WHITEWATER, Colo. — A Union Pacific train crew escaped without injuries this week after their train hit a rockslide and derailed, with both locomotives winding up on their sides in the Gunnison River. “Around 11 p.m. MT Tuesday evening, a Union Pacific train encountered a rockslide south of Whitewater, Colorado. The Union Pacific crew onboard […]
NEW ORLEANS – Ridership on Amtrak’s Mardi Gras service — launched in August to link New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. — has exceeded expectations in its first three-plus months of operation along the Gulf Coast. Amtrak on Thursday said that more than 46,000 passengers have ridden the twice-daily roundtrips since the long-awaited service launched using […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express have adjusted their schedules to make way for morning work blocks that will be in effect for the next five years between Washington and Alexandria, Va., to permit construction of a second two-track Long Bridge across the Potomac River. After months of negotiations, stakeholders have reached an agreement […]
WASHINGTON — A Union Pacific conductor was fatally injured on Wednesday in a grade-crossing accident near Ontario, Calif., the National Transportation Safety Board said today. “NTSB is sending a team to investigate Wednesday’s accident involving a Union Pacific Railroad conductor fatally injured while conducting a reverse movement when the train collided with a combination vehicle […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National has asked federal regulators to confirm that the railroad has operating authority on trackage in Springfield, Ill., where its efforts to serve an agricultural shipper have been stymied by Union Pacific. CN subsidiary Illinois Central maintained trackage rights in the Springfield area when in 1986 it sold its 631-mile line linking […]
PALM BEACH, Fla. — CSX expects to take a $40 million hit in the fourth quarter due to lower than expected coal and automotive shipments. An Oct. 25 coal train derailment in Providence Forge, Va., and subsequent cleanup shut the railroad’s route to its Newport News, Va., export terminal for 12 days. [See “CSX coal […]
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, and the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation will team up on Dec. 13 for the 26th run of their Holiday Train over the former Delaware & Hudson between Binghamton and Delanson, N.Y. Since its inception, the Holiday Train partnership has collected hundreds of thousands of toys and […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has asked the Surface Transportation Board to review Union Pacific’s compliance with conditions that the board imposed to preserve competition after UP’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific. Due to considerable overlap between the UP and SP systems, the STB granted BNSF the ability to serve customers at so-called 2-to-1 locations, where […]
DURANGO, Colo. — Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 recently traveled from its home at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The trip, aboard a semitruck, took the locomotive over Colorado’s 10,222-foot-high Lizard Head Pass, where it once operated. No. 20 last crossed this pass in the […]
CHICAGO — While thousands of air travelers were stranded or severely delayed by canceled flights as a wind-swept snowstorm blanketed the Midwest and Great Lakes region, Amtrak’s sold-out trains suffered only a few significant setbacks nationwide over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Only the Floridian was delayed an hour and a half leaving Chicago Saturday (Nov. […]
CRANBROOK, British Columbia — The evacuation order stemming from a CPKC derailment near Cranbrook has been lifted. The Cranbrook Townsman reports the order, covering five properties along the Kootenay River, was lifted Saturday evening (Nov. 29). It had been issued about 12:30 p.m. following a Saturday morning derailment involving an estimated 12 cars, including some […]
CRANBROOK, British Columbia — A state of emergency was declared and five properties were evacuated today (Saturday, Nov. 29) near Cranbrook after the derailment 12 cars of a CPKC train, including some propane tank cars. The news site Castanet reports the derailment occurred about 7 a.m. CPKC told Castanet there were no injuries. The railroad […]
