Amtrak has announced the date for the third annual National Train Day. This year National Train Day is May 8, 2010. You can check out all of the events on the National Train Day website.

There are also events planned for Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington. It appears most of the events will be held at the main Amtrak station in each city. I am unsure if they will have the same train equipment tours as they had in 2009. Amtrak also notes that there will be art exhibits and fun activities for kids. And of course there will be a store to buy lots of fun things related to trains.

For those railfans located in NYC, Amtrak is preparing an event at Penn Station. If you have kids, take them to the National Train Day event in your city and get them excited about trains and transit in general.

Subway sandwich shop is sponsoring the National Train Day events.

Tags: Amtrak, transit, Transit News

Amtrak has announced cancellations for Sunday February 7th due to the massive snow that fell between Washington and New Jersey. I can only imagine what a zoo Penn Station must be with all of the canceled trains! Here’s a partial list of the canceled trains – view all of the changes on the Amtrak website.

• Carolinian trains 79 and 80 will operate only between Raleigh and Charlotte with no alternate transportation between New York and Raleigh. 
• Palmetto trains 89 and 90 are canceled in their entirety between New York and Savannah.

Northbound Northeast Regionals:

• Train 150 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 162 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 194 is canceled Newport News to Washington
• Train 156 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 152 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 126 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 66 is canceled Newport News to Washington
• Train 158 is canceled Washington to New York
• Train 154 is canceled to Washington to New York
• Train 88 is canceled south of Washington

Southbound Northeast Regionals:

• Train 67 is canceled Washington to Newport News
• Train 131 is canceled New York to Washington
• Train 195 is canceled Washington to Richmond
• Train 157 is canceled New York to Washington
• Train 87 is canceled Washington to Richmond
• Train 159 is canceled New York to Washington
• Train 123 is canceled New York to Washington
• Train 155 is canceled New York to Washington
• Train 161 is canceled Boston to New York
• Train 145 is canceled New York to Lynchburg, VA
• Train 99 will terminate at Washington

Acela Express Service

• Northbound - 2250, 2208, 2212, 2256, 2222 and 2228 are canceled between Washington and New York.
• Southbound - 2211, 2221, 2225 and 2259 are canceled between New York and Washington.

Tags: Amtrak, NYC, Transit News, Washington

Yesterday we looked at a pretty neat postcard-to-model subway train. Now we have a paper model you can print and create at home.  The available models include:

• TGV PSE (Paris Sud-Est) original orange version
• TGV PSE (Paris Sud-Est) blue Ligne de Coeur version
• TGV La Poste
• TGV Atlantique
• TGV Thalys
• TGV Duplex
• AVE / Euromed (Spanish TGV)
• KTX (Korean TGV)
• Speedrail (Australian TGV)
• Acela Express (USA)
• Undecorated TGV

It looks like you need just some basic supplies (and some thick paper) to create the various trains. Pretty neat craft project!

Tags: Amtrak, bahn, London, train, transit

Please contain your excitement – step in and stand clear of the closing doors. Today is National Train Day! Amtrak created this special holiday last year to celebrate trains.  The main participating cities include Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Check out all of the local events across the U.S. at the National Train Day website.

I don’t know about you but I’d love to see National Train Day include subway systems and international trains as well in the future – right now it seems like an Amtrak promotion.

Tags: Amtrak, Transit News

Here’s yet another reason why you should not leave your car on railroad tracks. Found via subchat, this video comes to us from a police officer dash camera in Greer, South Carolina.

Tags: Amtrak, Transit Videos

Amtrak has announced the date for the second annual National Train Day. This year National Train Day is May 9, 2009. You can check out all of the events on the National Train Day website. From my perspective the biggest news is that they are offering 4x the normal points/miles for a trip on May 9. It’s a good way to get your balances up.

There are also events planned for Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington. Each location will have the following, “Tour a variety of train equipment that you can only find assembled together on National Train Day. Amtrak trains, private cars, commuter rail equipment and others.” Amtrak also notes that there will be art exhibits and fun activities for kids. And of course there will be a store to buy lots of fun things related to trains.

Tags: Amtrak