Canadian National coal train C77951 (Winniandy, Alta., to Vancover, B.C.) thunders through Jasper, Alta., on April 6, 2009. Both CN and competitor Canadian Pacific move high-grade metallurgical coal from western Canadian mines to the Vancover-area port of Roberts Bank for export. Tim Stevens photo […]
BNSF Railway ES44DC 7248 leads a westbound intermodal train through the Columbia River Gorge past Skamania, Wash., in the fall of 2009. The lead locomotive was delivered earlier in the year. Ron Burkhard photo […]
Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley fast freight No. 66 leaves the north portal of Hagans Tunnel in May 1966. Three fairly new General Electric U25Cs are on the point of this train, which has just passed through L&N’s longest tunnel at 6,244-feet. Ron Flanary photo […]
The Atlas O 68-foot bulkhead flatcar is back in new paint schemes and road numbers. Model Railroader magazine Senior Editor Cody Grivno hosts our latest product review video, taking an in-depth look at the Trainman series model. Features on the bulkhead flatcar include side stake pockets, simulated tie loops, a fish-belly center sill, pull plates, […]
Florida East Coast train No. 218 passes Boca Raton, Fla., on April 11, 2008. The railroad, now a sister to RailAmerica, depends on intermodal and aggregate shipments to sustain its Miami-Jacksonville, Fla., route. Thomas J. Nanos photo […]
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., was named world’s largest rail yard by Guinness. The yard’s 2,850 acres includes two separate hump yards (eastbound and westbound) where freight cars are sorted and combined into new trains. From the top of the West Hump tower, watch cars move toward the crest of the hump, […]
Three BNSF Railway diesels pull train CATMCXEO-88 past Chillicothe, Iowa, on a snowless Dec. 4, 2006. The train is crossing BNSF’s busy ex-Chicago, Burlington & Quincy route across southern Iowa, a key coal route for BNSF. Photo by Craig Williams […]
Intermodal haulage on railroads initially resembled loose-car railroading: Cities of varying sizes had ramps that originated a few flatcars, which were added to merchandise freights. A trucker, though, could beat that service easily. Larger cities generated solid intermodal trains, but the cost of terminals, equipment, and operations made the business lucrative only in lanes of […]
Traffic density changes in the past 30 years on freight railroads’ main lines to Chicago reflect factors both geographic and corporate. Geographic factors include the shift of manufacturing from domestic to offshore; air quality regulations that closed high-sulfur Western mines; and general population and economic growth. Corporate factors include the desire of railroad managements to […]
The undeniable triumph of U.S. railroading can be seen in this graph of revenue ton-miles: the most basic unit of measurement (hauling one ton of freight one mile) for the work railroads perform. The data for this illustration come from the Association of American Railroads, and are confined to Class I railroads, the largest group […]
What will railroading look like 27 years from now? Will yards be jammed, main lines clogged, and trains backed up from terminals for 30 miles or more? Or will routes be fluid, with freights roaring by every 8 to 10 minutes on main lines three, four, and even six tracks wide? Either future could happen, […]
If you want a glimpse of railroad operations six decades ago, this map of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy provides a window. It’s based on Burlington’s November 1947 freight train operating plan, a chart of schedules furnished to company officers. (Our map was modified to put eastbounds and westbounds on one page and converted to […]
