconsin RTC routes were reopened.

Gardner saw another opportunity for growth in August 1992 and purchased WICT. The original WSOR became the “Northern Division” while WICT became the “Southern Division.” Now, several independent RTCs were coordinated by a single operator with a strong footing. While there were growing pains with the WICT purchase, the new addition provided an incredibly valuable link to Chicago that would be a major catalyst for WSOR’s growth.

Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, WSOR continued to grow, increasing carloads and acquiring new lines around Madison and Milwaukee. By 2010, WSOR was 30 years old and had grown into a successful regional railroad. Through the action and support of Wisconsin’s local and state governments, along with private investment having a long-term vision of growth, meager carload-generating branch lines on the brink of abandonment were revitalized to become important links in the local economy…

The post Wisconsin & Southern in the Watco Era appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

by David P. Ori/photos as noted

Being an ardent Baltimore & Ohio fan growing up during the 1970s, I had always dreamed of riding one of Chessie System’s hottest trains. I became a fan of the railroad in 1971 when I first visited B&O’s Cleveland Subdivision in my hometown of Parma, Ohio. There, I would witness the passage of the daily road freight, Cleveland 294, from Willard; the CL (Cleveland–Lester) Local; and occasional empty and loaded coal trains operating between Cleveland and Holloway, Ohio. At night, I would hear Cleveland 297 as it made its way out of the Cuyahoga River Valley en route to Willard. Before long, I got to know the crews operating those trains and got occasional cab rides, along with my good friend Terry Chicwak.

When I began driving in the mid-1970s, with my 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S, I was able to broaden my railfan horizons and visited hotspots like Sterling, Ohio, and B&O’s hub at Willard, Ohio. At Sterling, my friends and I would spend several hours with the tower operator and gain knowledge about main line operations. Sterling is where the former B&O Baltimore–Chicago main line crossed the former Erie Lackawanna Jersey City, N.J.–Chicago main at grade.

ABOVE: Road Foreman of Engines Ray Shields prepares to board the Baltimore–Chicago Trailer Train at New Castle Junction, Pa., on December 2, 1982. —David P. Ori

Train activity was heavy prior to the formation of Conrail in April 1976. By 1978, Conrail diverted through trains off the former EL main line onto other former Penn Central routes. During the daylight hours, such named trains as the Baltimorean, Chicago-Philadelphia Trailer Train (aka “Jet”), Chicagoan, Pittsburgher, and Shore Line 49 would roll by the classic two-story tower. I would listen to the operator “OS” (noting the passage of a train “on-sheet”) the trains past Sterling with the Akron Main Line Dispatcher and listen to the operators along the Akron Division at such places as RX at Willard, GN at Greenwich, HN Tower at Newton Falls, Ohio, and OA Tower at New Castle Junction, Pa., for train mark-ups.

After acquiring a Pentax K-1000 SLR camera upon high school graduation in 1978, I started to hone my photography skills and began recording the Ohio rail scene on slide film. With camera in hand, I began visiting other towers along B&O’s Akron Division including RN Tower at Ravenna, Ohio, HN Tower at Newton Falls, and UN Tower at New Castle Junction. There, I would get line-ups on the various trains operating on the division. If the action was slow, I would hang out in the towers and talk with the operators. In 1982, I got invited to tour the Akron Division dispatcher’s office in downtown Akron. There, I was able to gain extensive knowledge about division operations by sitting with the dispatchers at the various dispatchers’ desks within the facility.

ABOVE: Operator Dan Schaub greets the Allegheny as it accelerates east past Sterling Tower on July 11, 1987. Originally known as RU Tower for Russell, Ohio, the interlocking once governed the crossing of EL’s Chicago–Jersey City, N.J., main line and Baltimore & Ohio’s Baltimore–Chicago route. —David P. Ori

Piggyback Service
In July 1954, B&O established piggyback service to 12 cities on its 13-state system. Referred to as “Tofcee” (making a pronounceable word from TOFC, the abbreviation for trailer-on-flat-car) Service, it was greatly expanded in 1956 to serve 32 cities. Tofcee trailers were originally painted blue with orange lettering and moved on various trains including B&O’s famous Timesavers. During the early 1960s, piggyback business continued to grow at a rapid pace. In 1965, B&O’s Piggyback Department established all-solid piggyback trains called “Trailer Jets.”

The first pair of trains, the Manhattan Trailer Jet and St. Louis Trailer Jet, began operating on the Cumberland–East St. Louis main line via Cincinnati. A few months later, the New York Trailer Jet and Chicago Trailer Jet were established and began operating between Jersey City and Chicago via Pittsburgh. As volume rose from the Chicago Gateway, the Baltimore Jet was established as a scheduled train in late 1965, handling Washington and Baltimore trailer business as well as high-priority traffic such as perishables and meat.

ABOVE: Converted to a rail-to-truck terminal in 1967, Forest Hill Yard served as Chessie System’s Chicago intermodal hub. With dispatcher clearance, the Chicago–Philadelphia Trailer Train departs with 43 cars on December 3, 1982. —David P. Ori

Due to the severe recession of 1974–1975, intermodal operations were suspended on Chessie System. In late 1976, business conditions improved with Chessie’s Intermodal Department re-establishing service between Chicago and Philadelphia. The Chicago–Philadelphia Trailer Train (CPTT) operated on a 31-hour schedule between Forest Hill Yard at Chicago and East Side Yard at Philadelphia. Its counterpart, the Chicago Trailer Train (CHTT), operated between Philadelphia and Forest Hill Yard.

