Buttigieg, transportation secretary nominee and ‘second biggest passenger rail enthusiast,’ begins confirmation process

Head and shoulders short of man in coat and tie

WASHINGTON — If Americans now have a train enthusiast in the White House, they soon will have one at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, testified Thursday to the Senate Commerce Committee, a precursor to his likely confirmation by the full Senate. The committee’s chairman, Mississippi Republican […]

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CSX Transportation service shows impact of crew pandemic infections, quarantines

CSX Corp. logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s service deteriorated in the fourth quarter as pandemic infections and quarantines affected train, engine, and yard crews across the system. At the hardest hit terminals, up to 40% of employees were unable to come to work due to infections or quarantines, executives said on the railroad’s earnings call on Thursday. […]

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CSX expects a year of growth after fourth-quarter profits improve

Train crossing truss bridge

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation expects intermodal and merchandise volume to grow faster than the economy this year as the railroad continues to win share from the highway. “We expect to return to growth in 2021,” CEO Jim Foote told investors and analysts on the railroad’s quarterly earnings call Thursday. Merchandise traffic growth should outpace […]

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Union Pacific expects volume growth in 2021

Freight train on curve

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific expects volume to increase by 4% to 6% this year as vaccines are rolled out, the economy recovers, and trucking capacity remains tight. Railroad executives gave their cautiously optimistic outlook Thursday morning during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Other than energy-related traffic segments, UP has a positive view on volume. […]

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Digest: KCS to develop logistics park in Dallas suburb

Rendering of planned industrial development

Thursday midday rail news: KCS, development firm to develop Wylie, Texas, logistics park Kansas City Southern and NorthPoint Development have announced plans to develop a 220-acre logistics park in Wylie, Texas, adjacent to the railroads’ David L. Starling Wylie Intermodal Terminal. The Wylie Logistics Park, in a northeastern suburb of Dallas, will have the potential […]

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HO scale Karlberg Shelf Plan

The layout at a glance     Name: Karlberg Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 15″ x 9′-0″ Theme: generic granger road Locale: upper Midwest Era: 1950s Style: shelf Mainline run: 8 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: 4 percent (interchange) Benchwork: tabletop Height: 54″ Roadbed: Homasote Track: Micro Engineering code 55 Scenery: extruded-foam insulation board Backdrop: photographs Control: Digitrax Digital Command Control plus ProtoThrottle See a PDF version of this […]

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HO scale CSX Thurmond, WV

Layout at a glance Name: CSX Thurmond, W.Va. Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 47 feet Prototype: proto-freelanced CSX Locale: Thurmond, W.Va. Era: Present day Style: Shelf Minimum radius: 32″ main, 24″ in industrial park and RJ Corman shortline Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: none Benchwork: box girder Height: 56″ Roadbed: birch plywood Track: Peco code 83 flextrack Scenery: extruded-foam insualtion board Backdrop: hand-painted on medium-density fiberboard Control: NCE wireless Digital […]

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HO scale Boston & Maine

Track layout

The layout at a glance Name: Boston & Maine Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 14 x 25 feet Prototype: Boston & Maine Locale: Springfield, Mass., to White River Junction, Vt. Era: Autumn, late 1950s Style: around-the-walls Mainline run: 80 feet Minimum radius: 32” Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: less than 1 percent Benchwork: L-girder Height: […]

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