Heritage locomotives Over the last few decades, railroads have rolled out dozens of specially painted locomotives. Whether they were wrapped or painted, we’re fortunate to live in an era where honoring a company’s past is so visual. We are also lucky we live in an era where paint booths are far and few between and […]
Railroad: Canadian National
Failure of soft subgrade led to 2020 CP grain train derailment, TSB says in accident report
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track subgrade consisting of soft, saturated peat with poor drainage likely led to a sudden failure of that subgrade, triggering a derailment of 53 cars of a Canadian Pacific grain train near Ignace, Ontario, in May 2020, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada indicated in an accident report released Tuesday. Operating […]
Canadian National, Unifor reach tentative contract agreements
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway and two Unifor unions, Local 100 and Council 4000, have reached tentative agreements, the railroad and Unifor announced Monday, averting a possible strike. The agreements cover approximately 3,000 CN employees in mechanical, intermodal, facility management, and clerical positions across Canada, the railroad said. Local 100 represents the mechanical workers and […]
Canadian government to provide $23 million for expansion of transload facility
SURREY, British Columbia — The Canadian government will provide up to C$23 million in funding to expand an agricultural shipping terminal near the U.S. border, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Friday. Money provided from the National Trade Corridors Fund will expand rail capacity at Global Agricultural Trans-Loading in Surrey, B.C., by helping to pay for […]
Two unions vote for strike against CN in Canada
MONTREAL — Two Canadian unions whose contracts with Canadian National Railway expired at the end of 2022 have voted in favor of a strike, CityNews reports. Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 have voted 98% and 97%, respectively, in favor of a strike. The two unions represent about 3,000 workers in mechanical, intermodal, and […]
CN reaches paid sick time agreements with four unions in U.S.
MONTREAL — Canadian National has reached agreements with four mechanical unions in the U.S. regarding paid sick time. The agreements provide workers with four paid sick days plus three personal leave days to be used as sick days, CN said today. The four unions are the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, National Conference […]
Canadian National sets grain tonnage record for February
Canadian National set a grain volume record for February by moving 2.4 million metric tons out of Western Canada for the month, topping the record set last year by 200,000 metric tons. CN attributes February’s performance to increased collaboration between supply chain partners, which helped the railway bounce back from a period of extreme cold. […]
Summertime era-swapping on the White River Division
It’s been more than a decade since Lou Sassi photographed my HO scale White River Division for a feature in the March 2009 Model Railroader. A lot has changed since then. The track plan has been altered to better view and photograph scenes. I also eliminated the duckunder. Now a point-to-point layout, there’s a yard […]
Wayside detectors in spotlight after Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio
Norfolk Southern is inspecting all of its nearly 1,000 wayside hotbox detectors in the wake of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that safety investigators say was caused by a wheel bearing failure. NS also has confirmed that detectors in the East Palestine area were all operating properly when merchandise train 32N rolled […]
Rail leaders defend industry’s commitment to safety as DOT proposes new regulations
Regulators should not impose new safety regulations until the National Transportation Safety Board determines what caused the fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that was carrying hazardous materials through East Palestine, Ohio, rail industry leaders said today. Their remarks came just hours after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation would adopt […]
Class I railroads 101
Class I railroads Class I railroads: If you’re in your car watching a long 100-car freight train roll over a grade crossing, chances are good that the train belongs to one of the Class I systems. The Class Is operate 70% of the total track miles in the U.S., employ 73% of the labor force, […]
Can VIA Rail’s Canadian beat the clock on the busy Canadian National main line?
For years now riding VIA Rail’s Canadian has been more about the experience than arriving on time. A lot more, in fact. Even your boarding pass for VIA’s flagship warns that you shouldn’t book same-day connections at your destination. But things seem to be changing. As part of its effort to run its freights closer […]