All through January 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the New York Central Railroad. This week, feast your eyes on freight trains, in black-and-white, and color, from deep in Appalachia, to Manhattan’s High Line. See what we’ve unearthed from the David P. Morgan Library on this great railroad. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Type of Train: Freight
Oberman named as STB chairman (corrected)
President Joe Biden has designated Martin Oberman as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board. Oberman, who joined the board in January 2019, is current serving his first five-year term on the board, which is slated to expire Dec. 31, 2023. A former Chicago city council alderman, he was chairman of Metra’s board from 2014 to […]
Digest: New agreement allows BNSF Bismarck bridge project to move forward
Still more Monday morning rail news: New agreement allows BNSF Bismarck bridge project to move forward without final decision on current bridge BNSF Railway’s long-running effort to replace its 138-year-old Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge over the Missouri River can continue to move forward after a new agreement between the railroad, the U.S. Coast Guard, and […]
Digest: BNSF train derails in Arizona, prompting lengthy ‘Southwest Chief’ delay
More Monday morning rail news: BNSF intermodal train derails in Arizona, stopping Southwest Chief No injuries were reported when a BNSF intermodal train derailed Sunday afternoon near Joseph City, Ariz., KPHO-TV reports. Photos show several double-stack well cars off the tracks, with containers overturned. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office says the accident was reported about 1 […]
Digest: Conservation groups ask STB for full environmental review of Tennessee Pass revival
Monday midday rail news: Conservation groups ask for full environmental review before Tennessee Pass operations can resume Conservation group American Whitewater, joined by seven other organizations and almost 700 individuals, have asked the Surface Transportation Board to require a full Environmental Impact Statement for the resumption of rail service on Tennessee Pass. The Friday filing asks the […]
Canadian National’s proposed Toronto-area intermodal terminal wins government approval
OTTAWA – Canadian environmental officials have given Canadian National a green light for the $250 million intermodal terminal it aims to build outside of Toronto. The minister of environment and climate change last week announced the government’s decision to approve the Milton Logistics Hub, subject to 325 environmental conditions that would make it the most […]
NTSB: Brake and end-of-train device problems led to deadly Sherman Hill runaway (updated)
WASHINGTON — A brake system failure — which included an air flow restriction and the failure of an end-of-train device to respond to an emergency brake command — was the probable cause of the October 2018 runaway and subsequent collision that killed two Union Pacific crewmen on Sherman Hill in Wyoming, the National Transportation Safety Board […]
Digest: Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority elects first president
Friday afternoon rail news: Montana’s Bky Sky Passenger Rail Authority elects Strohmaier as president Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, the driving force behind the effort to create Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, will serve as first president of the organization, the Missoula Current reports. In its second official meeting on Wednesday, the organization learned that […]
Canadian National CEO Ruest to serve as advisor to autonomous trucking company
SAN DIEGO — TuSimple, one of the companies aiming to develop self-driving trucks, has added Canadian National CEO JJ Ruest to its newly created executive advisory board. The announcement, which the San Diego-based company made this week, comes after CN was among the investors in a $350 million round of funding for the trucking startup. […]
Digest: Biden executive order requires masks on trains, other forms of transportation
Friday morning rail news: Executive order requires masks on trains, transit, other modes of transportation President Joe Biden has signed an executive order mandating use of face coverings on trains, public transit, planes, intercity busses, and in airports, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper says that order and one signed Wednesday requiring masks on federal […]
Kansas City Southern projecting double-digit growth in 2021
KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Kansas City Southern, which reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings growth today, expects revenue to grow at least 11% this year as cross-border petroleum and intermodal traffic continue to soar. “We feel very good about 2021 and beyond,” CEO Pat Ottensmeyer told investors and analysts on the railroad’s earnings call on Friday […]
Coronavirus infections hit Kansas City Southern operations in Mexico
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The coronavirus pandemic has hit Kansas City Southern de Mexico particularly hard, with up to 15% of the railroad’s train crews out on leave due to COVID-19. On a typical day, about 5% of train crews systemwide mark off due to coronavirus on both sides of the border, KCS executives said […]