Q: Do train crews have the ability to activate or deactivate crossing lights and gates? — Richard Collingwood, Milan, Ohio A: No. Here’s why: Crossing circuits have set approaches based off of warning time required and maximum speed of the trains. The modern day crossing processors — mini computers inside a crossing gate bungalow (the metal […]
Tag: Railroad Operations
Ask Trains: Why do you see empty container trains headed away from East Coast ports?
Q: One reader recently asked why there were so many empty container trains heading away from the East Coast on railroads? Could it be the West Coast receives more loads and container trains need to be repositioned? — A Trains reader A: That East/Eest balances is one source of empty moves, but there are other […]
AAR: All rail traffic down 7% for the week of Oct. 12 despite crude oil and chemicals gains NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 12, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 510,820 carloads and intermodal units, down 7% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 12 were […]
CSX Transportation earnings top Wall Street estimates despite declines in volume and revenue NEWSWIRE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s third quarter profit sank due to declines in intermodal and coal revenue and volume, the railroad announced on Wednesday afternoon. The railroad’s operating income was essentially flat, at $1.28 billion, as revenue declined 5%, to $2.97 billion. Net income declined 4%, to $856 million. Earnings per share grew 3%, to […]
JB Hunt execs say they’re working to move more freight from trucks to trains NEWSWIRE
LOWELL, Ark. — Although its overall intermodal freight volumes were flat in the third quarter, J. B. Hunt Transport Services seeks to move more highway freight to trains. And Hunt officials say they’re also making their peace with Precision Scheduled Railroading, based on comments in a Tuesday earnings call with investors. Quarterly intermodal revenue was […]
Railroad earnings expected to be up overall despite broad traffic declines NEWSWIRE
Wall Street analysts expect Class I railroad earnings to rise an average of 7% for the third quarter as a combination of rate hikes, cost-cutting, efficiency gains, and share buybacks offsets the impact of traffic declines at five of the six publicly traded systems. CSX Transportation, which kicks off the quarterly earnings reports on Oct. […]
NJ Transit begins operation of leaf-cleaning trains NEWSWIRE
NJ Transit uses this AquaTrack equipment to clear rails of falling leaves and their residue during the fall. The trains begin around-the-clock operation on Sunday. Ralph Spielman The AquaTrack equipment sprays the rails with water at a pressure of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. Ralph Spielman LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — As autumn arrives […]
NS seeks temporary trackage rights in Missouri after bridge washed out NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — A Missouri bridge outage has prompted Norfolk Southern to seek temporary trackage rights on a parallel Kansas City Southern line. On Wednesday, NS filed a request with the Surface Transportation Board for “expedited” granting of access to the KCS line between Kansas City, Mo., and Mexico, Mo. The filing is the result of […]
AAR: Total rail traffic is down more than 7% NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads this week reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 5. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 515,061 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 5 were […]
Ask Trains: What are the rules on when locomotive bells should ring?
An eastbound BNSF Railway train passes a stopped BNSF freight at “Summit” in California’s Cajon Pass in 2013 — this meet is one of several conditions which might require a locomotive bell to be sounded. Trains staff Q: What are the rules concerning when a train should ring its bell at a crossing or elsewhere? […]
FRA to hold regional workshops on right-of-way trespassing NEWSWIRE
Trespassers stop to pose for photos on Florida East Coast Railway tracks in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in May 2018. Bob Johnston CHICAGO — The Federal Railroad Administration will hold six regional workshops in response to an alarming increase of the number of fatalities along railroad rights-of-way, in or near locations where such incidents are most […]
CSX executive: We can regain market share from trucks NEWSWIRE
Arthur Adams, CSX Transportation vice president of merchandise sales CSX Corp. BURLINGTON, Vt. — CSX Transportation can stop and ultimately reverse decades of market share loss to the highway through a combination of more reliable service and a better customer experience, a railroad executive told a rail shipper group last week. CSX has steadily improved […]
