Well, this isn’t a pretty picture. From 2013 to 2022 U.S. industrial production eked out 3% growth, overall economic output increased 57%, and truck tonnage grew 26%. Yet volume on the big four U.S. railroads increased by an average of just 2% for the decade — a figure that mercifully does not include coal traffic. […]
LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec —Lac-Mégantic plans four days of events in July to mark the the passage of 10 years since of the train derailment and fire that killed 47 people and destroyed much of the community’s downtown, the Canadian Press reports. Mayor Julie Morin says the city has a “duty to remember” the tragedy, and will […]
EVANSBURG, Alberta — A 10-mile stretch of Canadian National’s transcontinental main line about 65 miles west of Edmonton, Alta., continues to be surrounded by what has become the Yellowhead County wildfire, but trains are getting through the area in part because of CN firefighting equipment known as “Poseidon.” The compact fire train was fashioned out […]
WASHINGTON — A significant reduction in parking spaces — including elimination of above-ground parking and bus facilities — and a larger train hall are key features of a revised plan for redevelopment of Washington Union Station released Friday. The Washington Post reports the revised plan from the Federal Railroad Administration — developed after a two-year […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — While one wide-ranging bill has advanced out of a Pennsylvania House committee, four other bills aimed at regulating railroads in the state have also been introduced since the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, which also impacted Pennsylvania residents. The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, Pa., reports none have yet been voted on by the state House […]
Restored Alco PA No. 190, after a week-long pause at Chicago’s Clearing Yard on its cross-country move from Portland, Ore., has resumed its trip to its new home with Genesee Valley Transportation. Photographer Bruce Stahl caught No. 190 eastbound Friday on a Norfolk Southern train west of South Bend, Ind., trailing four NS and BSNF […]
ST. ALBANS, Vt. — Genesee & Wyoming held a grand opening ceremony on Thursday for its American Rail Dispatching Center, from which the company dispatches movements on 100 railroads in 42 states. G&W announced plans for the 10,000-square-foot facility early in 2022 [see “Plans set for new Genesee & Wyoming dispatching center,” Trains News Wire, […]
CHICAGO — Metra has taken delivery of another SD70MACH, part of an order of 15 of the remanufactured freight locomotives currently in progress for the commuter agency. No. 505, the fourth in the series to arrive in Chicago, was delivered on Thursday, May 11. This unit is slated to have positive train control equipment added […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation’s Baltimore & Ohio heritage locomotive, which emerged from the Waycross, Ga., paint shop this week, is the first of several the railroad has in the works. “To honor CSX’s heritage railroads, employees at the Waycross Locomotive Shop are creating paint designs for many of the predecessor roads. The Waycross team […]
BOSTON — Five members of an Amtrak maintenance-of-way crew have been taken to a hospital following an incident at a Boston rail yard Friday morning, WXFT-TV reports. The injuries are non-life-threatening, Amtrak said in a statement. The incident occurred about 4:30 a.m. at the Readville commuter rail station in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, about 8 […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — The preservation group seeking to block demolition of a 140-year-old BNSF Railway bridge has taken its effort to court. The Bismarck Tribune reports that the group Friends of the Rail Bridge has filed an appeal with the state’s South Central District Court seeking to overturn a decision by the state Department of […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration issued a safety advisory this week in the aftermath of an April collision and derailment on Union Pacific that involved a misaligned hand-throw switch. The FRA continues to investigate the April 16 collision in Texas that occurred in dark territory with no positive train control overlay. The National Transportation […]
