– Wisconsin and Illinois use of the Amtrak system, particularly the Hiawatha route linking Milwaukee and Chicago, figured in the passenger rail system’s third consecutive fiscal year with record ridership, officials say. Ridership on the Hiawatha topped a half-million for the first time and had the largest gain in passengers for any route outside the East and West Coasts.
– Union Pacific Railroad is honoring President George H.W. Bush with a new locomotive No. 4141. Bush was the 41st president and the locomotive is painted to resemble Air Force One, the presidential plane, and features the presidential seal. The diesel locomotive is 74 feet long, 16 feet tall and weighs about 420,000 pounds.
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Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
