Then CSX Transportation CEO E. Hunter Harrison, right, speaks before the Surface Transportation Board in 2017. R.G. Edmonson AURORA, Ill. — Tom Weisner, the former mayor of Aurora, Ill., who passed away recently at the age of 69, was honored at a service Monday for his leadership of Illinois’ second-largest city. But beyond the city’s […]
Class I railroad earnings expectations Bill Stephens CSX Transportation will lead off the Class I railroad fourth-quarter earnings reports on Wednesday in what’s expected to be a parade of record results across the industry in a year when volume was up, costs declined, and revenue grew even faster. For the fourth quarter and the full […]
Retiring BNSF Railway Executive Chairman Matt Rose David Lassen MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – It is becoming more clear that Precision Scheduled Railroading is the subject that devours all other rail topics in its path. Anyone who doubts that need only have spent four days at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference at the […]
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern’s new operating plan is gaining traction. The railroad is moving faster than it has in nearly two years as average train speeds have climbed 28 percent during the past eight weeks. Last week’s 22.8-mph average train speed was the highest NS has posted since the spring of 2017 and was […]
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – Three Class I railroads presented 2019 capital plan information during Wednesday’s final day of the National Railroad Contractors and Maintenance Association Conference. While none yet had approved dollar figures to offer for their 2019 capital spending, all offered some notable information. A westbound train exits Mount Macdonald Tunnel in September 2007. […]
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – Catching up on some notable moments from the first three days of the National Railroad Contractor and Maintenance Association Conference: PRECISION SCHEDULED RAILROADING AND CAPITAL PROJECTS: Tuesday’s panel discussion on Precision Scheduled Railroading, featuring three current or former Canadian National executives and Howard Green, author of the biography of former CEO […]
Matt Rose, BNSF Railway Executive Chairman TRAINS: David Lassen The criticism BNSF Railway Executive Chairman Matt Rose leveled at the other Class I railroads regarding their Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plans has been greeted by silence. None of the other five big systems — each of which is running or shifting to an operating plan […]
How did your favorite railroad fare in traffic growth last year? Probably about the same as every other railroad. Five of the big six Class I systems ran neck-and-neck and ended 2018 with 4-percent traffic growth, according to a review of the railroads’ Association of American Railroads weekly carload reports for the final week of […]
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – The introduction of positive train control remains very much a work in progress, with all the bugs and growing pains that accompany a new technology. But for all that, PTC has definitely begun demonstrating its ability to avoid accidents. Jim LeVere, BNSF Railway vice president, engineering – signals, telecommunications and network […]
Matt Rose MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – Matt Rose thinks the railroad industry is placing itself at regulatory risk with its embrace of Precision Scheduled Railroading. “We have this common-carrier obligation to provide freight service to all customers in all markets,” said Rose, BNSF Railway’s executive chairman, during a Monday morning “fireside chat” at the annual […]
HO scale freight cars Pullman-Standard 4,740-cubic-foot-capacity three-bay covered hopper. Burlington Northern (Cascade Green, three-pack features paint scheme variations); Chicago & North Western (green, gray, and yellow schemes); Milwaukee Road (gray); Montana Rail Link (gray); Pillsbury (gray with black underbody); and Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern (gray). Three single cars and one three-pack per scheme. Roller-bearing […]
President Donald Trump The White House When Trains editors look at the Top 10 stories of the year, it’s always a close call on which stories make it and which do not. Here are the stories that came close, but didn’t quite make the Top Ten cut for 2018. California High Speed Rail: Seemingly on […]
