WASHINGTON — Maryland’s entire congressional delegation has written to CSX Transportation CEO E. Hunter Harrison, asking him to explain the railroad’s decision to drop out of a partnership to raise clearances in the Howard Street Tunnel. On Nov. 1, in response to media inquiries, CSX confirmed that it no longer considered the long-sought tunnel project […]
Type of Train: Freight
Traffic picks up on former Clinchfield mainline NEWSWIRE
ST. PAUL, Va. — Portions of the CSX Transportation’s former Clinchfield Railroad mainline are seeing an uptick in traffic as the railroad is using the famed coal line as a reliever route. Trains‘ Tishia Boggs caught CSX AC440CW-H No. 516 leading empty unit coal train W103-20 headed northbound over a crossover with Norfolk Southern at […]
Sensitive freight trucks and face-detection software debut at Railway Interchange NEWSWIRE
A news Amsted truck unveiled at Railway Interchange in Indianapolis this week. TRAINS: Brian Schmidt INDIANAPOLIS — North American rail suppliers are expanding the way technology is infusing the rail industry and showing off their innovations with style at Railway Interchange in Indianapolis this week. Amsted was among the larger companies to unveil a new […]
WM coal train in Blackwater Canyon
Western Maryland 2-8-0s 840 and 816 swing around one curve and into another as they lead a coal train east through rugged Blackwater Canyon between Elkins and Thomas, W.Va., in May 1952. Three more 2-8-0s at mid-train, and two more on the rear, help the 78-car train upgrade. Ed Theisinger photo […]
Swift refrigerator cars
A mix of older wood reefers and new steel cars mingle on the cleanout and ready tracks at Swift’s Sioux City (Iowa) plant in 1954. A lone car in the old yellow scheme stands out among a sea of cars in the red 1950 paint scheme. George Berkstresser photo […]
Tackling Tennessee Pass
Three of Denver & Rio Grande Western’s giant 3600-series 2-8-8-2s team up to lift a 42-car train up Tennessee Pass at Rex, Colo., just east of Minturn, in August 1954. R. H. Kindig photo […]
Meat reefers at Hormel
A Milwaukee Road switcher moves a cut of refrigerator cars at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minn., in 1942. Most of the reefers are wood-sheathed cars leased from North American. Classic Trains collection […]
GTW 4-8-4 on a freight
Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 6317 approaches South Bend (Ind.) Union Station with a westbound freight in April 1948. A dozen years later, GTW would become one of the final Class I railroads to use steam power. Andrew Corsini photo […]
Union Pacific, Watco invest in refrigerated train business NEWSWIRE
KETCHUM, Idaho — Union Pacific and Watco Cos.’ East Idaho Railroad are making investments in a refrigerated rail business that moves produce and other food from the West Coast to Upstate New York, Capital Press reports. The rail service begins in Wallula, Wash., on Union Pacific rails. The refrigerated cars then pass through Oregon before […]
Twenty-four hours at Supai Summit
On May 23, 1996, Santa Fe train P-CHLA1-21, a 5,338-ton, 7,133-foot train, at Supai Summit in northern Arizona. John C. Lucas Have you read Fred W. Frailey’s October 2017 “Commentary,” “24 hours at Supai Summit?” He spills all of the details of a 1996 visit to Kaibab National Forest 4 miles east of Williams, Ariz., […]
Cargill to spend $18 million on rail-served grain storage facility in Nebraska NEWSWIRE
An eastbound Union Pacific-Ferromex grain train rolls through Gothenburg, Neb., in October 2016. Chase Gunnoe MINNEAPOLIS — Cargill is investing $18 million to expand a Union Pacific-served grain facility in Gibbon, Neb. The expansion will increase the facility’s capacity by an additional 2 million bushels of grain storage and increase its unload capacity of 65,000 […]
Railfan camera captures trespassers, vandals at Horseshoe Curve NEWSWIRE
A Facebook page promoting railroad safety and education shared screenshots from Virtual Railfan’s Horseshoe Curve camera showing the three trespassers and vandals from Sunday’s incident near Altoona. STOP Photography and Trespassing on Railroad Tracks via Facebook ALTOONA, Pa. — A video streaming service for railroad enthusiasts recently spotted more than just trains at the Horseshoe […]