Wabtec wins award for FLXdrive locomotive, Golden Stevie Award; gains contract for equipment in India Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive has been named a winner of Fast Company magazine’s World Changing Ideas for 2021 in the transportation category. The locomotive, which recently concluded more than 13,000 miles of testing in Southern California, uses more than 18,000 […]
Texas Central, Kiewit announce deal for electrical systems Texas Central, the planned high speed Dallas-Houston rail line, has signed a $1.6 billion contract with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. and affiliate Mass. Electric Construction Co. to build the electrical systems needed for propulsion, signaling, and communications for the system replicating the Shinkansen technology of the Central […]
Swamp Rats Argent Lumber 2-6-2 No. 5, a 1910 Lima (left) brings logs to the Bear Creek transfer point as 2-6-0 No. 2, a 1906 Baldwin (right) waits for the exchange. The operation was based in Hardeeville, S.C., and lasted into the late 1950s. Jim Shaughnessy photo […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway corporate parent Berkshire Hathaway is closely watching the battle for Kansas City Southern. Canadian Pacific and Canadian National have dueling bids in place for the smallest Class I railroad, with an eye toward creating the first system to link Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. “Either of those companies acquiring Kansas […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s first-quarter, pre-tax profit rose due to a surge in intermodal volume, as retailers sought to keep shelves and warehouses full and consumers’ online purchases boosted parcel shipments. BNSF’s pre-tax profit was up 4.7% to $1.7 billion, as revenue declined 0.4% to $5.2 billion. “The increase principally resulted from increased volume […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — After five years in which local preservation efforts have delayed efforts to replace the structure, BNSF Railway has asked the U.S. Coast Guard to allow efforts to proceed to demolish the 138-year-old Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge over the Missouri River. The Bismarck Tribune reports BNSF Director of Bridge Maintenance Mike Herzog sent an […]
Canadian Pacific tells STB CN-KCS deal should not receive waiver from 2001 merger rules Canadian Pacific has asked the Surface Transportation Board to rule the proposed merger of Canadian National and Kansas City Southern does not qualify for a waiver from more stringent merger rules adopted in 2001. The STB has already granted that waiver […]
Seatrain Georgia Seatrain Georgia, built in 1951 as one of the last two 1928-style rail car ships, is on the Hudson River at the start of a voyage. The vessels carried mostly boxcars, with tank cars and gondolas a distant second and third. Her colors are gray and white, with red funnel markings. U. S. […]
Throughout the 1960s, my grandfather owned a filling station in the tiny town of Lanagan, south of Joplin in the southwestern corner of Missouri on the Kansas City Southern main line. Every weekend I would be at the station, and once my chores were done, I was free to wander about the area. The KCS […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation will gradually rebuild Pan Am Railways’ slow main line track, pare its aging locomotive roster, and extend positive train control over the full route of Amtrak’s Downeaster service that links Boston and Maine. CSX detailed its plans for the New England regional in a more detailed merger application filed this week with […]
Dutchtown Southern, the smallest railroad you’ve never heard of, just might be the biggest story in railroading. The Watco short line began operations in January on 1.76 miles of track leased from Canadian National in Geismar, La. Located some 20 miles south of Baton Rouge along a bend in the Mississippi River, the Dutchtown Southern […]
West Virginia fails to fund MARC service, placing future in doubt The future of MARC commuter rail service to West Virginia is again in doubt after the state legislature failed to include service for the funding in its 2021-22 budget. The Martinsburg Journal-News reports state Senate President Craig Blair said he struck the commuter train […]
