WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern may both seek trackage rights over Kansas City Southern routes in order to preserve competition as part of the proposed Canadian Pacific-KCS merger. The railroads disclosed their intentions in regulatory filings posted today on the Surface Transportation Board website. The board’s deadline for such responsive applications is Feb. […]
Long-time Garden Railways contributor Eric Schade shows off running and plowing scenes on his Winneance & Quebec Railway. The scenes have it all: double-headed steam locomotives, craftsman-level coaches, snowy scenes and more! Schade creates his garden railroad empire in Maine. […]
BNSF covered hopper variations are easy to spot if you live near or have railfanned along the BNSF Railway anytime in the past 20 years. If you have, you’ve most likely seen one of the railroad’s 100-plus car grain shuttles. These trains, dubbed “earthworms” by railfans because of how the long string of mineral red […]
Q: What kind of cargo is in those gondolas I see that have rounded covers on them? – John Martin A: That depends on the kind of covers you’re talking about. If the gondola in question has low sides and the cover is a tall one with lifting and stacking brackets on it, it’s a […]
MONTREAL – Canadian National wants to acquire Kansas City Southern’s line linking Springfield, Ill., with Kansas City, Mo., and East St. Louis, Ill. CN today said it would ask the Surface Transportation Board to condition approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on divestiture of KCS’s Springfield Line. CN promises to spend at least $250 […]
WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation agreed to Amtrak’s conditions regarding passenger service in New England on Wednesday, in advance of the start of a scheduled public hearing on CSX’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways. Amtrak on Jan. 3 said it would oppose the CSX-Pan Am deal unless the Surface Transportation Board imposed seven conditions on […]
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced that Amtrak will pay over $2 million to more than 1,500 individuals who experienced disability discrimination while traveling or attempting to travel by train. The payments were part of a settlement agreement reached on Dec. 2, 2020, to resolve the United States’ determination that Amtrak failed for over […]
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been awarded $1.24 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for expenses incurred by the agency during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “Metro will use the America Rescue Plan Act funds to benefit riders, including seniors, persons with disabilities, low-income and transit dependent […]
BALTIMORE – Maryland’s Purple Light Rail Line would begin carrying passengers in the Washington suburbs over four years late and cost an additional $1.4 billion to build under a proposed contract to complete the project, Maryland transportation officials said this week. The state’s cost of a broader agreement for a private concessionaire to build, operate, and […]
NEW YORK – New York City’s subways and commuter railroads will receive a $6 billion lump sum payment in federal COVID-19 relief funds, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer announced. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has received the money as part of more than $14.5 billion in overall federal relief aid. It is the largest one-time […]
PUEBLO, Colo. – A new high-tech railcar developed by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Energy is moving from Oregon to the Association of American Railroads Transportation Technology Center test track near Pueblo for multiple-car testing. The Rail Escort Vehicle is designed to transport security personnel during the shipment of spent nuclear fuel and high-level […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — Notes from Wednesday’s appearances by Class I CEOs at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting: Meet the new boss New Norfolk Southern President Alan Shaw showed a nice touch of self-deprecating humor in his Wednesday luncheon speech before MARS and the Traffic Club of Chicago, as demonstrated with his description […]
