WASHINGTON — After the U.S. Senate confirmed two new members for the Amtrak board of directors and reconfirmed Chairman Anthony Coscia last month, President Joe Biden has renominated a previous candidate without advancing anyone based outside the Northeast Corridor for the four remaining term-expired or vacant voting board positions. Nominated is Delaware River and Bay […]
MONTREAL — The latest concept for light rail service for eastern Montreal involves a ground-level system which, in its initial phase, will serve 22 stations in 21 kilometers (13 miles) of track, the CBC reports. The proposal by transit agency Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, or ARTM, is estimated to cost C$10.4 billion. It follows […]
BLAIRSDEN, Calif. — Fourteen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed this afternoon (Sunday, Feb. 11) in the Feather River Canyon, sending cars and coal into the Middle Fork of the Feather River, KOVR-TV reports. The California Office of Emergency Service’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response said it was assessing the environmental impact. Union […]
AURORA, N.C. — Fourteen cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed early Saturday morning near the town of Aurora, leading to a leak of molten sulfur from one car. WITN-TV reports the derailment occurred about 1 a.m. Beaufort County Public Information Officer Brandon Tester told the station the sulfur hardened as it met the cold […]
It always bothered me that I couldn’t identify the engineer in this picture of Amtrak train No. 98, departing Main Street Station in Richmond, Va., on Sept. 14, 1974. He wasn’t the regular throttle jockey, whom I knew. Still, it’s one of my favorite images and was used to promote my first book, From the […]
LONDON, Ontario — An Ontario man arrested for tampering with railroad tracks is not allowed to use tools as a condition of his bail, the London Free Press reports. Wael El-Ghadban, 35, of London, Ont., was arrested Feb. 1 and charged with mischief endangering human life after acts of tampering at several locations in Middlesex […]
CAIRO, Neb. — Three locomotives and 57 cars of a BNSF coal train derailed early this morning (Friday, Feb. 9) near Cairo, News Channel Nebraska reports. No injuries were reported in the incident about 4:45 a.m. along State Route 2, which blocked crossings in a 3-mile stretch from High Street in Cairo to 110th Road southeast […]
Valentine’s Day train rides Sometimes doing something together and on the spur of the moment is the best. Because even the best laid plans can go awry, trust me I know. So … here is a quick, last-minute guide to some of the 2024 Valentine’s Day-themed train rides in the U.S. — just in case […]
WASHINGTON – For the second time in the past three months, federal regulators are being asked to settle a dispute related to Union Pacific’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific. BNSF Railway has requested that the Surface Transportation Board allow it to access a UP-served quarry in Arkansas. In a filing that appeared on the STB […]
Railroading Railroading is violent business. Freight cars coupling sound like small explosions, diesel engines reverberate like distant thunder, and horns at grade crossings are so loud that even deaf people can feel them. So, with all of this violent sound going on, how do you get the attention of a railroader at work? Use more […]
More former British High Speed Train, or HST, trainsets are now on their way to Mexico. An initial shipment of HST equipment arrived last year for passenger service on the Tehuantepec Isthmus Railway/Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec rail line in the south of the country [see “Passenger equipment from Britain, US heads to Mexico,” Trains […]
DORVAL, Quebec — An incorrectly lined derail caused the derailment of a Canadian National train on CSX track in a December 2022 incident near Huntingdon, Quebec, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its final report released Thursday, Feb. 8. No injuries occurred in the incident, which saw two locomotives and six intermodal cars […]
