From the Seattle Times – Consortium on verge of owning Eastside railway land

Interesting news from Seattle, the BN&SF East side line is to be purchased by various government and utility bodies in Washington State. The East side Line, formerly a Milwaukee Road R.R. Line, ambles South from Snohomish to Renton on the east side of lake Washington. Now with portions abandoned or used for irregular freight traffic, […]

Train Versus Tornado – from U-Tube

Ever wanted to know what happens if a tornado hits a train? This U-Tube item shows all! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azV5bC2br-Q]

Rail for the Valley, a necessity whose time has long since come

In response to this negative screed by Robert Blacklock, I sent my own Letter to the Editor of the Chilliwack Progress, which I post here: UPDATE: Published Nov. 10, Passenger rail no fantasy, Chwk Progress Dear Editor, Re: Passenger rail line a ‘fantasy’ (Nov. 6, Robert Blacklock) Robert Blacklock’s Letter to the Editor was certainly […]

From the Vancouver Sun – "Financial review finds TransLink has "significant operational issues" – So, what else is new?

The province’s financial review was all too predictable, TransLink has problems. Well, for anyone who has tried to deal with TransLink’s bloated and arrogant bureaucracy, this is not news and the report is as I expected. The problems with TransLink can be summed up as: 1) Building metro (SkyTrain & RAV) on routes that do […]

From the Vancouver Province blog – SkyTrain track replacements to slow service east of Edmonds on weekends

The SkyTrain light-metro system has always been hard on the rails, which is surprising for the system is non-adhesion, with cars propelled by electro magnetic force. Parts of the line has seen track renewals much earlier and the curve West from Main St./Science World has had the track renewed several times. One wonders if track […]

Prendergast says Adios to Translink and Bails – Could it be TransLink is sinking faster than the Titanic? Are the Rats Leaving a Doomed Ship?

It seems TransLink’s most recent and newly hired CEO Tom Prendergast has bailed and no wonder, regional mayors offered a royal raspberry forAi??Ai??his request for massive funding. Prendergast is no fool, he knows that by building metros such as the Evergreen Line on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain them will lead, […]

From the Georgia Straight- TransLink jacks up ad spending in Canwest papers

The article by Charlie Smith poses three very important questions: 1) If TransLink is broke, has the organization has claimed, how do they justify spending such vast sums of money on advertising? 2) Does the money spent on advertising, come from bus and transit operations? 3) Is advertising money an attempt to influence media and […]

A Fact Sheet From the Light Rapid Transit Forum

It is interesting to note that TransLink has never claimed any modal shift from car to transit and one would well guess thatAi??Ai??TransLink’s bureaucratsAi??Ai??would beAi??Ai??extremely envious of the modal shift numbers published here. A question for Premier Campbell: “Has the RAV/Canada line taken your predicted 200,000 car trips off the road per day?” Has anyone […]

In The U.K. – First Ai??A?1,000 (CAD $1,760.00) rail fare revealed – From The Independant

And the privatization of British Rail, was to bring in a new era of competition and cheaper fares – not! First Ai??A?1,000 (CAD $1,760.00) rail fare revealed By Peter Woodman, Press Association Tuesday, 3 November 2009 The rise in the cost of train tickets has led to the first Ai??A?1,000 rail fare, it was revealed […]

Rail For The Valley Needs Your Help – Information Needed Please

Rail for the Valley has been asked to find some answers for a railway enthusiast overseas. First, he would like to get some information on the wheel profiles of CP & Southern Railway diesel locoA?ai??i??ai???s, e.g: GMDD GP/SD40 GMDD SD70/75 GMDD GP33 GMDD NF210 GE Dash 8/9 MLW RSDA?ai??i??ai???s Secondly, he would like: Any information […]