POINT CLEAR, Ala. —The launch of two daily Amtrak round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., depends on when design and construction of a pocket track at Mobile is completed and 3 miles of positive train control is installed through CSX’s Gentilly Yard east of New Orleans. But that means service will not come […]
WASHINGTON – A pair of Genesee & Wyoming short lines have detailed their plans to test Parallel Systems’ autonomous, battery-electric intermodal cars in an application filed with the Federal Railroad Administration. Last month G&W and Parallel announced that they were seeking FRA permission to conduct the tests next year on the Heart of Georgia Railroad […]
In every issue News, p. 4 NTSB holds rare on-site hearing on Norfolk Southern’s East Palestine derailment Bill Stphens p. 10 Regulations threaten California’s short lines Travel p. 44 The Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine is one of the nation’s most-successful enthusiast-led preservation efforts Preservation p. 46 Focusing on a long-term master plan brought the […]
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives Oversight Committee is probing the Department of Transportation’s response to a series of rail and aviation safety issues. The committee’s Republicans sent a letter yesterday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding train derailments and near-misses involving airlines. The letter asks DOT to provide documents related to “efforts to investigate […]
COSHOCTON COUNTY, Ohio — Beginning in mid-September, nonhazardous wastewater from Norfolk Southern’s East Palestine, Ohio, derailment cleanup will be trucked here for disposal, according to statements from the Environmental Protection Agency and a Spectrum News story. Currently, the site from the Feb. 3, derailment generates one million gallons of wastewater per week from excavation-related stormwater […]
Privately owned caboose Welcome to the world of privately owned cabooses. The craving for a cab is a continuing urge for Americans. So, let’s probe this topic deeper. Matt Bumgarner, noted railroad author, publisher, and driving force behind the Southeastern Narrow Gauge and Short Line Museum in Newton, N.C., answers the following questions about his […]
WASHINGTON — Five of the seven Class I railroads operating in the U.S. last year were revenue adequate in 2022, the Surface Transportation Board said today. Being revenue adequate means a railroads achieved a rate of return equal to or greater than the board’s calculation of the average cost of capital to the freight rail […]
Q: Reading Jerry Dziedzic’s essay on “Turning waybills into dollar bills” (August 2023) made me realize that I don’t know anything about how prototype railroads handle the inspection and shopping of freight cars. Are cars sent in for inspection, paint, and maintenance at fixed times, or after a certain number of miles, or only when a […]
Class I locomotive It’s been three years since the railroad industry has had a new-build six-axle freight locomotive order for a Class I railroad. Precision Scheduled Railroading, a glut of stored locomotives, and the desire to rebuild instead of build, has kept railroads on the sidelines in terms of new power. Progress Rail’s last new […]
It’s strange but true: Diesel-electric locomotives have streetcar roots. With diesel locomotives rapidly replacing steam locomotives in the years after World War II, it’s easy to imagine diesels as a natural evolution of the steam locomotive. The fact is, there was almost no transfer of technology. The melodious steam whistle was replaced by a blaring […]
Dieselmotive Co, Inc. of Turlock, Calif., has purchased two former Gettysburg Railroad F7s last operated in 2013, with an eye toward returning the locomotives to freight service. The two units, last used by the Pioneer Lines short line in Gettsysburg, Pa., in 2013, are en route to a short line in Kansas for evaluation and […]
CHICAGO — “Unforeseen mechanical issues” resulted in the cancellation of Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal out of New York on Wednesday, Aug. 23, despite the fact that the triweekly train’s equipment had arrived at the Big Apple’s Sunnyside Yard late Sunday. As has been recent custom, this resulted in the cancellation of its eastbound counterpart from Chicago […]
