A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation study of a proposed Philadelphia-Reading passenger rail operation estimates the 12-station, 59-mile service could attract up to 6,400 passengers daily, but notes several significant issues that must be addressed while laying out five steps that will be necessary to determine the concept’s feasibility. The report, released last week, notes that […]
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, […]
Saturday morning rail news: NS to lay off 17 at Juniata Locomotive Shop Norfolk Southern will furlough 17 mechanical workers at its Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, Pa., the Altoona Mirror reports. Ten carmen, six boilermakers, and one laborer will be laid off, the newspaper reports, citing information from a shop employee. A report last […]
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 […]
In a year when all of the big Class I railroads lost volume due to the economic impact of the pandemic, Canadian Pacific came out on top. CP’s volume declined 2.2% in 2020, well above the average 6.8% decline of the big six systems, according to a Trains News Wire review of the railroads’ weekly […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Cleanup of NS derailment in Gary, Ind., could keep highway closed 10 days It could be another 10 days before U.S. Route 12 is reopened in Gary, Ind., at the site of a pre-Christmas derailment of a Norfolk Southern train. The Chicago Tribune reports that while NS reopened its line on […]
Perhaps no one has summed up the pandemic’s impact on rail traffic and operations in 2020 better than CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote. “The last six months have truly been surreal,” Foote told investors and analysts on the company’s earnings call in October. “On last quarter’s call we discussed the largest and most rapid sequential […]
By: Steve Sweeney One of Trains’ sources of information on positive train control and signaling from 2016 to present has been materials from a University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Professional Development signaling basics course taught in Philadelphia. Trains published an article on the course in June, but as the final deadline for a nationwide PTC rollout […]
Product news Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, structures, decals, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroad editors have news on for the week of Dec. 24, 2020. HO scale locomotives Union Pacific gas turbine with tender. Nos. 64 […]
Thursday morning rail news: Environmental assessment finds no significant damage from BNSF derailment, fire An initial assessment of the site of Tuesday’s derailment and fire of a BNSF oil train in Custer, Wash., found no significant environmental damage, according to a Washington state official. The Bellingham Herald reports five cars caught fire after the seven-car […]
Continuing the Trains News Wire countdown of 2020’s top stories: No. 4: The PTC deadline It was a long, expensive process, but the railroad industry has met the huge technological challenge of positive train control. When NJ Transit announced on Dec. 18 that its PTC system had been certified, it meant the last railroad considered […]
Continuing the Trains News Wire countdown of the Top 10 rail stories of 2020: No. 7: Alstom purchases Bombardier Two of the major suppliers of passenger and transit equipment in North America and Europe are combining, with French-based Alstom purchasing the rail business of Montreal-based Bombardier Transportation. The deal, announced in February, creates the second-largest […]
