Soo Line legacy

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A southbound CN freight passes the former Soo Line station in Waukesha, Wis., in 2012. Brian Schmidt Q How did Canadian National end up operating the former Soo Line route through Wisconsin. I thought the Soo was affiliated with Canadian Pacific. – Kirk Gobain, Dodge City, Kan. A The Soo Line acquired the Milwaukee Road […]

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Class I average operating ratio inched upward in 2018 NEWSWIRE

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Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data The Class I railroad average operating ratio rose slightly in 2018 — the first increase in a decade — as congestion-related costs and an accounting rules change pushed the closely watched efficiency metric up at four of the seven big systems. CSX Transportation […]

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Troubled times

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Rolling through Marengo, Iowa, in May 1979 was this Rock Island freight with GP38-2 No. 4305 leading. This Davenport–Des Moines section of the Omaha main was one of the road’s busiest, but this portion was still train order territory. The railroad’s precarious financial condition is reflected in the depot’s upkeep. R.B. Olson photo […]

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Unloading on a car float

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A worker unloads produce from refrigerator cars on a Pennsylvania Railroad car float in New York harbor in 1939. This car float has two tracks flanking a central covered platform that enabled cars to be unloaded while still on the float. Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congress photo […]

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Piggyback on the Wabash

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Several piggyback cars head northbound on the Wabash at Forrest, Ill., en route to Chicago in March 1960. In a few years, the route would host the railroad’s Roadrunner overnight TOFC train. J. Parker Lamb photo […]

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Photo of the Day

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This 40-foot Canadian National boxcar was built in November 1923 and was still in service in the 1970s. The car is single-sheathed (meaning sheathed only on the inside of the truss-style metal bracing) and has wood sides and ends. Note the modern AEI panel on the 1923-built car. Michael Dean photo […]

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