Railroad places to visit 1. GOAT LICK TRESTLE: Fast-paced action of BNSF’s northern transcon and the beauty of Glacier National Park, plus live GN goats. 2. CAJON PASS: Busy mainline mountain crossing for both BNSF and Union Pacific leaving LA. 3. TEHACHAPI: Mind-boggling over-and-under loop in Southern California sees more than 40 trains a day. […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Teamsters Canada calls for strike authorization vote by CN and CPKC train crews (updated)
The union representing Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City engineers and conductors in Canada has authorized a strike vote as labor and management remain far apart on new contracts. Leaders of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference told their members on Thursday that a strike vote will be held from April 8 to May 1. […]
STB denies CPKC request to give CN’s acquisition of Iowa Northern a more thorough review
WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have rejected Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s contention that Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of 218-mile short line Iowa Northern should be subject to a more thorough review as a “significant” transaction. In a decision issued on Friday, the Surface Transportation Board denied CPKC’s petition that had asked the board to reconsider its […]
Travel: Last chance to ride Amfleet
Amtrak’s Amfleet As Amtrak’s Amfleet approaches a half-century of service, the fleet’s planned replacement is on order. Knowing this has stirred a well of nostalgia for the old cars. I grew up with Amfleet: these cars were introduced when I was in elementary school. Although at the time the technological significance of the new cars […]
CSX prepares to detour container and coal traffic bound for Baltimore
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX this week will begin providing international intermodal shippers with a detour around the closed Port of Baltimore. The railroad says it will launch dedicated service between Baltimore and the Port of New York and New Jersey in response to the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which fell […]
Gensets: A disappearing act
A primary selling point At the time, gensets seemed like a good idea. Efficient, small, and imminently capable, they would be able to do everything an industrial switcher or small road unit could, but while using less fuel and producing fewer emissions. In environmentally conscious areas, and those with legitimately bad air quality, anything that […]
CPKC derailment closes Louisiana highway
TAYLOR, La. — A major Louisiana highway remains closed following the derailment of a CPKC train on Friday, KSLA-TV reports. Approximately 29 cars of a train derailed near the unincorporated community of Taylor about 7:30 a.m. Friday, closing U.S. Route 80 between Oscar Kilpatrick Road and Martin Pond Road in the community of Ada, according […]
STB’s new passenger committee scope still to be defined: Analysis
WASHINGTON — The “Quiet Car” has become a staple on most U.S. corridor trains and many commuter operations. The innovation was first suggested in 1999 by an Amtrak volunteer organization later dissolved by CEO Richard Anderson after the former head of Delta Airlines was hired by Amtrak’s board of directors in 2017. Amtrak’s Customer Advisory […]
Sound Transit hires LA airport official to oversee expansion projects
SEATTLE — Sound Transit has hired an executive from the agency in charge of Los Angeles International Airport to oversee its massive, ongoing light rail expansion, the website The Urbanist reports. Terri Mestas will become the transit agency’s deputy CEO of Megaproject Delivery, acting on a 2022 advisory group recommendation to hire an expert to […]
Short line train derails in Oklahoma
DAVENPORT, Okla. — Twenty-two cars of a 90-car Stillwater Central Railroad train derailed Saturday afternoon near the town of Davenport, KOCO-TV reports. The derailment was reported shortly after 3 p.m. No injuries were reported, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and no hazardous materials were involved; the train was transporting rock. Some fuel was […]
Nashville Steam adds hall of fame musician Stinson to board
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A preservation project in the community known as “Music City” has added some appropriate individuals to its board of directors. The Nashville Steam Preservation Society, the non-profit organization working to restore Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 4-8-4 No. 576, announced last week that it had added Harry Stinson and Jeff Syracuse to […]
BNSF, CPKC say they won’t pay new Minnesota safety fee
ST. PAUL, Minn. — BNSF Railway and CPKC, the two largest railroads in Minnesota, do not plan to make payments of approximately $1 million to the state required by a law passed last year, saying the state legislation is “pre-empted by federal law.” KSTP-TV reports the two railroads notified the Minnesota Department of Public Safety […]