LOMBARD, Ill. – Class I railroad mergers are not the sure path to efficiency gains that they once were within the industry. So says Canadian National President and CEO JJ Ruest at the winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers in Lombard on Thursday. Ruest notes that as the entire industry has […]
Tag: Railroad Operations
AAR: Intermodal and carload traffic was down almost 10% in total for the week of Jan. 11 NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 11. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,624 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.6% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 11 were 239,119 […]
Freight car outlook: More stored, fewer to be built NEWSWIRE
Greenbrier’s Lorrie Tekorius TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. – As Precision Scheduled Railroading sweeps the rail industry its effect is also being felt throughout the rail supply industry. Around 408,000 North American freight cars are stored. Some of that is attributed to a 5.1 percent decline in traffic in 2019, but some can also be […]
KCS CEO hints at autonomous operations ahead thanks to PTC NEWSWIRE
KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — In a conference that — like most most rail gatherings these day — had a great deal of focus on PSR, Patrick Ottensmeyer was thinking and talking about PTC. That’s not to say Precision Scheduled Railroading wasn’t part of the Kansas City Southern CEO’s Wednesday […]
Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 2
To apply the car-card-and-waybill freight-car routing system I described in part 1 takes more than just the two basic forms. The first form is the car card identifying each freight car with a pocket to hold the other form, a 4-step waybill. The pocket and waybill are sized so that only one of the waybill’s […]
Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 1
One of the most widely used model railroad car-routing systems is an identification card for each car with a pocket to hold a waybill naming a destination. It’s a flexible and versatile method that’s easy to set up, use, and modify as you go along. It’s so common that it will probably be familiar to […]
Crude-by-rail safety legislation introduced in House NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — Legislation to force oil companies to decrease the volatility of crude oil shipped by rail has been introduced in Congress. On Jan. 13, Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced the Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act. The law would require […]
AAR backs White House plan to streamline environmental process for infrastructure projects NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has expressed support for a plan by the White House to dramatically change the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. NEPA requires the federal government to review how major infrastructure projects would impact the environment, but federal officials say it is […]
New NS department combines communications, signals, locomotives NEWSWIRE
CORONADO, Calif. — A few final notes from last week’s National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado: NS communications restructuring: One unique aspect of Norfolk Southern’s “reimagining,” — its label for Precision Scheduled Railroading-style changes — is that it has spun off its communication and signals group, historically part of its engineering […]
FRA administrator urges rail community to embrace autonomous inspection as a ‘new tool’ NEWSWIRE
Ron Batory, Federal Railroad Administration administrator TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Ron Batory, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, was one of the final-day speakers at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference that concluded Wednesday. At the beginning of his talk, he said wanted to leave time for questions from the audience. […]
Labor Bureau: Rail industry employment drops below 200,000 for first time NEWSWIRE
A conductor and engineer pose for a photo on CSX Transportation GP38-2 No. 6237 on July 4, 2019. Joe Kohnen WASHINGTON – For the first time since the government began tracking employment statistics in the 1940s, the number of people employed by railroads has dipped below 200,000. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has industry-specific […]
Operation Lifesaver releases new PSA targeting risky behavior on railroad tracks NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON – Operation Lifesaver is launching a new public service announcement campaign that brings attention to the dangerous distractions that could lead to unexpected and sometimes deadly tragedies for pedestrians on or near railroad tracks. “Walking on the railroad tracks is considered trespassing – it’s against the law,” says Executive Director Rachel Maleh. “This new […]
