A Metra train leaves Big Timber Road west of Elgin in 2014. A connection will be built to Union Pacific rails to Rockford in the foreground Bob Johnston CHICAGO – Although Illinois lawmakers and newly-elected Gov. J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, enacted the state’s first infrastructure capital spending legislation in a decade [see “Illinois passes […]
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 diesel locomotive. Burlington Northern (Pacific Pride II in one road number, as-delivered scheme in three numbers, and 1990s scheme in one number); Conrail (as-delivered scheme in three numbers, with white sill in two numbers, and “Quality” and Operation Lifesaver schemes in one number each); Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (post-delivery […]
Each week, Trains‘ staff offers a run-down of the week’s rail news. This week, Trains‘ Digital Editor Steve Sweeney talks about delays for Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, flooding in Arkansas and Missouri, wishing Canadian National a happy birthday, and more! Only from Trains! […]
A number of factors are behind the broad decline in North American rail traffic this year, Class I railroad executives say. But they expect traffic to rebound in the second half of the year, the executives told investor conferences this week even as two railroads lowered their volume outlooks for the year. Among the factors […]
Wm. K. Walthers HO scale Electro-Motive Division GP15-1 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP15-1 diesel locomotive. BNSF Ry. (Heritage I), Canadian Pacific (red and black with road name only), Conrail (blue), CSX (dark blue and yellow), Norfolk Southern (Thoroughbred scheme), and Union Pacific (Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray with lightning stripe). Direct-current […]
DALLAS — Trinity Rail Maintenance Services, a subsidiary of carbuilder Trinity Rail, has announced it will build a $60 million railcar repair facility in the eastern Iowa community of Shell Rock. The company, headquartered in Dallas, has purchased a 230-arce site for the facility, which will employ more than 250 people when completed in 2020. […]
CHICAGO — Canadian National officials seek to double-track 4.27 miles of former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern track to speed the flow of freight and bypass Chicago’s congested rail hub, but the plan is facing a regulatory hurdle and growing opposition from municipalities and residents. CN, acting under its Wisconsin Central Limited Railroad subsidiary, has applied […]
With a Canadian National unit in the lead, a northbound BNSF Railway train crosses the international bridge over the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas, in May 2019. Bill Stephens WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s proposal to hit Mexican imports with tariffs beginning next month could eventually hurt cross-border rail traffic that has been a […]
The former Canadian Pacific branch line right-of-way at Tweed, Ontario, seen in 2016, is where VIA is considering building new “high-frequency rail” tracks. Bob Johnston MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada’s new president and CEO reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the “high-frequency rail” plan championed by her predecessor, but no decision has been made on the […]
Loop Capital Markets SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Rail service has been poor more often than it’s been good during the past five years because railroads run too lean and get caught short of crews, locomotives, or both and can’t recover quickly from the impact of unexpected events. So says Rick Paterson, a one-time Australian railroader […]
SEATTLE — The Alberni Pacific Railway, the tourism excursion service that gives visitors a taste of industrial railroading in the forests of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, won’t be operating this season because repairs are needed for both the steam and diesel locomotives it has been using. “The No. 7 Baldwin 2-8-2T steam locomotive is undergoing […]
MONTREAL — Rob Reilly, a 30-year veteran of the rail industry with Santa Fe and BNSF, has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Canadian National, effective July 1. The railroad also announced the promotion of Michael Foster to executive vice president and chief information and technology officer, effective June 3. Reilly, […]
