WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has renewed the charter of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee for a two-year period while adding new members. Friday’s announcement came a day after FRA Deputy Administrator Amit Bose told the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association that the board would be revived to help “management and labor […]
Type of Train: Freight
Reefer block
Reefer block 4-8-2 2605, a product of IC’s own Paducah (Ky.) shops, leads a long string of refrigerator cars north on the main line at Peotone, Ill., in the 1940s. Illinois Central photo […]
Port of Longview receives funding for rail expansion
LONGVIEW, Wash. — The Port of Longview will receive a $16 million federal grant to help fund its multiyear Industrial Rail Corridor Expansion. The project will double rail capacity at the port. Funds will be used to construct a six-track rail right-of-way adjacent to the existing corridor, two additional 8,500-foot tracks and increase the length […]
Milwaukee Road freight trains photo gallery
All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]
CSX Transportation celebrates Carolina Connector intermodal terminal opening
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — CSX hosted North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, N.C. Department of Transportation officials, and others at the official ribbon-cutting today for the $160 million Carolina Connector, the newest intermodal terminal on the CSX network. Strategically located northeast of Raleigh, N.C., with easy access to Interstate 95, the new CCX terminal will help […]
News photo: New Illinois-based locomotive leaser’s first unit has its day in the sun (and palm trees)
MADISON, Ill. — Gulf Coast Railway Equipment Leasing is the name for the new locomotive leasing service of Quality Rail in Madison, Ill. Its first unit glows in the morning sun, awaiting finishing touches, before it gets shipped to Alton Steel for lease service. This unit and one other sister, both former Terminal Railroad of […]
Franklin Park crossovers separate Canadian Pacific and Metra moves
FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. — It’s not the largest or most essential component of a decades-long, $4.6 billion dollar effort to unclog Chicago’s rail network called CREATE. But completion of the $14.5 million Metra/Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades Project is typical of incremental improvements that sporadic funding achieves. Six crossovers and associated signaling now allow Canadian Pacific […]
Canadian National defends intermodal growth strategy
MONTREAL — Canadian National executives defended their intermodal growth strategy today, saying it’s the best way to compete with trucks and bring new profitable traffic to the railway over the next decade. Activist investor TCI Fund Management, which has launched a proxy fight to replace CEO JJ Ruest and four board members, has been critical […]
Rail service in British Columbia halted by flooding (updated)
HOPE, British Columbia — Flooding battering the province of British Columbia has disrupted rail service, as well as forcing evacuations and washing away highways. The CBC reports Canadian Pacific’s line through the Fraser River Canyon has been closed because of flood damage north of Hope, B.C., and that a Canadian National train derailed because of […]
CSX building Transflo terminal at site of Tilford Yard in Atlanta
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote ordered the hump bulldozed at Tilford Yard in December 2017, he proclaimed, “Atlanta hump yard today is flat. There is no turning back.” But there is moving forward: CSX is building a transload center on a portion of the former site of Tilford Yard, one of […]
CSX, CP named to Dow Jones Sustainability Index (updated)
CSX Transportation and Canadian Pacific Railway have been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America, reflecting the railroads’ strong scores in environmental, social, governance, and economic measures. For CSX, the only U.S.-based railroad on the index, it is the 11th consecutive year of being so honored. Canadian Pacific is on the list […]
STB proposes rules on small rate disputes
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has announced proposals on two rules to deal with small rate disputes. The first, responding to a petition by five Class I railroads, would create a new voluntary arbitration program for small disputes, which would function alongside the existing arbitration program. Details on that proposal are available in this […]