Train of the Week

The SD70ACe is the latest and greatest of Electro Motive ’s SD70 family of North American freight locomotives.  It is equipped with AC traction motors and one of the latest generation of EMD 710 series prime movers, the EPA Tier 2 emission certified 16-710G3C-T2 turbocharged engine (16 cylinder, 710 cubic inches or 11.6 litres displacement per cylinder, Tier 2) rated at 4,300 horsepower (3,210 kW).  The more angular nose and cab make the SD70ACe look quite handsome. Canadian Pacific Train 401 lead by BNSF SD70ACe in British Columbia UP 4141 leading the George Bush (Senior) Express out of Dallas, TX Under ideal conditions (i.e. from manufacture published specifications ), the SD70ACe is able to provide a maximum starting tractive effort of 191,000 lbf (850 kN), 157,000 lbf (700 kN) of maximum continuous tractive effort, and 106,000 lbf (470 kN) of dynamic braking effort.  It has an electronic bell instead of a physical one.  The SD70ACe is the direct domestic co...

The Québec City-Windsor Corridor originally refers to the densely populated and heavily industrialised region spanning across 710 miles (1,150 km) in Southern Ontario and Southern Québec between Windsor and Québec City.  It is the home of nearly 60% of the Canadian Population.   Via Rail Canada uses the name to refer to the train routes it operates in the region and simply calls it the Corridor .  The majority of the Corridor is owned by the Canadian National Railway.  It is the busiest and fastest mix-running rail corridor in Canada.  Various passenger and commuter rail agencies operate trains in the Corridor including Via Rail Canada, Amtrak , Metrolinx ( GO Transit , where GO stands for Government of Ontario ), and AMT (Agence métropolitaine de transport). New York bound Amtrak Maple Leaf service passing by Oakville Yard The fastest stretch of railway in the Corridor is the 330 mile (530 km) long CN Kingston Subdivision from Montréal to the east end o...

We shall take another break from very fast trains and instead just take a slow and relaxing look at a few stunning pictures of a very beautiful train ride in the Swiss Alps.  The Glacier Express of Switzerland is a 7 and a half hour railway journey between St. Moritz / Davos and Zermatt across 291 bridges, through 91 tunnels and across the Oberalp Pass on the highest point at 2,033 m (6,670 ft) in altitude.  The entire line is electrified and metre gauge (1 m or 3 ft 3 and 3/8 inches).  Now just sit back and enjoy a few pictures of this beautiful train ride. Route Map of the Glacier Express You may click here to visit the official website of the Glacier Express.  We will resume with our fastests of trains and railways of the world series next week.

The Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway (aka Wu-Guang Passenger Railway ) is the second and latest high-speed passenger-dedicated railway ever built in China.  It is state owned and operated by the Wuhan and Guangzhou Railway Bureaus under the Ministry of Railways.  Its mainline covers a distance of 968 km (601 miles) from the northern terminal in Wuhan, capital of the Hubei Province to its southern terminal of Guangzhou South in Guangzhou (aka Canton), capital of the Guangdong Province.  Of the 968 km of mainline, 468 km is laid on bridges and 177 km in tunnels.  The Wu-Guang line is part of the planned Beijing to Kowloon high-speed railway (over 2,100 km or 1,300 miles) and will be the third railway to connect Beijing and Hong Kong.  The construction of the Wu-Guang line began on 23 June 2005 and commercial services between Wuhan and Guangzhou North (922 km or 573 miles) began at 0900h on 26 December 2009 with trains achieving a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph)....

This week we take a look at the only true high-speed train service in North America, the Acela Express operated by Amtrak .  It runs over the Northeast Corridor providing services between Union Station in Washington, DC and South Station in Boston, MA with a top speed of 150 mph (241 km/h).  Being the flagship service offered by Amtrak, the Acela Express only offers Business Class and First Class seating, there is buffet service in the Café car, and complimentary refreshments are served throughout the journey.  The Acela Express services have 14 intermediate station stops between Union Station in Washington and South Station in Boston.  The entire trip takes an average of 7 hours over 456 miles (734 km) with an average start-stop speed slightly under 70 mph (110 km/h, note this is slower than Via Rail Train 66/67 between Toronto and Montréal).  The Acela Express is one of the very few Amtrak services that operate with a profit. The current Acela Express us...