B&O CPL SIGNAL at Cairo, Ohio 9/25/19

 

CSX Wellsboro, IN Railroad Junction Reallignment 1998

 

In August, 1998, we visited Wellsboro, Indiana, to find that CSX had done some housecleaning, much to the disgust of railfans. CSX's ex-B&O Willard Sub crossed the GTW Chicago-Battle Creek main, as well as CSX's ex-C&O nee-Pere Marquette branch. The three lines once crossed here in the shape of a triangle. Now the C&O simply merges into the B&O on a new connecting track from the south. The diamonds with the B&O and GTW were removed, as well as all the C&O trackage north of the junction. A balloon track once wrapped around and connected up with the B&O to the west. Between 1974 and 1986, Amtrrak's JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY, later renamed the CARDINAL, used the C&O mainline through Indiana. Beginning on June 1, 1977, it took the B&O to Wellsboro, and utilized this connecting track to the Pere Marquette branch, which they took to La Crosse to pick up the C&O of Indiana mainline. The Pere Marquette branch was abandoned north of here in 1988. Note the recently removed rail, rusty connecting tracks, and the new tri-light signals, which replaced the color position lights. You can see a CPL lying on the ground on the south side of the mainline. My father, who was always big into the signal hobby, was furious when he saw this sight! As of 2011, the trailers next to the diamond are also gone. Wellsboro is still a hotspot, but is not as interesting as it once was. Click here for a 1997 view when this junction still had a triangle of diamonds: 👉🏻   • Railroad Tour of Wellsboro, Indiana 1997   Please subscribe, rate, and comment! :o)

 #ABANDONEDRAILROADJUNCTION #CORAILROAD #RAILROADBALLAST #RAILROADTRACKREMOVAL #RAILROADSIGNALSINWOODS #OLDRAILROADSIGNALS

Amtrak’s Airo Debut: A New Era Begins

 

Amtrak offers first look at Airo equipment

By Rip Watson | February 10, 2026

| Last updated on February 11, 2026

      

Media gets chance to tour Cascades trainset currently testing in Northeast

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Amtrak unveiled its Airo equipment at a Feb. 10, 2026, event at

 Washington Union Station. Amtrak

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WASHINGTON — Amtrak unveiled Airo, its newest fleet addition, 

on Tuesday with a media tour that featured an in-depth look at the interior of the shiny, 

feature-filled trainset that’s slated to begin revenue service this summer on the Amtrak Cascades’ 

service in the Pacific Northwest.

Before offering a tour of coach, café car, and business class equipment, speakers from Amtrak, manufacturer Siemens, and the Department of Transportation extolled the virtues of the program

 slated to produce 83 trainsets for service on routes less than 750 miles long. The Airo equipment is intended for 14 routes in the East, as well as the Cascades that run between Eugene, Ore., and 

Vancouver, British Columbia.

Amtrak President Roger Harris called the trainset parked at Union Station — 

wearing the green, brown, and white paint scheme unique to the Cascades — 

“the next step in Amtrak’s transformation,” following the introduction of NextGen Acela less 

than five months ago.

“We can all be proud,” said Tobias Bauer, CEO of Siemens North America. “The train is beautiful.”

The interior of a coach-class car on the new Airo trainset. Rip Watson

Amtrak literature describes Airo 

as an “elevated experience” with “spacious seating” and improved signage. For a reporter, 

the tour showed off bright and carefully designed seating, signage, and amenities intended 

as upgrades from Amtrak’s workhorse Amfleet railcars.

There are three different types of Airo consist: seven-car trainsets with 317-seat and 335-seat configurations, and a nine-car version seating 479. The 317-seat arrangement includes a baggage compartment. Cascades service will continue to offer checked baggage, said Michael Carter, senior director of the Airo program.

In general, the train offers larger windows and seating meant to improve on Amfleet design

 shortcomings, including one that put too many seats in places where riders had difficulty 

looking out the windows. The gray, ribbed seats feel much like Amfleet, based on a brief 

test that doesn’t offer a clue how they would feel on a long trip. Seat pitch is 37 inches in 

coach and 39 inches in business class.

A safety feature of the Airo seats is a grab handle in each headrest along the aisles. Rip Watson

Half of the coach seats face forward. The others face backward. There are four tables in each coach car.

