WASHINGTON – U.S. rail traffic declined 2.3% in 2023, with intermodal down 4.9% and carload traffic up 0.7% compared to 2022, the Association of American Railroads reported today. “Total U.S. rail carloads were up 2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 over the fourth quarter of 2022, while U.S. intermodal was up 5.5% over the […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX’s eighth heritage locomotive is a salute to the New York Central. The ES44AH, which carries No. 1853 for the Central’s founding year, made its debut today. It took the Waycross, Ga., paint shop crew 22 days to adorn the locomotive with the Central’s classic lightning stripe scheme. The New York Central […]
Why is it that no one notices railroads until there’s a derailment, blocked grade crossing, or a massive supply chain problem like we saw in 2022? If it weren’t for bad press railroads wouldn’t get any at all. It’s as if the railroad industry – all 140,000 miles of it – is invisible until things […]
Wabash Railway history started with the Northern Cross, the first railroad in Illinois, in 1837. The term “Fallen Flag” first appeared in Trains in 1974, as the title for a series of thumbnail histories of merged-away railroads. The series began with the Wabash, and employed the road’s flag emblem outline to illustrate the series’ […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Genesee & Wyoming has a new partner in its CG Railway joint venture, which ferries freight cars across the Gulf of Mexico between Mobile, Ala., and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Grupo Mexico Transportes will purchase SEACOR Holdings’ 60% stake in CGR pending regulatory approval, G&W announced today. G&W initially formed a joint venture with […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Montana Rail Link officially became a fallen flag on Jan. 1 when the regional railroad ceased operations and became BNSF Railway’s MRL Subdivision. Burlington Northern leased the former Northern Pacific main line from Jones Junction, Mont., to Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1987. In January 2022 BNSF and MRL announced an agreement to […]
Europe’s biggest rail freight companies are facing major challenges in 2024, despite efforts by politicians to encourage more freight movement by rail and less by road. In some countries, new ownership or new companies are challenging established operators and providing business opportunities for smaller companies. In most of Europe, the biggest rail freight company is […]
Welcome to 2024, News Wire readers. There’s no predicting what the new year has in store for us, but in case you’ve been otherwise occupied over the holiday season, here’s a chance to review our recent history of top News Wire stories of the year, as well as this year’s Top 10 (actually 11) topics, […]
Norfolk Southern’s disastrous hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio — which put the railroad industry’s safety record under a withering spotlight — is Trains News Wire’s top story for 2023. The Feb. 3 derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border likely was caused by the catastrophic failure of a wheel bearing on a covered hopper carrying […]
Montreal Locomotive Works DL535E diesel locomotives have proven to be versatile narrow-gauge haulers made famous by a garden railway staple. In 1969, American Locomotive Co. of Schenectady, N.Y., was building seven six-axle, 1,200-hp DL535E diesel locomotives, Nos. 101-107, for the White Pass & Yukon when the builder abruptly shut down its manufacturing operations. […]
ORLANDO — Gutsy. There is no other way to describe the splash Brightline made — or the revenue risk it took — after the company flipped the switch on what, by year’s end, would become 32 trains each day between South Florida and Orlando. Service began Sept. 22 to much fanfare. The $6 billion effort […]
Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy add Kato Unitrack to their modular T-TRAK N scale layout. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses foot-wide boxes plugged together to build tabletop layouts. In this third installment, the trio demonstrates how to build, wire, and install the Kato N scale Unitrack to […]
