CSX Transportation ES44AC-H leads a coal train through Hubbard Springs, Va., on Jan. 22. Chris Anderson HUBBARD SPRINGS, Va. — Carolinas-bound coal returned to CSX Transportation’s Cumberland Valley Subdivision on Jan. 22, as southbound loaded coal train N759-20 crossed the stretch of railroad on its journey to Duke Energy’s Marshall Steam Station in Terrell, N.C. […]
Type of Train: Freight
Mystery gondola loads
MGPX No. 201, part of the first batch of Magnetation iron ore cars built by FreightCar America, arrives in Superior, Wis., in June 2014. David C. Schauer Q I live along the BNSF Railway main line west of Chicago, and I have seen black gondola unit trains with MGPX reporting marks. Even from my second-story […]
AAR: Oil, wood, grains, minerals, and metal ore carloads increase double-digits in 2019’s first week NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 5. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 436,103 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.8 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]
Jim Vena: Union Pacific’s $9 billion-man NEWSWIRE
Jim Vena, Union Pacific Chief Operating Officer Canadian National OMAHA, Neb. — Jim Vena is Union Pacific’s $9 billion man. No, that’s not how much Vena will earn as the railroad’s new chief operating officer. Under the terms of his contract, he’ll earn a base salary of $600,000 and will be eligible for an annual […]
BNSF focuses on regulatory challenges with NRC presentation
MARCO ISLAND, Florida – BNSF Railway’s capital plans for 2019 include a cluster of major bridge projects in Washington state, and pairs of bridges near Quenemo, Kan., and on the Hannibal subdivision in Missouri. Not included is a bridge over the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., and therein lies a tale that serves an an […]
Class I’s mum on BNSF chairman’s criticism of Precision Scheduled Railroading NEWSWIRE
Matt Rose, BNSF Railway Executive Chairman TRAINS: David Lassen The criticism BNSF Railway Executive Chairman Matt Rose leveled at the other Class I railroads regarding their Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plans has been greeted by silence. None of the other five big systems — each of which is running or shifting to an operating plan […]
Port authority in NYC opens revamped yard and container terminal NEWSWIRE
The former Greenville Yard is shown in yellow just north of Staten Island. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey website NEW YORK — The former Pennsylvania Railroad’s Greenville (Bayonne) yard is no more. As of Monday, the storied yard became Global Container Transport Bayonne ExpressRail Port Jersey. The name change crowns a $149-million […]
Norfolk Southern to prune intermodal service offerings NEWSWIRE
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern will drop intermodal service in more than two dozen lanes in February, March, and April as the railroad looks to simplify its fast-growing intermodal network. “In an effort to improve service on the overall Norfolk Southern intermodal network, we are making targeted changes to our service offerings,” the railroad said […]
Animal-feed trains
A Cargill unit feed train rolls through Shawnee, Kan., in June 2009. The train consists of covered bathtub gondolas pulled from coal service. Zach Pumphery Q While traveling near Atchison, Kan., I noticed a BNSF Railway train with covered bathtub coal gondolas. What were the covers for, and could they be removed should they be […]
AAR: Crude oil increases lead a mix of mid-December carload traffic NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 15, 2018. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 568,941 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 15 […]
AAR: Crude oil carloads continue double-digit climb NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 8. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 570,225 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]
BNSF crude oil tank train at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe 87-car crude oil train operates over the Oregon, California, and Eastern during the November 2018 Extreme Trains event at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum. […]