LOMBARD, Ill. – Class I railroad mergers are not the sure path to efficiency gains that they once were within the industry. So says Canadian National President and CEO JJ Ruest at the winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers in Lombard on Thursday. Ruest notes that as the entire industry has […]
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WASHINGTON — Representatives of six Class I railroads and a coalition of labor unions representing more than 125,000 railroaders are set to begin the next round of contract negotiations on Feb. 26 and 27 in Washington. According to officials with SMART Transportation Division, one of the largest unions represented in the talks, negotiations are expected […]
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HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP40-2 diesel locomotive. Boston & Maine (as-delivered scheme in two road numbers, all blue and black repaint in one number), Canadian Pacific (non-standard simplified repaint in one number, with gold beaver herald and red-and-white frame stripe in two numbers), Norfolk Southern (black and white, three numbers), Southern Pacific (scarlet and […]
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CORONADO, Calif. — A few final notes from last week’s National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado: NS communications restructuring: One unique aspect of Norfolk Southern’s “reimagining,” — its label for Precision Scheduled Railroading-style changes — is that it has spun off its communication and signals group, historically part of its engineering […]
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in December that a railroad can countersue allegedly negligent employees who have already sued the railroad for injuries they received in an accident they may have caused. The court ruled that counterclaims filed by a railroad against its allegedly negligent employees are not prohibited by the Federal […]
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A GE-built ES44AH leads a westbound CSX Transportation freight through Palmer, Mass., where new signal hardware has been installed to replace Conrail-era signals. Brian Solomon CORONADO, Calif. – The advent of positive train control is bringing some unanticipated benefits to railroad signals and communications departments. So said representatives of BNSF Railway, and Canadian National, CSX […]
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CORONADO, Calif. — If there’s a trend in this year’s Class I capital plans — at least as they’re being presented at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference — it’s that the railroads are keeping the nature of those plans closer to the vest than they have at previous conferences. Dollar figures for […]
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Analysts expect fourth quarter earnings to fall at four of the six publicly traded Class I railroads as cost cutting, rate increases, and share buybacks were not enough to offset the impact of traffic declines. On average, earnings per share at the six publicly traded railroads will fall by 1%, according to consensus estimates by […]
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HO scale freight cars General American 20,000-gallon general service tank car. Alaska RR (five road numbers [two single cars and one three-pack]), Emery (white with GATX reporting marks in four numbers), GATX (black with Clean, Oil, Test & Stencil panels and Automatic Car Identification tag; black with “Service Driven” logo; and white), and Reagent Chemical […]
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Canadian Pacific was the only Class I railroad to show volume growth in 2019. CP eked out 0.9% growth in total traffic, well above the industry average of a 3% decline in total volume measured by carloads and intermodal units, according to a Trains News Wire review of the railroads’ weekly carload reports. CP also […]
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VIA Rail Canada’s train from Churchill, Manitoba, to Winnipeg derailed on Tuesday, injuring five people on board. Manitoba RCMP, via Twitter KATRIME, Manitoba — VIA Rail Canada’s remote-service train from Churchill, Man., derailed Tuesday morning near Winnipeg, sending two passengers and three crew members to the hospital. Train No. 692 derailed at 6:44 a.m. at […]
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Rapido Trains HO Gunderson Husky-Stack The well has sockets for pins for one long or two short containers. Rapido Trains has released an HO scale Gunderson 53-foot Husky-Stack well car, with etched-metal running boards, new trucks, and factory-installed grab irons. The die-cast metal cars are accurately finished and include two individually numbered 53-foot containers. In […]
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