RailPulse, Railinc agreement will boost development of car-monitoring telematics

Logo of RailPulse consortium

RailPulse, the consortium effort to develop a remote monitoring system for freight railcars, has entered a 10-year agreement with Railinc Corp. to develop, maintain, and operate RailPulse’s technology platform. RailPulse says the agreement with Railinc, the rail-data affiliate of the Association of American Railroads, will allow it to deploy its monitoring system later this year. […]

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Canadian Pacific reaches deal with shipping line CMA CGM

Canadian Pacific Railway beaver logo

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific and international shipping line CMA CGM group have reached a multi-year agreement that will see CP become the shipping firm’s primary rail provider in Canada, serving ports in Vancouver, Montreal, and Saint John, New Brunswick. “CP is proud to provide CMA CGM with safe and reliable service that includes the shortest […]

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Testing EMD electric freight locomotives

White electric locomotive on freight train on curve.

Nearly five decades have passed since General Motors debuted two new EMD electric freight locomotives. There were two models: the 6,000-hp GM6C, which operated on two six-wheel trucks, and the 10,000-horsepower GM10B, which operated on three four-wheel trucks. The GM6C began testing in 1975, the GM10B in 1976. The only practical choice for evaluation at […]

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West Virginia Alco-powered short line has Ukrainian ties

Blue end-cab switcher moves coal hoppers across river

ALEXANDER, W.Va. — West Virginia’s coal history is a cyclical tale of boom-and-bust periods driven by the world’s appetite for the state’s most abundant fossil fuel. Agility and resiliency have carried coal and its closely linked partner, railroading, through periods of prosperity and dispersity. Today in one of the state’s most rural dwellings is a […]

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Kansas announces grants for rail infrastructure work

Logo of Kansas Department of Transportation

HUMBOLDT, Kan. — The state of Kansas is awarding $11.5 million in grants for 17 railroad infrastructure rehabilitation and construction projects, Gov. Laura Kelly and Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced. The projects, involving seven railroads and eight shipper locations, will be funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s State Rail Service Improvement fund. Grants range […]

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Non railroad freight car uses: a mysterious Mopac hopper

Black and white photo of a railroad hopper made into a truck.

I hope the main picture here demonstrating non railroad freight car uses is sufficiently absurd to indicate why I selected this for an article. In case it is not: A former Missouri Pacific hopper, shorn of trucks and belly gear, modified with sheet metal or plate steel, no doubt, and masquerading as a semi-truck trailer […]

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Oil leak from derailment near Pittsburgh closes river (update)

Map showing area near Allegheny River

HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — An oil spill from a Norfolk Southern derailment on Thursday has led to the closure of the nearby Allegheny River to boating for the Memorial Day weekend as well as an ongoing road closure. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Thursday afternoon’s derailment in Harmar Township, on the northwestern edge of Pittsburgh, […]

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CN train derails in Saskatchewan (updated)

Canadian National logo

EDGELEY, Saskatchewan — A Canadian National train derailed after striking a road grader near the community of Edgeley on Thursday afternoon, CKRM radio reports. The CBC reports the driver of the vehicle, a 57-year-old man from the rural municipality of Lajord, Sask., was pronounced dead at the scene. Global News reports officers from three detachments […]

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UP coal train derails in Nebraska

Clean-up continues Thursday evening of a Union Pacific coal train derailment near Gothenburg, Neb. (Nebraska State Patrol Troop D, via Twitter)

GOTHENBURG, Neb. — An estimated 30 cars of a Union Pacific coal train derailed Thursday morning two miles southeast of Gothenburg, KOLN/KGIN radio reports. The accident about 7:30 a.m., involving a train eastbound from Wyoming, blocked all three tracks of the UP main line about 35 miles southeast of North Platte, with the railroad working […]

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