WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has determined Thursday the failure of a BNSF Railway train crew to operate an intermodal train within restricted speed requirements caused the fatal, June 5, 2018, collision between the intermodal train and a work train, near Kingman, Ariz. The collision occurred when a westbound BNSF intermodal train, operating […]
Full restoration of state-supported Amtrak routes in Illinois set for July 19 The state of Illinois announced plans to restore all service on its four state-supported Amtrak lines as of July 19 as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. The restoration of full schedules on the Chicago-Quincy, Chicago-Carbondale, and Chicago-St. Louis routes in July […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. railroads continue to show significant traffic increases over pandemic-depressed figures from 2020, according to the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads. Statistics for the week ending May 15 show U.S. railroads moved 242,806 carloads, a 31.6% increase over the corresponding week in 2020, and 291,066 containers and trailers, a 25.6% […]
Intermodal engineering Wood planks were common for building piggyback ramps. Large planks formed rub rails (well-used judging by the scars) along the edges, with a notch for the flatcar coupler and a steel bridge plate on the right. Classic Trains magazine collection […]
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern’s chief financial officer says the term “one-person crew” is a misnomer that has only stoked controversy about the rail industry’s proposal to use ground-based conductors on routes protected by positive train control. “It’s unfortunate the terminology on one-man crew or one-person crew … because I don’t think it’s really the […]
Trains Senior Editor David Lassen spends much of his free time in the Chicago area. This is the first in a series of Trains.com articles on his favorite rail photography locations. UPDATED Dec. 15, 2021, with removal of shoofly. BNSF Railway’s celebrated “racetrack” — the triple-track mainline of the Chicago Division between downtown Chicago and […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Union Pacific are locked in a dispute over BNSF haulage rights traffic that moves over UP rails along the Texas Gulf Coast. As part of UP’s acquisition of Southern Pacific in 1996, BNSF gained access to customers along UP between Houston and Brownsville, Texas, which also is a gateway to […]
Midwest memories The sun shines down on Northern Pacific-painted S2 705 at Jamestown, N.Dak., on NP S2 705 in early 1970, just eight weeks after the creation of Burlington Northern. J. David Ingles photo […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National today filed its Kansas City Southern merger agreement with federal regulators, and asked the Surface Transportation Board to adopt an expedited schedule for reviewing its request to put KCS into a voting trust. In what CN termed a procedural move, the STB on Monday denied CN’s request to place KCS into […]
Demolition work began Monday on Union Pacific’s Lenox Tower in Mitchell, Ill., about 20 miles north of St. Louis. The tower is being razed to streamline the interlocking and remove a troublesome puzzle switch as part of a realignment project that will allow increased speeds for Amtrak Lincoln Service trains between Chicago and St. Louis. […]
SIBLEY, Iowa — The evacuation order resulting from the derailment of a Union Pacific train in Sibley was lifted Monday evening, after fears of an explosion eased greatly authorities discovered a car believed to be carrying ammonium nitrate was actually empty. KCAU-TV reports about 400 people had been affected by the evacuation order, which was […]
U.S. Supreme Court asks Solicitor General for opinion in case involving injured Union Pacific engineer The U.S. Supreme Court is asking the Biden Administration to take a position in a case involving Union Pacific that could affect the railroad’s liability for worker injuries. Reuters reports the court asked the U.S. Solicitor General’s office for an […]
