WASHINGTON — A group of unions announced today (Tuesday, March 7) that they have filed suit against BNSF Railway over outsourcing of locomotive inspections, maintenance, and repairs, claiming the railroad is cutting its mechanical workforce to boost profits and failing to act in good faith under its existing labor agreements. The suit by the International […]
The Downeast Scenic Railroad offers a 90-minute round-trip excursion that travels along the former Calais Branch of the Maine Central Railroad from its rail yard at Washington Junction in Hancock to Ellsworth Falls, and then returns to Washington Junction. Along this stretch of the Calais Branch Line, you’ll see the Card Brook wetlands, and learn […]
The American Freedom Train steam locomotives were stars in their own right during the U.S. Bicentennial tour. From 1975 to 1976, a total of three each took turns leading the 26-car exhibit train full of American artifacts through 48 contiguous states. What were these patriotic steam stars and where are they now? Southern Pacific No. […]
CLEVELAND — A Norfolk Southern employee has been killed in a collision between a train and a dump truck this morning (Tuesday, March 7), according to news reports. WJW-TV reports the accident occurred early this morning on the rail line through the Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works steelmaking facility, and that the victim has been identified by […]
HOUSTON — A Texas jury has awarded a woman $557 million in damages after she was struck by a Union Pacific train and suffered major injuries while the woman was reportedly sitting on railroad tracks in downtown Houston in March 2016. The verdict was handed down Friday, March 3, in Harris County 129th District Court. […]
WASHINGTON — The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority aims to return to automated operation of DC Metrorail trains systemwide by this December, the Washington Post reports, reactivating a system shut off after a fatal 2009 collision. The return of Automatic Train Operation will end problems with operators running past red lights, missing stopping points at […]
Rail consulting firm FMW Solutions and several heritage railways combined to recreate a 1970s-era commuter train for the recent Tom Hanks film “A Man Called Otto,” which makes use of equipment and locations of the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railway, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, and Washington D.C. chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The film’s […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen ratified have ratified a contract agreement with Kansas City Southern and the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in the event of a KCS-Canadian Pacific merger, and with Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad. Ratification of both agreements was announced March 3. The KCS and DM&E agreement is […]
Installing sensors on freight cars is the only way to prevent another disastrous derailment like the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, a wheel bearing expert says. Constantine Tarawneh, a mechanical engineering professor who heads the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has begun offering coach passengers on the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, and Sunset Limited the opportunity to buy meals in those trains’ dining cars, a practice that began March 1. Since mid-2021, these are the only long-distance trains offering breakfasts, lunches, and dinners prepared to order for sleeping-car […]
Troubleshooting problems with gauge-1 switches: If you were to ask any model railroader what the biggest headache on his or her railroad was, “switches” would rank in the top three every time. If we want our trains to do more than just run around in circles, however, they’re a necessary part of any model railroad. […]
A (sort of) successful move: Back in 1995, I wrote a story for the first issue of Model Railroad Planning about Tehachapi III, the N scale Southern Pacific and Santa Fe layout I was building. In that story I told how I built the layout in 13 bolted-together sections supported by easy-to-disassemble L-girder benchwork. The […]
