NEW YORK — East Coast ports are handling a record number of containers due to ongoing supply chain issues in California and the West, but railroads aren’t seeing this equate to more intermodal volume for a number of reasons. First, rail doesn’t have the same international intermodal market share in the East as it does […]
Type of Train: Freight
Rail employee group voices support for Amtrak Gulf Coast service
WASHINGTON — Railroad Workers United, which describes itself as “an inter-union, cross-craft solidarity caucus of railroad workers and their supporters,” has expressed its support for Amtrak’s efforts to launch service on the Gulf Coast — while taking more than a few shots at CSX and other Class I railroads. In a statement filed with the […]
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Bob’s Train Box 79
Bob’s Train Box Episode 79 Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Bob’s Train Box Episode 79! Bob Keller and CTT editor Hal Miller check out the latest O gauge holiday boxcar from Atlas O. They also look at buildings from Menards including the Halls of Handsome Barbershop, Cripple Creek Tractor Repair, and Sacred Heart Hospital. The […]
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Bob’s Train Box 79
Bob’s Train Box Episode 79 Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Bob’s Train Box Episode 79! Bob Keller and CTT editor Hal Miller check out the latest O gauge holiday boxcar from Atlas O. They also look at buildings from Menards including the Halls of Handsome Barbershop, Cripple Creek Tractor Repair, and Sacred Heart Hospital. The […]
Wisconsin, Minnesota, receive $31.8 million to upgrade Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago rail route
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Departments of Transportation in Wisconsin and Minnesota will receive a $31.8 million grant for infrastructure upgrades to allow a second Twin Cities-Chicago passenger train, as well as improved freight operation, on the route through La Crosse, Wis., and Milwaukee. Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, and officials […]
Weekly rail traffic remains below 2021 levels
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 5, 2022, remained slightly below 2021 levels, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Overall traffic for the week was 505,177 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.9% from the corresponding week a year earlier. That included 238,870 carloads, a 2.8% increase, and 266,307 […]
Humping at Enola Yard
A boxcar rolls though a retarder in the Pennsylvania’s vast Enola Yard near Harrisburg, Pa., in the early 1950s. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Plan to allow second ‘Pennsylvanian’ includes 12 new or upgraded NS interlockings
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Re-laying a third track on the historic Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna River and building a new 5-mile-long main line track through the Altoona, Pa., yard are part of a proposed Norfolk Southern-Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plan to add a second Pennsylvanian daily passenger train. In addition, the plan would install three […]
CP, KCS launch Lazaro Cardenas-Chicago intermodal service
CHICAGO — In a preview of operations planned if their merger is approved, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have launched interline intermodal service between Mexico’s port of Lázaro Cárdenas and Chicago. The first train arrived at CP’s Bensenville Yard in Illinois on Tuesday. CP said in a press release the service was launched “out […]
International equity firm Antin invests in Lake State Railway
PARIS — International private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has made what it calls “a strategic investment” in Michigan regional railroad Lake State Railway, the companies announced Tuesday. Lake State, founded in 1992, operates 375 route-miles in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, primarily stretching from Plymouth in the south of the state to Gaylord and Alpena in […]
Congress gets an earful about railroad service
WASHINGTON — A combination of Precision Scheduled Railroading and pressure from Wall Street has prompted railroads to slash costs and raise rates while providing less reliable service, rail shippers and labor told Congress on Tuesday. The House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee hearing was focused on the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board and how the […]
Higher federal interest rates should have minimal effect on carloads: analysis
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Americans are expecting the Federal Reserve to quell inflation by increasing interest rates this year, but the Feds’ efforts to reel in inflation shouldn’t curb economic activity or carloads. In fact, uncertainties around higher interest rates may tame spending enough to allow the supply chain to recover after high post-pandemic demand weighed […]