BOSTON — The incidents that led federal officials to reject a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority safety plan included one in which a track worker was hospitalized after being struck by a 2,000-pound counterweight, the Boston Herald reports. The Herald reviewed documents with details on six incidents that caused the Federal Transit Administration to order the […]
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has ratified a new contract with Amtrak, the union announced today (Sunday, June 4). General Chairman Daniel N. Tavares III said in a letter to members that the agreement includes a 30% wage increase over the life of the contract, which compounds to […]
WASHINGTON — “Amtrak Operations: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities for improving Efficiency and Service” is the topic of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing set for Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. EDT. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify; the other is Mitch Warren, Northeast Corridor Commission executive […]
Amtrak E44 electric locomotives are eight roster oddities that likely never turned a wheel in revenue service for the passenger carrier. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired 66 of the 5,000-hp, six-axle E44 electric locomotives from General Electric, Nos. 4400-4465. Built at Erie, Pa., between 1960 and 1963 the motors were 69-feet, 6-inches long and […]
CHICAGO — Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw says the railroad remains steadfast in its commitment to taking a long-term view and a strategy that prioritizes service and growth. NS will continue to be a customer-centric, operations-driven railroad that realizes it makes and sells just one product: service. “Our customers have options. They’re really smart. And […]
Second of two parts Part 1 of this report, available here, examined how lack of capacity has adversely impacted Amtrak’s long-distance trains compared with the mobility the company has been able to provide in the Northeast Corridor. Part 2 considers possible solutions. Foreseeable shortfall The shortage of active bilevels was evident when deployment plans for […]
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said Thursday that that the government had extended a concession of rail operator Grupo Mexico’s Ferrosur unit for 8 years to compensate the company for the government’s seizure last month of a section of railway operated by Grupo Mexico. BNAmericas reports the extension covers the Medias […]
REDBANK, Queensland — Australia’s largest freight rail company, Aurizon, has contracted with Progress Rail to build what the companies are calling the first zero-emission-capable freight locomotive to be constructed in Australia, a battery-electric unit. Progress Rail will retrofit one of Aurizon’s existing 4000-class diesel locomotives, Clyde Engineering units built by Walkers, at the Progress Rail […]
WASHINGTON — The 164th car of a Norfolk Southern train triggered a critical hot box detector alert before a May wreck in Pennsylvania, but the train continued on its journey for 15.34 miles before derailing because neither the crew nor the railroad’s network operations center received the warning that would have required the train to […]
Soo Line diesel locomotives came from four builders and sported two distinctive paint schemes. The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie had long been known by its nickname, the Soo Line. The railroad adopted that name officially in 1961 when it merged the Wisconsin Central and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, both […]
Modeling plate girder bridges: The most commonly found type of railroad bridge in the country has to be the good old plate girder. You see them everywhere. They’re simple, inexpensive, and can handle spans up to about 100 feet. (The longer the span, the deeper the sideplates on the bridge.) As long as there are […]
Tips for body mounting couplers: “Oh, no,” I can hear you saying, “He’s off on couplers again.” Well, sorry, I am, and perhaps not for the last time. Almost all N scale rolling stock until recently has come with truck-mounted couplers. It’s true that cars so equipped can handle tighter curves, but it’s also true […]
