SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is considering a forced abandonment of a branch line owned by Roaring Camp Railroads as part of a move to railbank the line for possible future commuter-rail use — a move opposed by Roaring Camp. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports Roaring Camp, which operates […]
DEL MAR, Calif. — After a lengthy but unsuccessful effort to negotiate an agreement, the San Diego’s North County Transit District has voted to proceed with plans to install a safety fence along its tracks on the coastal Del Mar Bluffs. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the district board voted 7-0 on Jan. 20 to […]
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has responded to Union Pacific criticism of his policies, which it says play a part in much-publicized thefts from intermodal containers, by suggesting the railroad doesn’t do enough to protect its trains. The South Bay Daily Breeze reports that Gascon, in a letter to UP […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Amtrak train suffered minor damage and delays Friday after striking a wheel from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train near Springfield. The State Journal-Register reports about six cars of the NS train derailed while it was working at a spur in the Scheels area, south of Springfield. The locomotive of […]
Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Norfolk & Western Railway all through January 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Norfolk & Western freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Norfolk & Western was a coal-oriented road linking Cincinnati and Columbus with […]
BNSF Railway is taking back Montana Rail Link’s lease on the former Northern Pacific main line across Montana and Idaho for one simple reason: To control its own destiny. In recent years the growth-minded BNSF has made significant capacity investments on its routes to and from the Pacific Northwest. To the east of MRL, BNSF […]
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the site of a series of much-publicized thefts from Union Pacific intermodal trains on Thursday, promising the state would provide $255 million over three years to help combat the problem. The Los Angeles Daily News reports Newsom said the money will go to grants to local law-enforcement […]
WASHINGTON — Chemical shippers give railroads low marks for their service, with the majority experiencing moderate to severe delays, reduced local service, and missed switches. That was the result of an American Chemistry Council member survey about their shippers’ experience with railroads and other modes in the third quarter of 2021. The trade association wrote […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s profits and revenue grew in the fourth quarter but the railroad could have moved more freight if not for the ongoing train crew shortage related to the tight labor market and pandemic infections and quarantines. “We are putting the resources in place to deliver a high-quality service product,” CEO Jim Foote […]
The new Lionel Legacy Genset locomotive is a nice-looking O gauge model of an innovative and environmentally conscious prototype. The full-sized versions get the job done while saving fuel and producing lower emissions. Simply put, the units are equipped with multiple small diesel engine-generator combinations rather than one large one. The number of power sets […]
CULVER CITY, Calif. — Union Pacific has expressed interest in a new autonomous battery-electric intermodal car concept developed by a group headed by three former Space X engineers. The concept under development by Parallel Systems would see intermodal containers carried by pairs of powered battery-electric wheelsets, moving in “platoons” of cars, but capable of splitting […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific on Thursday reported record profits for 2021 despite the impact of the pandemic, wildfires, and congestion in the global supply chain. CEO Lance Fritz says the railroad expects another record-setting year in 2022, when UP will mark its 160th anniversary. But UP’s safety and service did not meet expectations last year […]
