ERWIN, Tenn. — CSX Transportation’s ex-Clinchfield Railroad mainline has seen devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene’s once-in-a-generation flood. It is still too early to determine the full extent of damages, but photos along the famed Clinchfield route are revealing extensive damage exacerbated by the region’s remoteness. High waters are prohibiting emergency responders and railroad officials from […]
FORT MYERS, Fla. — It has been two years since Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, but for rail shippers in far southwestern Florida, railcars only started moving again a few months ago. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, with a record-setting storm surge, unprecedented inland […]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Communities along the former Southern Railway and Clinchfield Railroad in western North Carolina have seen record-setting rainfalls in the days prior to Hurricane Helene. Now, tropical weather is pouring additional rainfall into the area, creating what local meteorologists are calling a once-in-a-generation storm. Places along NS’ former Southern S-Line on the French […]
ELBE, Wash. — The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has purchased three ex-Reading Co. passenger cars from the North Carolina Transportation for use in its steam heritage rail operations. Mt. Rainier Scenic said in a press release that the museum determined the cars, built between 1922 and 1927 by the Standard Steel Car Co. and Bethlehem […]
GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — The Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway and Museum has received a grant to help restore its former Chesapeake & Ohio Alco S4, No. 5109, to operating condition, the organization has announced. The Anderson Foundation has awarded a $5,140 grant that the tourist railroad says in a Facebook post will be […]
BOSTON — A series of shutdowns on the rapid transit Orange Line and a week of disruptions for the Mattapan Line trolley operationare the primary focal points for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority track work in October, part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to address a maintenance backlog. Two weekends of shutdowns on the Green Line […]
WASHINGTON – CSX has reached a trackage rights agreement with Norfolk Southern that will allow its trains to detour over NS while the Howard Street Tunnel clearance project is under way in Baltimore. CSX had previously planned on operating through the 1.7-mile tunnel during short work windows, a complex process that would have required construction […]
ATLANTA — With longshoremen and port operators still unable to come to terms for a new labor agreement at East Coast ports, Norfolk Southern is recommending alternative origins for West Coast-destined international intermodal that normally flows into the eastern seaboard. NS outlined its recommended service Thursday, making use of its inland intermodal terminals to originate […]
MADISON, Wis. — The owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the heritage rail operation in Spooner, Wis., which gained significant attention for its efforts to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for failure to pay employment taxes. Greg Vreeland, 55, of Springbrook, Wis., was sentenced […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su sent a letter today (Wednesday, Sept. 25) urging the CEOs of three Class I freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave for all employees. One of the railroads, CSX, responded that two unions have rejected its efforts to do exactly […]
WASHINGTON – A combination of excessive in-train forces and the pairing of dead-in-tow locomotives that lacked alignment control couplers was the probable cause of a 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in Alabama, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. Two locomotives and 37 cars derailed in the March 9 wreck on the Alabama East End District […]
TAMPA, Fla. — After an unusual lull in hurricane activity in August and September, railroads are monitoring a new tropical disturbance that will make landfall around Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday, Sept. 26, likely as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. “CSX is closely monitoring Tropical Storm Helene, which is projected to intensify to hurricane strength […]
