TACOMA, Wash. — Prosecutors in Pierce County, Wash., have filed a felony charge against a 65-year-old Tacoma man accused with derailing one car of an oil train to derail on Tuesday in Tacoma’s Tideflats industrial area. The Tacoma News Tribune reports the man was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with a felony count of […]
Type of Train: Freight
Intermodal traffic still the issue as weekly US rail traffic remains down
WASHINGTON — As has been the case every week in 2023, weekly U.S. rail traffic was below 2022 levels for the week ending May 6, 2022, in this case by 6.6%. Total traffic was 471,859 carloads and intermodal units, with 231,718 carloads, down 0.04%, and 240,141 intermodal units, down 12.1% compared to the corresponding week […]
BLET ratifies contract with South Buffalo Railway
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen members have ratified a new agreement with the South Buffalo Railway, the union announced Wednesday. Union members ratified the agreement on May 5. The three-year contract includes a $1,000 signing bonus and wage increases of 5.5% this year, 4.5% in 2024, and 4% in 2025. It […]
End-of-train devices replaced cabooses
End-of-train devices replaced cabooses that, not so long ago, train watchers almost everywhere could count on as a final point of interest at the end of each freight train. The distinctive little cars housed crew members who would observe the cars ahead for defects, process the train’s paperwork, operate track switches, monitor the air-brake system […]
Grand Trunk Western F3s on freight
Two Grand Trunk Western F3s, dressed in the memorable but short-lived livery of parent Canadian National, wheel fast freight 492 (68 cars, all loads, including 63 reefers) near GTW’s crossing with the Pennsy and Nickel Plate west of Valparaiso, Ind., in May 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Railway Safety Act advances out of committee (second update)
WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a significantly revised version of the Railway Safety Act today (Wednesday, May 10), advancing the bill to the full Senate. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the bill, introduced in the wake of the Feb. 3 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, passed by a 16-11 margin, a […]
Norfolk Southern tells senators it will reimburse property-value losses because of East Palestine derailment
WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern will establish a fund to reimburse homeowners near the site of the East Palestine derailment who sell their homes for less than they were worth before the incident, Reuters reports. NS CEO Alan Shaw informed U.S. senators of the plan in a letter on Tuesday, saying those eligible will be “within […]
Senate committee to vote on Railway Safety Act
WASHINGTON — Expect changes today when the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation votes on the Railway Safety Act, the bipartisan bill introduced in March in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. The American Chemistry Council and Association of American Railroads both issued statements Tuesday in favor of an amended version of […]
Man arrested after derailment of tank cars in Tacoma, Wash.
TACOMA, Wash. — A 65-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for tampering with railroad equipment, causing a derailment of tank cars carrying oil in Tacoma’s Tideflats industrial area. The Tacoma News Tribune, which reported the arrest, did not report the man’s name or any additional identifying details. The incident occurred about 7:55 a.m. Tuesday and involved […]
New CSX-served facility creates feedstock for renewable fuels
PASCAGOULA, Miss. — A new plant to create feedstock for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel has opened at a Pascagoula site served by CSX Transportation. The Oleo-X facility has the potential to produce up to 300 million gallons of premium feedstock per year. The innovative facility enables the processing of low-carbon, inedible oils, including […]
News report says Colorado Pacific has ended pursuit of Tennessee Pass line
Colorado Pacific Railroad, the rail enterprise of Colorado billionaire Stefan Soloviev, is no longer pursuing purchase of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western Tennessee Pass line, according to the nonprofit website Colorado Newsline. The railroad’s general counsel, William Osborn, told the site Soloviev — a major New York developer and chairman of Crossroads Agriculture, […]
Coal producers urge STB to reject competitor’s request for emergency service order
WASHINGTON — Navajo Transitional Energy Co.’s request for an emergency service order that would force BNSF Railway to handle more of its export coal would jeopardize service for other Powder River Basin coal producers, a mining company and the Crow Tribe have told federal regulators. NTEC, in a complaint filed with the Surface Transportation Board […]
