1st QUARTER 2024: This issue of PTJ takes a look at fan favorite Ontario Northland Railway, then and now. Ken Goslett recalls a 1976 trip on ONR’s Polar Bear Express, and shares his experiences during an August 2023 return visit. Amtrak Diaries author Mark Jones recounts his own ONR adventures during a dead-of-winter 1988 “busman’s holiday,” and PTJ Editor Kevin J. Holland looks back at ONR’s original Northlander, a quartet of former Trans Europ Express trainsets. “Wilderness” travel of another sort is recounted in Thornton Waite’s history of Union Pacific’s Utah Parks Limited and other trains that forwarded passengers to scenic Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Grand Canyon national parks. All this and more in the 1st Quarter 2024 issue of Passenger Train Journal!

Current Issue

Vol. 48, No. 1 (2024-1)
Issue No. 298


Features:

Journal spotlight

    • RA’s massive investment in passenger rail.
    • Amtrak ridership rebounds in FY2023.
    • Former N&W Class J 611 returns to Virginia.
    • Rail passenger rebirth in Mexico.

Trailblazer: The Lure of the North

by Ken Goslett — Cochrane to Moosonee aboard ONR’s Polar Bear Express.

Remembering the Northlander

by Kevin J. Holland — Four little Ontario Northland trains with an impressive pedigree.

The Utah Parks Special

by Thornton Waite — Traveling with Union Pacific to the national parks of southern Utah.

Harley’s Hornet

by Bill Anderson — The politics and legacy of Amtrak’s Potomac Special and its kin.

The Amtrak Diaries, Part 10

by Mark W. Jones — Jonesy’s big adventure continues with a 1988 “busman’s holiday.”

Departments

On the Point/Editorial by Kevin J. Holland

The Journal/News compiled by Kevin McKinney

North American Intercity/Kevin McKinney

Window on the World/Kevin McKinney

Rail Users’ Network/Richard Rudolph, PhD, Rail Users’ Network

Capitol Unlimited/Jim Mathews, Rail Passengers Association

Rush Hour/Kevin McKinney and Scott Ornstein

Transport Action Canada/Terence Johnson, Transport Action Canada

Mail, Express, and L.C.L./letters from our readers


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