Friday morning rail news: — After almost four weeks, the blockade of Canadian Pacific tracks near Montreal has finally ended. This morning, Mohawks at Kahnawake, Quebec, lifted the blockade in what a spokesman called “a gesture of good faith.” The Montreal Gazette reports that one of the protesters said the blockade could resume at any […]
New MARS President Stefan Loeb, left, is congratulated by outgoing president Tom Surma, who was honored for his leadership at the 2020 Winter Meeting in January. MARS submitted photo CHICAGO — The Midwest Association of Rail Shippers (MARS) elected its 2020 slate of officers at the annual winter meeting earlier in January. The 2020 MARS […]
Rapido Trains HO scale General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives General Electric B36-7 diesel locomotive. Southern Pacific (as delivered); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; British Columbia Ry. (red, white, and blue “lightning stripe”); Conrail (as delivered, CSX patched numbers, and Norfolk Southern patched numbers); CSX (blue, yellow, and gray); Minnesota Commercial; Seaboard System […]
William Flynn, chairman and former CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide and a former CSX executive, will succeed Richard Anderson as Amtrak CEO. Following a New York Times report earlier today, Amtrak confirmed the hiring with a press release late Monday morning. The passenger railroad says Flynn will take over as CEO on April 15, with […]
A CSX train passes through Blue Island, Ill., in September 2019. CSX led Class I railroads in operating ratio in 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen The operating ratio at every Class I railroad fell below 65% for the first time in 2019 as the industry average improved to an all-time low of 61.9%. The increased profitability […]
A Gulf Coast inspection train pauses at Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Feb. 18, 2016. Four years after the trip hosted by the Southern Rail Commission and Amtrak, there is still no firm cost estimate for what CSX Transportation will require to allow service to be reinstated. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Each year following the […]
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett runs a BNSF Railway model train as BNSF CEO Carl R. Ice, right, looks on during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb., in 2019. BNSF Railway OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway has improved its profit margins without having to adopt Precision Scheduled Railroading, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett […]
Bachmann HO scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive HO scale locomotives 2-10-0 Russian Decapod steam locomotive. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Erie; St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco, with doghouse); Western Pacific; and painted black but unlettered. Dual-mode TCS WOWSound decoder; Keep-Alive capacitor; Chuffinity technology; cog V-belt flywheel drive; metal motor bearings; separately applied stack, domes, cab, […]
A look at Monday morning rail news: — CSX Transportation will reactivate its idled Hulsey Yard in Atlanta, a decision announced just days after city officials drafted a resolution regarding possible future use for the property. Curbed Atlanta quotes CSX spokesman Bryan Tucker as saying the 70-acre facility, formerly an intermodal terminal, will become a […]
WASHINGTON D.C. — A federal judge has decided that crew size will be part of the debate during the upcoming round of national bargaining set to begin this week, and unions say they will work together to protect two-person crews. Late last year, eight major freight railroads filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in […]
More Friday morning rail news: — The Tennessee legislature’s transportation committee has passed a bill supporting a feasibility study for Amtrak service between Nashville and Atlanta, responding to an idea proposed by Amtrak in January [see “Amtrak suggests new routes to Tennessee legislative committee,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 17, 2020]. Curbed Atlanta reports the study […]
Thursday morning rail news: — The Colorado Department of Transportation and Union Pacific have reached agreement on sale of 59 acres of the former Burnham Yard, UP’s ex-Rio Grande facility in downtown Denver. Colorado Public Radio says the non-binding agreement sets a price of $50 million for the land, which could be used for a […]
