CSX Transportation’s acquisition of bulk liquid chemicals trucking firm Quality Carriers is a bold and smart move that should help boost the railroad’s carload traffic. The deal, announced last week, matches CSX’s chemicals business — the largest in the East — with the nation’s biggest fleet of truck tankers. The idea is that CSX can team […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
Digest: Metra to restore full Saturday service on seven lines
Metra returns to pre-pandemic Saturday schedules on seven lines May 29 Metra will restore full Saturday service on seven of its 11 lines as of May 29. Returning to pre-pandemic levels, in place of the current schedule used on both Saturdays and Sundays, will be the BNSF, Milwaukee North and West lines; Rock Island District; […]
Digest: Restoration of Illnois Amtrak routes set for July
Full restoration of state-supported Amtrak routes in Illinois set for July 19 The state of Illinois announced plans to restore all service on its four state-supported Amtrak lines as of July 19 as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. The restoration of full schedules on the Chicago-Quincy, Chicago-Carbondale, and Chicago-St. Louis routes in July […]
U.S. rail traffic remains far above 2020 levels, stable within 2021
WASHINGTON — U.S. railroads continue to show significant traffic increases over pandemic-depressed figures from 2020, according to the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads. Statistics for the week ending May 15 show U.S. railroads moved 242,806 carloads, a 31.6% increase over the corresponding week in 2020, and 291,066 containers and trailers, a 25.6% […]
Intermodal engineering
Intermodal engineering Wood planks were common for building piggyback ramps. Large planks formed rub rails (well-used judging by the scars) along the edges, with a notch for the flatcar coupler and a steel bridge plate on the right. Classic Trains magazine collection […]
Norfolk Southern executive says ‘one-person crew’ is a misnomer (updated)
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern’s chief financial officer says the term “one-person crew” is a misnomer that has only stoked controversy about the rail industry’s proposal to use ground-based conductors on routes protected by positive train control. “It’s unfortunate the terminology on one-man crew or one-person crew … because I don’t think it’s really the […]
BNSF and UP at loggerheads over Gulf Coast haulage traffic in Texas
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Union Pacific are locked in a dispute over BNSF haulage rights traffic that moves over UP rails along the Texas Gulf Coast. As part of UP’s acquisition of Southern Pacific in 1996, BNSF gained access to customers along UP between Houston and Brownsville, Texas, which also is a gateway to […]
Digest: Senators introduce bill to provide $1 billion for transit accessibility
Bill would provide grants for accessibility upgrades to transit systems Three U.S. Senators have introduced legislation that would provide $1 billion annually in grant funding to improve public transit accessibility for passengers with disabilities. Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), and Bob Casey (Pa.) have put forward the All Stations Accessibility Program Act […]
Anacostia short lines become partners in EPA SmartWay program
CHICAGO — Anacostia Rail Holding’s six short lines have become certified partners of the Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Transportation Partnership, a collaboration between industry and environmental groups to track and reduce emissions and fuel use in the transportation sector. The more than 3,000 partners in the program, which launched in 2004, including railroads, trucking, air, […]
News photo: Union Pacific officers’ train in Colorado (updated)
An 11-car Union Pacific passenger train pauses at the east portal of Colorado’s Moffat Tunnel on Tuesday while passengers inspect the tunnel’s fan house and control room. The train arrived at Winter Park, Colo., on Monday morning, and departed about 2 p.m. today, stopping at the tunnel before continuing to Denver, where it is laying […]
News photos: UP Lenox Tower demolished
Demolition work began Monday on Union Pacific’s Lenox Tower in Mitchell, Ill., about 20 miles north of St. Louis. The tower is being razed to streamline the interlocking and remove a troublesome puzzle switch as part of a realignment project that will allow increased speeds for Amtrak Lincoln Service trains between Chicago and St. Louis. […]
Michigan Amtrak speeds increase; second Wolverine round trip to be added in July
LANSING, Mich. — Maximum speeds for Amtrak trains on one segment of the Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., corridor will increase to 110 mph as of Tuesday, May 25, and that corridor will see an additional round trip beginning July 19. The higher speed limit will come on 45 miles of state-owned tracks between Kalamazoo and Albion, Mich., […]