JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation announced on Friday, Aug. 30, that it had reached five-year tentative labor agreements with two more unions. That increases its total to agreements with 11 unions covering 15 work groups and amending 20 collective agreements, CSX said, covering more than 50% of its unionized workforce. The latest agreements are with […]
Section: News & Reviews
Sound Transit opens latest light rail addition
LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Sound Transit opened the latest piece of its light rail network on Friday, an 8.5-mile, four-station addition that extends the 1 Line north into Snohomish County and to Lynnwood for the first time. In addition to the Lynnwood City Center station, the new extension includes a station at Mountlake Terrace and two […]
American Heritage Railways purchases Branson Scenic Railway
BRANSON, Mo. — American Heritage Railways, owner of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and other properties, has acquired the Branson Scenic Railway, the tourist rail operation launched in 1993 on a former Missouri Pacific route. The new owners will take over operations this Sunday, Sept. 1. The purchase was prompted by the current […]
CSX turned down in appeal of lawsuit against Norfolk Southern
CSX Transportation said it was considering its options after a U.S. appeals court refused to restart its lawsuit against competitor Norfolk Southern over access to a key Virginia container port, causing it hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The allegations fell outside the four-year window for filing claims under U.S. antitrust law, a three-judge […]
Norfolk Southern and BNSF reach tentative agreements with additional labor unions
Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway have reached tentative five-year contract agreements with additional unions four months before the opening round of national collective bargaining. The Norfolk Southern agreements with five unions, coming on the heels of four tentative agreements announced last week, cover approximately 55% of the railroad’s unionized workforce. The most recent agreements announced […]
Union files lawsuits challenging Canadian government order that sent CN, CPKC contract talks to binding arbitration
MONTREAL — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is refusing to take no for an answer. The union, which represents 9,300 locomotive engineers and conductors on Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, has filed appeals challenging the decisions that led to binding arbitration being imposed on their failed contract talks with the railways. The union […]
Government seeks comment on proposed land sale for BNSF Barstow project
BARSTOW, Calif. — The federal government is seeking comment on a proposed sale of land to BNSF Railway as part of the railroad’s planned Barstow International Gateway project. The Victorville Daily Press reports the Bureau of Land Management published a Notice of Realty Action in the Federal Register on Wednesday, Aug. 28, on the proposed […]
MBTA eliminates six speed restrictions in latest track maintenance project
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority eliminated six speed restrictions as a result of its latest major track project, a suspension of service between the Red Line’s JFK/UMass and Kendall/MIT stations Aug. 19-26. Plans were to address five slow orders, but a sixth identified during the service suspension was also taken care of. “We […]
Residents seek to fight BNSF plan for Phoenix-area logistics hub
WITTMANN, Ariz. — Residents of the unincorporated communities of Wittmann and Circle City say they oppose BNSF Railway’s efforts to build a new intermodal and carload logistics hub northwest of Phoenix. BNSF said earlier this year it would build the project on more than 4,300 acres in northwest Maricopa County, 36 rail miles from downtown […]
Rapido Trains HO scale Budd Slumbercoach
A Budd Slumbercoach is the latest addition to the Rapido Trains HO scale passenger car fleet. The 24-single-room, 8-double-room car is based on the as-built version with steam heat equipment. The injection-molded plastic model features separate, factory-applied name boards; etched-metal end gates; and sprung diaphragms. Prototype history Budd produced the Slumbercoach from 1956 to 1959. […]
East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 16 is back in service
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – After being out of service for eight months, East Broad Top Railroad narrow-gauge 2-8-2 Mikado engine No. 16 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1916) will resume hauling tourist passengers tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 30). The engine will pull regularly scheduled EBT trains on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through Oct. 27, plus additional special runs […]
NTSB determines probable cause of fatal UP collision near Salton Sea in Southern California
WASHINGTON — The probable cause of a fatal September 2022 collision on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route was the routing of an intermodal train into a passing siding that was occupied by 74 empty intermodal cars, a move that was made possible by the inappropriate removal of a computer-aided dispatching system block on the siding, the […]