Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Host David Popp is back for more Q&A in 2020. In this episode of Ask MRVP, he addresses model railroading topics ranging from trackwork to painting to freight/passenger car modeling to prototype railroading practices …and so much more! […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
CSX Transportation reports lower quarterly profit and revenue NEWSWIRE
Mark Wallace, CSX executive vice president of sales and marketing TRAINS: David Lassen JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s fourth quarter profits fell amid a decline in traffic and revenue, but the railroad set a new operating ratio record. For the fourth quarter, CSX’s operating income fell 8%, to $1.1 billion, on revenue of $2.9 billion, […]
Kansas City Southern earnings improve thanks to PSR implementation NEWSWIRE
Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern CEO TRAINS: David Lassen KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern reported improved earnings for the fourth quarter as revenue grew despite a slight decline in traffic volume. Much of the financial improvement was due to the railroad’s shift to an operating plan based on Precision Scheduled Railroading, which […]
Forecasters don’t see rail volumes improving this year NEWSWIRE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Rail traffic is expected to remain in the doldrums for at least the first half of this year as manufacturing slows, retail inventories remain high, and there are plenty of trucks competing for freight. That’s the outlook of the forecasters at FTR Transportation Intelligence, which last week held a State of Freight […]
JJ Ruest: Mergers less effective in post-PSR world NEWSWIRE
LOMBARD, Ill. – Class I railroad mergers are not the sure path to efficiency gains that they once were within the industry. So says Canadian National President and CEO JJ Ruest at the winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers in Lombard on Thursday. Ruest notes that as the entire industry has […]
AAR: Intermodal and carload traffic was down almost 10% in total for the week of Jan. 11 NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 11. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,624 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.6% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 11 were 239,119 […]
Freight car outlook: More stored, fewer to be built NEWSWIRE
Greenbrier’s Lorrie Tekorius TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. – As Precision Scheduled Railroading sweeps the rail industry its effect is also being felt throughout the rail supply industry. Around 408,000 North American freight cars are stored. Some of that is attributed to a 5.1 percent decline in traffic in 2019, but some can also be […]
KCS CEO hints at autonomous operations ahead thanks to PTC NEWSWIRE
KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — In a conference that — like most most rail gatherings these day — had a great deal of focus on PSR, Patrick Ottensmeyer was thinking and talking about PTC. That’s not to say Precision Scheduled Railroading wasn’t part of the Kansas City Southern CEO’s Wednesday […]
Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 2
To apply the car-card-and-waybill freight-car routing system I described in part 1 takes more than just the two basic forms. The first form is the car card identifying each freight car with a pocket to hold the other form, a 4-step waybill. The pocket and waybill are sized so that only one of the waybill’s […]
Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 1
One of the most widely used model railroad car-routing systems is an identification card for each car with a pocket to hold a waybill naming a destination. It’s a flexible and versatile method that’s easy to set up, use, and modify as you go along. It’s so common that it will probably be familiar to […]
Crude-by-rail safety legislation introduced in House NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — Legislation to force oil companies to decrease the volatility of crude oil shipped by rail has been introduced in Congress. On Jan. 13, Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced the Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act. The law would require […]
AAR backs White House plan to streamline environmental process for infrastructure projects NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has expressed support for a plan by the White House to dramatically change the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. NEPA requires the federal government to review how major infrastructure projects would impact the environment, but federal officials say it is […]