Among changes from Amfleet: 3 inches of extra space between neighboring coach seats, reflecting customer research that showed more space was a popular feature that Amfleet doesn’t offer. While Amfleet cars have footrests (and Amfleet II features leg rests), coach seats in the new trains seats do not have footrests, although business class seats retain them.

The drop-down seatback tables have space for a 15-inch laptop, as well as a slot to hold phones or tablets. Plugs are located under each seat. Each aisle seat has a grab bar for safety, said Amtrak Principal Electrical Engineer Kevin Choi. Each seat has a reading light as well, plugs for multiple devices, and a USB-C outlet, Choi said.

Features in business class include the familiar two-and-one seating configuration, with 49 seats per car. Choi said there are additional outlets as well as a coat hanger on the seat and 6 inches of space between passengers on the two-seat side of the car.

Cup holders are included on seatbacks between the normal tray tables; those tables, when folded down, reveal a cellphone holder. Rip Watson

The café car includes a dining space with 21 seats and a total of four tables — unlike the NextGen Acela design, which has no sit-down café space. The counter where passengers order from the attendant faces the business-class end of the train. While passengers looking to order can line up at either end, there is no real space where those waiting to order can congregate, other than in the aisle.

The counter is in the center of the café car. Several cabinets are near the end of the café on the coach side. One bright café car feature is the ability to change the lights for holidays and special occasions, Choi said.

Interior lighting is adjustable, with further tests planned on intensity of ceiling lights, Choi said. Current settings are 80% for daytime and 25% at night.

Special attention was paid to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, resulting in spaces that include tables and other improvements, Choi said. These include aisles wide enough in the café to accommodate mobility aids such as wheelchairs, allowing passengers to order from the attendant or access

 items in grab-and-go food cases.

Food service will be at this counter in the café car. Note the electronic menu display 

at the end of the counter, and the grab-and-go food offerings in the background. Rip Watson

Along with the introductory statement and equipment tour, officials emphasized the made-in-America theme for the trainsets. They are being built at Siemens plants in Sacramento, Calif., and Lexington, N.C. Suppliers in 31 states provide parts.

Cars include baggage racks as well as space above seating areas. Some trainsets will include compartments for checked baggage. Rip Watson

Details that casual riders might not notice include a small space for conductors featuring screens for diagnostic information and train announcements — avoiding the need to have the crew members occupy tables or seats that passengers could have used. There is a video surveillance system in each car that activates if the conductor reports an event.

The new equipment is part of a $7.3 billion order, including a long-term parts and service agreement and related expense, announced in July 2021 [see “Amtrak, Siemens finalize deal …,” Trains.com, July 7, 2021]. While the initial sets for the Cascades are diesel powered, the order also calls for dual-power and battery hybrid trainsets.

CSX INTERMODAL TRAIN AT WELLSBORO, IN 6/5/17

 

CSX Container Train Swings Over at Milford Jct., IN 10/13/18

 

 

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 At Milford Junction, Indiana, an eastbound CSX double stack train rolls through the high-speed cross-overs and thumps across the diamond with the NS Goshen Line. Power is a GE C40-8W and a GE Tier 4. Filmed on 10/13/18. 

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 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Train crosses over 00:46 Train hits diamond 02:36 End of train 02:47 End credits ============================================

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This Railroad Should NOT Be in Service… | Maumee & Western Tour

 #rust #rot #roughailroadtracks 

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These tracks were in such rough condition, it’s amazing they were still in service!

 Join HOTRAILProductions for a brief tour of the Maumee & Western Railroad in Liberty Center, Ohio — a struggling shortline operating on a former Wabash Railroad route that once connected Fort Wayne, Indiana to Toledo, Ohio. After a 10-mile segment from Liberty Center to Maumee was removed, the line was leased to Indiana Hi-Rail Corp in 1989. Following Hi-Rail’s bankruptcy in 1996, Maumee & Western assumed operations in 1997. Notice the worn 80-lb rail and overall deteriorated track structure. The line now ends on the east side of town, transitioning into the Wabash Cannonball Trail before the rails resume near Maumee. A fascinating — and sobering — look at Midwest shortline history. 

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 #MaumeeAndWestern #ShortlineRailroad #WabashRailroad #LibertyCenterOhio #RailroadHistory #AbandonedRailroad #Railfan #OhioRailroads #MidwestRail #RailInfrastructure #IndianaHiRail #WabashCannonball #RailroadDocumentary #TrainTracks #Railfanning