Inside a CN “Skyview” obs car

20150316

Passengers on Canadian National’s Scotian between Montreal and Halifax, Nova Scotia, enjoy the view from one of CN’s “Skyview” sleeper-observation cars in September 1967. Built by Pullman-Standard for the Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha, the six “Skytop” cars, as MILW called them, were sold to CN after the Olympian Hi was discontinued. George G. Weiss photo […]

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STB must give CN-Iowa Northern deal more scrutiny, CPKC says

Canadian National and lease locomotive with Iowa Northern locomotives on bridge

WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City insists that it did not miss any deadlines when it asked federal regulators to give Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of Iowa Northern Railway a more thorough review. CN this week claimed that CPKC missed two deadlines when it asked the Surface Transportation Board to consider the $230 million deal […]

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Court blocks CN plans for new Toronto-area intermodal facility

Rendering of proposed rail yard

MILTON, Ontario — A Canadian court has blocked Canadian National Railway’s plans for its Milton Logistics Hub, a $250 million intermodal project first proposed in 2015 and approved by the federal government in 2021. While the government attached 325 environmental conditions to the approval [see “Canadian National’s proposed Toronto-area intermodal terminal …,” Trains News Wire, […]

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TSB to investigate CN derailment in Alberta

Canadian National logo

ST. ALBERT, Alberta — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate the derailment of a Canadian National Railway train today (Monday, March 4) in St. Albert, the agency has announced. CTV News reports the derailment occurred about 7 a.m. and involved 16 cars, seven of which contained diesel fuel. The other nine were empty. […]

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CPKC and Iowa Interstate ask regulators to take closer look at CN-Iowa Northern deal

Freight train with seven red, gray, and yellow locomotives

WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Iowa Interstate on Friday asked federal regulators to designate Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of Iowa Northern as a “significant” transaction that would require a longer and more rigorous review process. Last week the Surface Transportation Board accepted CN’s application to acquire Iowa Northern and said the $230 million […]

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Amtrak’s F40M-2F locomotives: Where are they now?

Two silver and yellow locomotives on track with snow

F40M-2F locomotives In the late 1990s, Amtrak converted a handful of its F40PH locomotives to locomotives suitable for freight service. At the time, new Genesis engines from General Electric were fast replacing its massive fleet of F40PHs in mainline service. Amtrak would produce 14 F40M-2F locomotive that featured a number of changes, including removal of […]

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CN, United Steelworkers announce tentative three-year agreement

Logo of United Steelworkers Canada

MONTREAL — Canadian National and United Steelworkers Local 2004, which represents CN track and bridge employees in Canada, have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract, the railroad announced today (Friday, March 1) The union represents more than 2,500 workers, primarily responsible for track maintenance. Negotiations had been underway since October 2023; the […]

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Broken wheel led to 2020 CN potash train derailment, TSB says

Diagram of derailed train at site including bridge

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A broken wheel led to the derailment of 61 cars of a Canadian National potash train near Floods, B.C., in the Fraser River Canyon in a 2020 incident, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its final accident report. The report on the Sept. 14, 2020, derailment of the Vancouver-bound […]

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