Port Authority, Watco partner on new Port Birmingham warehouse

Watco logo, new version as of 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has awarded a grant toward a $1.9 million project for a warehouse and other improvements at Watco-served Port Birmingham. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Port Authority is contributing $1.1 million toward project, which includes a 25,000-square-foot warehouse and improvements to attract other commodities requiring indoor storage. […]

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Union Pacific train derails in El Paso

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

EL PASO, Texas — About a dozen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed early Wednesday morning in central El Paso, KTSM-TV reports. The derailment occurred underneath a bridge where Cotton Street meets Interstate 10 at about 2:45 a.m. Cars involved included grain cars and some empty tank cars, a railroad representative told the station. […]

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U.S. rail traffic again shows notable decline

Table showing weekly carload rail traffic statistics by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed a significant slide for the second consecutive week, with overall volume down 7.4% from the same week in 2021. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show 498,011 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending April 23, 2022. That includes total carloads, down 4.5%, and 268,976 containers and […]

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M&StL at Roland, Iowa

Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway

Minneapolis & St. Louis 2-6-0 310, power for the Marshalltown–Story City, Iowa, mixed train, switches at Roland, the biggest source of traffic on the 38-mile Story City branch line, in the late 1940s. William F. Armstrong photo […]

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STB seeks ways to quickly ease railroad service problems

Train with blue and yellow locomotives rounds curve

WASHINGTON — There were more questions than answers on Tuesday as federal regulators sought ways to remedy railroad service problems that defy a quick fix because they are rooted in a shortage of train crews. Shippers told the Surface Transportation Board that rail service has deteriorated, with delays mounting as transit times have in some […]

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How will railroads flourish in a renewable-energy world? — Analysis

Freight cars with wind-turbine blades

Railroads will not replace each coal hopper with a flat car of windmill blades, but America’s commitment to increasing its use of renewable energy is altering the relationship between railroads and energy. Whether through the transportation of raw materials, intermodal, or network capacity, renewables will affect railroads’ business because of how it is interwoven in […]

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Antique Trackmobiles in railroading for the modeler to savor

Antique Trackmobiles in railroading: black and white image of traction engine moving freight cars.

Antique Trackmobiles in railroading, is one way to describe them. The photographer of Pennsylvania Railroad No. 445 uses “doodlebug” in his caption. They’re more descriptively described as “rubber tired switchers” on a Pennsylvania Railroad railfan site. Whatever you call them, the trackless locomotives once employed by railroads are clearly ancestors of today’s Trackmobiles and similar […]

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BNSF train derails in Texas

BNSF Railway logo

ROGERS, Texas — Twenty-two cars of a BNSF Railway train derailed Sunday between Rogers and Buckholts, Texas, the Milam County Sheriff’s Office reported. No injuries were reported, and no hazardous materials were involved, KWTX-TV reports. No other information was reported. The derailment site is parallel to U.S. Route 190 about 14 miles south of Temple, […]

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Rocky Mountaineer’s Colorado Adventure

In the fall of 2021, Trains.com staff rode Amtrak train no. 5, California Zephyr from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Denver, Colorado, with the expressed intent of capturing seasonal operations of Rocky Mountaineer’s Colorado-Utah excursion. While best known for day treks into the Canadian Rockies, this new Rocky Mountaineer route offers patrons a similar mountain canyon experience […]

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STB seeks to amend rules on emergency rail service

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation is proposing to amend its emergency service regulations to allow immediate relief for shippers in situations requiring such action, including clarifying that the board may act on its own initiative to require emergency service. “The rail service challenges shippers are currently experiencing are amplified by certain recent conditions but are […]

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Let the railroad service blame game begin: Analysis

Crew_Labor_Lassen

Executives from the big four U.S. railroads — BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific — will take turns in the hot seat next week during two days of Surface Transportation Board hearings on widespread service problems. Federal regulators, fed up with ongoing shipper complaints, will want to know how and when the […]

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