NEW YORK — Union Pacific, which is bucking the Precision Scheduled Railroading trend of idling the humps at classification yards, still needs the new hump yard it’s building in Hearne, Texas, CEO Lance Fritz says. The late CEO E. Hunter Harrison converted several hump yards to flat-switching facilities at Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and CSX […]
Name: Canadian Canyons Scale: N (1:160) Size: 5′-7″ x 8′-0″ Prototypes: Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Locale: British Columbia, Canada Era: 2015 to present day Style: multilevel, island Mainline run: 113 feet Minimum radius: 13″ Minimum turnout: Peco code 55 medium Maximum grade: 1.9 percent (in helix) Benchwork: free-standing sectional Height: 40″ Roadbed: Midwest cork strips […]
The westbound Canadian is running 15 hours late on Oct. 14, 2018, as it meets its eastbound counterpart in this shot from the eastbound train. VIA Rail Canada has again adjusted the 2019 Canadian, addressing sightseeing and intermediate-stop issues. Bob Johnston A comparison of VIA’s current and 2019 schedules for the Canadian (click to enlarge). […]
OMAHA, Neb. — The first phase of Union Pacific’s shift to an operating plan based on the principles of Precision Scheduled Railroading appears to be going smoothly. Federal regulators have not received shipper complaints about service and are satisfied that the railroad is keeping its customers informed as it methodically rolls out operational changes on […]
VIA Rail Canada’s flagship Canadian pauses at Sioux Lookout, Ontario, on Oct. 15, 2018. Bob Johnston Dining car Palliser may be more than 60 years old, but it looks flawless as it awaits dinner service as the eastbound Canadian rolls through a sparsely populated portion of Ontario. Bob Johnston SIOUX LOOKOUT, Ont. — The official […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is accelerating the rollout of its Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plan after encouraging signs from the first round of changes on the eastern portion of its system. “While early, I am pleased with the initial results as we’ve seen improvements in several key performance indicators on our network,” CEO Lance […]
Union Pacific multilevel automobile trains pass east of North Platte, Neb., on the railroad’s Overland Route in June 2018. UP has shifted 70 percent of its automotive traffic out of unit trains and into the merchandise network Bill Stephens OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific’s embrace of Precision Scheduled Railroading principles came just two months after […]
A Canadian National train crosses Echo Lake in Burlington, Wis., in May 2018. CN’s CEO says the railroad should pursue other technological opportunities before working on autonomous train operation. TRAINS: David Lassen BOSTON – Canadian National CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest says there’s a whole lot of low-hanging technology fruit that his railroad can pick before moving toward […]
Canadian National CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian shipments of crude by rail, which are already moving at record volumes to the U.S., could double by the end of 2019 as tight pipeline capacity forces oil producers to turn to railroads. With pipeline capacity maxed out in Canada, the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline dealt a blow by […]
OMAHA, Neb. — CSX Transportation’s financial turnaround — including a record-low quarterly operating ratio of 58.6 percent — may increase Wall Street pressure on the rest of the American railroad industry. Analysts compared Union Pacific’s second-quarter results with those of CSX and during the railroad’s earnings call on Thursday asked executives why UP doesn’t measure […]
Canadian Pacific website Union Pacific via Twitter CHICAGO — You could be whistling “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” all the way to bank if you hire out with a Class I railroad that’s having a hard time finding new employees. As the job market tightens and rail traffic climbs, Union Pacific and BNSF Railway […]
Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick J. “Pat” Ottensmeyer TRAINS: David Lassen WASHINGTON — Kansas City Southern has enough motive power and train crews to handle anticipated traffic growth this year, but its key route to Mexico has experienced slowdowns over the past five months amid congestion on Union Pacific in the Houston area. “While we […]
