Independent Locomotive Service (ILSX) and KBN Inc. became co-owners of my hometown railroad, the Minnesota Northern (MNN), in August 2000. Since taking over the short line from RailAmerica, the railroad’s fleet of MNN-painted and lettered diesels has been supplemented with assorted lease units from ILSX. Everything from Electro-Motive Division (EMD) SW1s to SD40T-2s have been […]
Union Pacific’s Feather River Canyon route in Northern California has been shut down by wildfires, but the railroad says its main north-south route on the West Coast, the I-5 corridor, could reopen sooner than original estimates. Meanwhile, BNSF’s Inside Gateway route, which makes use of use of part of the UP Feather River route, also […]
CHICAGO – The North American Rail Shippers Association annual meeting, scheduled for Sept. 7-9 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, will feature presentations from four Class I railroad chief executives. Confirmed speakers include BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer, Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz, Kansas City Southern CEO Pat Ottensmeyer, and Canadian National CEO JJ Ruest. Surface […]
Product news Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of July 29, 2021. HO scale locomotives Canadian National GP9RM diesel locomotive kit. […]
Welcome to the final installment in our three-part series “Modeling from postcards.” This time, we’ll take a look at cards that show two of Crookston’s rail-served industries. Welcome to Wilds. In 1964, Cargill Inc. built a grain elevator at the south end of Crookston near the station sign Wilds. In addition to the main elevator, […]
Atlas is back with its General Electric Dash 8-40B, originally released in 2001. The new model is now available with an Electronic Solutions Ulm (ESU) LokSound dual-mode decoder. General Electric (GE) built 151 Dash 8-40B locomotives in 1988 and 1989 for Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Conrail; New York, Susquehanna & Western; St. Louis Southwestern […]
LOS ANGELES — Union Pacific will resume international container shipments to Chicago from the West Coast at the end of its current seven-day suspension of such service, CEO Lance Fritz told Reuters on Thursday. “We’re starting to see containers clear, so I anticipate in the seven-day period … we should get back down to a […]
DEL MAR, Calif. — The North County Transit District has reached agreement with the city of Del Mar and the California Coastal Commission on plans for safety fencing on the rail line along the Del Mar bluffs, postponing and perhaps ending the NCTD’s request for action by the Surface Transportation Board. The San Diego Union-Tribune […]
WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman today asked the Class I railroads to provide information on congestion at inland intermodal terminals, where international containers are stacking up faster than customers can receive them. “I am particularly concerned about significant increases in container congestion at key U.S. terminals, and substantial charges being levied by […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation won’t be able to get its merchandise service back to pre-pandemic levels until it can hire enough train and engine crews to handle strong volume growth. That likely won’t happen before the end of the year because the railroad is struggling to hire conductors in an extremely tight labor market, executives […]
CHICAGO — After a much-delayed arrival in the city, Amtrak’s “Day One” Siemens ALC42 Charger locomotive continued toward its official handover to Amtrak on Tuesday evening, heading east on the Capitol Limited. Trailing P42 locomotive No. 142 were ALC42 No. 301 and a six-car consist including a dormitory car, sleeper, Cross-Country Café, baggage-coach, and full […]
LOWELL, Ark. — Demand for domestic intermodal service exceeds J.B. Hunt’s capacity because of slow customer turn times and the reduced velocity of the railroad network. “Demand for our intermodal capacity remains robust. In fact, demand continues to significantly outpace our available capacity, which remains constrained by rail performance and restrictions in addition to customer detention […]
