Kansas City Southern hasn’t purchased new locomotives since 2014 as the company has had ample power for its traffic levels with coal deliveries down across its core north-south mainline south of Kansas City. The railroad continues to upgrade its existing power, converting six (confirm) GP38-2s and GP40-2s to GP32ECOs using kits supplied from EMD. KCS […]
Product News Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, structures, electronics, train sets, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of January 14, 2021. HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Diesel SD70M-2 diesel locomotive. Canadian […]
Dramatic increase in COVID cases led to reduction of MBTA commuter rail service The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s December reduction in commuter rail service reflected a dramatic upswing in COVID-19 cases among the workforce of contract operator Keolis. State House News Service reports that the rail operator, which had 43 reported cases in the first […]
Still more Monday morning rail news: Registration deadline approaches for MARS conference, featuring CP, BNSF CEOs The registration deadline is approaching for the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers winter meeting, to be held online on Jan. 20. The $25 registration fee includes 2021 membership dues; those who register before Jan. 15 will be able to […]
With several automakers temporarily halting or slowing production of some car models amid a global shortage of semiconductors, it’s only a matter of time before railroads feel the impact in their finished vehicle traffic. Several auto assembly plants across North America are affected by the shortage of computer chips that has been caused, in part, […]
WASHINGTON — Thanks to continued intermodal strength, overall U.S. Class I rail traffic in December increased by 4.4% over December 2019, with a total of 2,435,819 carloads and intermodal units, according to statistics released by the Association of American Railroads. The 1,101,324 carloads in the month represented a decrease of 3.7%, while the 1,334,495 containers […]
ATLANTA — The pandemic hurt railroad traffic across the board, but none more than Norfolk Southern. NS volume for 2020 was down nearly 12%, which was twice as much as Eastern rival CSX Transportation and considerably deeper than the industry average of a 7% decline [see “Canadian Pacific leads industry volume for second straight year,” Trains News Wire, […]
More Tuesday morning rail news: Effort to reduce wildlife deaths along rail line in Canadian park shows promising results A pilot project to reduce wildlife deaths along Canadian Pacific’s route through Banff National Park is showing promising results two years into a five-year project. The CBC reports the project, which cut 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) […]
Canadian Pacific and Canadian National have welcomed the new year by announcing the latest in an ongoing string of records for Canadian grain movement. Canadian Pacific closed out 2020 by setting records in a calendar year, quarter, and the month of December. The railroad moved 31.32 million metric tons of grain in 2020, with 8.84 […]
Tuesday afternoon rail news: BART to stop accepting new Bombardier railcars because of reliability issues Bay Area Rapid Transit will stop accepting delivery of new railcars from Bombardier because of unresolved reliability issues. KNTV-TV reports BART says the “Fleet of the Future” cars have software issues that make the train routinely stop while in service, […]
To read Part I of George Drury’s New York Central History, click here History of the New York Central System The New York Central was a large railroad, and it had several subsidiaries whose identity remained strong, not so much in cars and locomotives carrying the old name but in local loyalties: If you lived […]
Three freight rail stories that may not have received the attention they deserved: FRA’s new brake rule The Federal Railroad Administration’s new rule extending the time parked freight cars can be left off air will accelerate operational changes that were already under way on the Class I railroads. The long-awaited rule, adopted Dec. 11, will […]