By 1981, trailer business grew substantially between Chicago and the East Coast. As a result, Chessie System inaugurated a pair of new trains, the Baltimore Trailer Train and Baltimore-Chicago Trailer Train. At Fostoria, Ohio, these trains made connections to the Toledo–Lima Trailer Train and Lima–Toledo Trailer Train, respectively.

Ticket to Ride
After reading Mark Perri’s “Follow That Jet” in the May 1982 issue of Railfan & Railroad, I was inspired to propose a similar adventure — riding two of Chessie’s hottest trains, the Baltimore–Chicago Trailer Train (BCTT) and the Baltimore Trailer Train (BLTT). Bob Reid of Rails Northeast approved the idea, and with the help of Lloyd Lewis, Chessie’s manager of news and community affairs, I secured permission from the vice president of operations. The plan was simple — board the BCTT at New Castle, ride west to Chicago, then return east the following evening on the BLTT, with friends Terry Chicwak and Mark Perri photographing our daylight run between Willard and New Castle.

ABOVE: After a 60 mph run across the Akron Mainline Subdivision, the Baltimore Trailer Train rolls into New Castle Junction on September 20, 1981. Here, the train receives a new crew and brake test before continuing east to Cumberland and Baltimore. —David. P. Ori

And Away We Go
On December 2, Assistant Chief Dispatcher Al Ferrise calls to report the BCTT has three Toledo, Ohio, set-outs and 57 through cars for Chicago, with a 1:40pm arrival at New Castle. After gathering my gear and picking up a lineup in Akron — “The Rabbit” manifest and a pair of Grain Pikers are among the expected moves — I head east.

At New Castle, demolition crews are dismantling the old OA Tower, its operator now relocated to the Terminal Service Center. Inside the yard office, I meet Road Foreman Ray Shields, who will ride the cab to Willard. The OA operator confirms the BCTT is on time. Outside, a Western Maryland unit in red and white circus paint switches grain hoppers while the Buffalo–Rochester crew call UN Tower for departure clearance…

The post Riding Chessie’s Jets appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

As spring settles in and summer approaches, many of us begin planning vacation time. Today, that often means road trips or flights, but many of the foundations of tourism in North America were shaped by the railroads. Consider the sightseeing tour. As early as the 1840s, railways promoted travel not just as a fast and comfortable way to get from place to place, but as an experience in itself — an opportunity to take in the landscape along the way. Even the first transcontinental route, the joint Central Pacific-Union Pacific line between the Midwest and California, was marketed in these terms. One advertisement suggested that a journey over the Rocky Mountains by rail was ideal for “travelers for pleasure, health, or business.”

By the end of the 19th century, many railways relied heavily on tourism and pleasure travel as a means to sell tickets. Perhaps nobody did it better than Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, whose marketing materials leaned into selling the landscape itself, from Monument Valley; to the Grand Canyon; to the orange groves, palm trees, and surf of Southern California. Even Santa Fe’s architecture was styled to be picturesque and romantic, recalling both pueblo settlements and the Spanish colonial past. Santa Fe was also known for its hospitality, thanks in large part to its partnership with Fred Harvey Company. Across the railroad’s major stops, Harvey-operated lunchrooms, dining rooms, and even full-service hotels catered specifically to Santa Fe passengers.

Santa Fe was hardly alone in promoting tourism or investing in hospitality. In the East, perhaps the best-known example is the Greenbrier, a sprawling resort in the mountains of West Virginia opened by Chesapeake & Ohio in 1913. North of the border, Canadian Pacific stands as an unmatched example. Its grand hotels — including the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, Château Lake Louise in Banff, and the Empress in Victoria — remain world famous.

Today, many of these hotels still stand, but most are no longer owned or operated by the railroads. There are several reasons for this. In some ways, the success of the railways themselves reduced the need for company-owned hotels. When Northern Pacific reached its western terminus at Portland, Ore., in 1883, the railroad found it necessary to build a grand hotel. By the early 20th century, however, Portland — thanks in large part to the railroads — had grown into a major city with an abundance of lodging options.

Even in smaller communities, advances in rail technology diminished the need for such facilities. Faster schedules and more comfortable, affordable sleeping car service meant fewer overnight stops, while the rise of automobile travel and aviation in the early 20th century only accelerated the trend. By the 1950s, companies like Fred Harvey were closing or selling off their properties. While it is still possible to stay at the flagship La Fonda in Santa Fe, it is no longer a Harvey House, nor part of the railroad world. Even so, a stay in a former railway hotel remains a treat because many were built with a grand sense of style and a strong connection to place.

But what if you wanted more? What if, this summer, you wanted not just to stay in one of these hotels, but to own one? Recently, the Izaak Walton Inn — opened by Great Northern in 1939 on the southern edge of Glacier National Park — was offered for sale. For just under $18 million, you could reserve accommodations in a 70-room inn and, perhaps, enjoy a permanent vacation.

—Alexander Benjamin Craghead is a transportation historian, photographer, artist, and author.

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