WASHINGTON — The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association has announced winners of its 2018 Field Employee of the Year and Projects of the Year awards, to be handed out at the upcoming NRC conference at Marco Island, Fla. Joe Sudduth of Herzog Contracting Corp. has been named Field Employee of the Year after most […]
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 […]
A Cargill unit feed train rolls through Shawnee, Kan., in June 2009. The train consists of covered bathtub gondolas pulled from coal service. Zach Pumphery Q While traveling near Atchison, Kan., I noticed a BNSF Railway train with covered bathtub coal gondolas. What were the covers for, and could they be removed should they be […]
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 […]
A Union Pacific train crosses underneath a positive train control-equipped signal bridge on BNSF Railway tracks in Cajon Pass, Calif., in 2013. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A year ago, three of the Class I railroad systems — Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and CSX Transportation — were operating under the late E. Hunter Harrison’s Precision Scheduled Railroading […]
A Southwest Chief inspection train hosting community leaders pauses at La Junta, Colo, on Aug 4, 2016. A federal grant will pay for the installation of PTC on the Chief’s route between Dodge City, Kan., and Las Animas, Colo., near La Junta. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — In a boost to efforts to maintain the route […]
A CSX K-series unit train passes the signals at CP 79 in Harborcreek, Pa., just before the PTC cut over in March 2018. Stephan M. Koenig WASHINGTON — This was a significant year for many who followed railroads trackside as change was definitely felt and seen all over the U.S. rail network. It was the […]
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 and GP38-2W diesel locomotive. GP38-2: Canadian Pacific (Action Red with Multimark herald in three road numbers, maroon-and-gray with script lettering in one number), Southern Pacific (scarlet-and-gray scheme with Roman lettering in four numbers, speed lettering in one number), and Southern Ry. (high short hood with paper or oil bath […]
HO scale locomotives General Electric Dash 9-44CW. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (red-and-silver warbonnet, three road numbers); BC Rail (red, white, and blue and solid blue schemes, two numbers each); BNSF Ry. (Heritage II scheme, three numbers); CSX (yellow, blue, and gray scheme, three numbers); Norfolk Southern (red-and-gray scheme, one number); and Union Pacific (as-delivered […]
A Norfolk Southern SD70ACe pushes on an empty crude oil train in Toledo, Ohio, in March 2013. Michael D. Harding Q Watching passing freight trains, I’ve seen a locomotive located in the middle or at the end of the train. Are these pusher locomotives being run by remote control by the engineer in the lead […]
Northstar at St. Paul Union Depot in 2017. Steve Glischinski ST. PAUL, Minn. – For only the second time since it began service in 2009, a Northstar commuter train will provide revenue service to St. Paul Union Depot. The commuter trains normally operate over 40 miles of BNSF Railway track between Big Lake and Minneapolis. […]
SEATTLE — In a busy year for changes in operators for short lines in the Pacific Northwest, here’s another one. This time it’s a BNSF Railway-owned line in northeastern Washington and southern British Columbia currently operated by OmniTrax subsidiary Kettle Falls International Railway. The new operator, according to Surface Transportation Board filings, will […]
