Train crew shortage spreads to short lines

Orange and black locomotives pass color position signal

NEW YORK — Train crew shortages that have affected service on Class I railroads this year also have cropped up on short lines, as rail workers seek greener pastures and new hires are hard to find. Genesee & Wyoming, the largest shortline holding company, saw the number of employees leaving the railroad double in the third […]

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Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific spar over KCS merger (updated)

Train with red locomotives rounds curve

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has urged federal regulators to reject the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application, arguing that it doesn’t contain enough market or operational data to meet requirements — a view subsequently supported by Canadian National. UP, in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board late Friday, said CP took shortcuts in its […]

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CP says it could have British Columbia rail line reopened by midweek

Railroad and highway washed out by flooding

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — With flood damage to road and rail lines still cutting much of the province off from the rest of Canada, British Columbia has begun rationing gasoline and instituted travel restrictions that will prohibit vehicle traffic on some key highways to commercial transport of essentials such as food, water, and medical supplies. […]

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Virginia port to double rail capacity, add additional cranes

Port of Virginia logo

NORFOLK, Va. — The Port of Virginia’s board of directors has approved a $61.5 million contract to double the size of the Central Rail Yard at the Norfolk International Terminals. WAVY-TV reports the board also approved an $18 million contract for up to three cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes and related systems. The two projects will […]

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FRA relaunches Railroad Safety Advisory Committee

Federal Railroad Administration logo

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has renewed the charter of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee for a two-year period while adding new members. Friday’s announcement came a day after FRA Deputy Administrator Amit Bose told the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association that the board would be revived to help “management and labor […]

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Reefer block

Steam locomotive with freight train

Reefer block 4-8-2 2605, a product of IC’s own Paducah (Ky.) shops, leads a long string of refrigerator cars north on the main line at Peotone, Ill., in the 1940s. Illinois Central photo […]

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Port of Longview receives funding for rail expansion

Logo of the Port of Longview, Wash.

LONGVIEW, Wash. — The Port of Longview will receive a $16 million federal grant to help fund its multiyear Industrial Rail Corridor Expansion. The project will double rail capacity at the port. Funds will be used to construct a six-track rail right-of-way adjacent to the existing corridor, two additional 8,500-foot tracks and increase the length […]

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Milwaukee Road freight trains photo gallery

Streamlined electric locomotive leads freight train with four diesels through mountain valley in snow

All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]

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Franklin Park crossovers separate Canadian Pacific and Metra moves

yellow locomtive beneath signal bridge

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. — It’s not the largest or most essential component of a decades-long, $4.6 billion dollar effort to unclog Chicago’s rail network called CREATE. But completion of the $14.5 million Metra/Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades Project is typical of incremental improvements that sporadic funding achieves. Six crossovers and associated signaling now allow Canadian Pacific […]

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