FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — A series of garages were damaged Saturday night when a CSX freight train derailed Saturday night in central Fredericksburg, WRIC-TV reports. The incident was reported to Fredricksburg police about 8:50 p.m. No injuries were reported, but five railcars struck a large wall separating the Cobblestone Square development, a commercial and residential complex, […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
Reading & Northern Fall Foliage tickets on sale Monday (updated)
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Tickets for Reading & Northern’s 40th season of Fall Foliage passenger excursions will go on sale at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, July 22. Five weekends of excursions — featuring diesel and steam power — will run to Jim Thorpe, Pa., originating from Reading, Pittston, and Pottsville, from Saturday, Oct. 5, […]
BNSF deals with two derailments (updated)
BNSF Railway is working to clean up a pair of derailments that occurred early today (Saturday, July 20). No injuries or hazardous materials situations resulted from either. The first was reported at approximately 12:46 a.m. near Ottawa, Kan., on BNSF’s Emporia Subdivision, blocking both main tracks. The only cargo spilled was a large amount of […]
Global tech outage largely bypasses freight and passenger railroads
U.S. and Canadian railroads appear to be relatively unaffected by the global tech outage that grounded flights and disrupted businesses today, although Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific Kansas City did experience some computer issues. “The CrowdStrike software outage has had varying levels of impact across Union Pacific’s network,” spokeswoman Clarissa Beyah said on Friday morning. […]
Extended shutdowns of parts of Green, Red lines on tap for MBTA in August
BOSTON — A 10-day shutdown of a portion of the Green Line and a seven-day suspension of service on part of the Red Line lead the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s August plans for maintenance work as it continues work to address a backlog of infrastructure repairs. Also on tap in August are weekend work projects […]
‘Train Tour’ events planned for new DeLand SunRail station
DeLAND, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation has scheduled two open-house events to familiarize residents with the soon-to-open extension of Orlando-area commuter rail service SunRail to DeLand. The “Train Tour” events will be held Saturday, July 27, and Saturday, Aug. 3, from 9 a.m. to noon, and will offer an opportunity to visit the […]
J.B. Hunt-BNSF Quantum intermodal service running well, but off to a slow start
LOWELL, Ark. — The Quantum premium intermodal service that J.B. Hunt and BNSF Railway launched last year is not growing as quickly as hoped in a slumping freight market, but on-time performance has topped expectations, J.B. Hunt executives said on the company’s earnings call this week. Quantum takes aim at highly service-sensitive freight that has […]
Reading & Northern adds to coal management team
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reflecting the railroad’s 60% increase in coal business over the last two years, the Reading & Northern Railroad announced it has made changes to its management structure to better deal with that growth. Eric Peters, currently vice president, transportation, will also manage the railroad’s coal fleet. The 2,000 cars, including aluminum […]
Iowa county looks at Pop Up Metro rail proposal
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Officials in Johnson County, Iowa, will consider the Pop Up Metro rail transit system for a proposed service between North Liberty and Iowa City, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. A group of elected and other officials will make a trip in August to Rockhill Furnace, Pa., where Pop Up Metro has […]
Heat disrupts rail service along Northeast Corridor
Extreme heat is taking its toll on rail transportation along the Northeast Corridor, with transit agencies and Amtrak all feeling the impact and taking operational measures. Here’s a rundown as of this evening (Tuesday, July 16): — NJ Transit says it is experiencing heat-related equipment issues affecting air condition and other electronic components, which could […]
Lack of equipment leads to cancellation of Southwest Chief round trip
CHICAGO — The lack of stand-by operational Superliners at Amtrak’s Chicago maintenance facility led to the cancellation of the westbound Southwest Chief on Monday, July 15, less than five hours before it was to depart, Trains News Wire has learned. With additional equipment unavailable on the West Coast, the eastbound Chief scheduled to leave Los […]
FRA encourages railroads to make better use of hot bearing detector data
WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration has updated its 2023 safety advisory that encourages railroads to make better use of data from wayside hot-bearing detectors. The second supplement to the advisory, issued in draft form on Friday, emphasizes the need for railroads to collect, analyze, and respond to data from hot-bearing detectors. The advisory initially […]