MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — The Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad has received 100 new coil steel cars from two manufacturers, each of which built 50 of the cars. The 48-foot, 115-ton capacity cars were built by The Greenbrier Cos. and National Steel Car, and expand the CSS car fleet to nearly 700 railcars. […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Wildfire devastates Jasper, Alberta; shuts down CN and VIA Rail service
MONTREAL — Canadian National’s main line through Jasper, Alberta — which opened briefly on Wednesday afternoon — remains shut down in the wake of a wildfire that burned at least some sections of the resort town to the ground overnight. Firefighters were unable to contain the wind-whipped wall of fire, which quickly advanced on the […]
Declining coal volumes can’t sink Union Pacific’s second quarter results
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific’s profits rose in the second quarter despite a sharp drop in coal traffic. “When you remove coal, our total volume was up 3% in the second quarter. This demonstrates that even in a tough freight environment, we are winning with our customers to bring new business to the railroad,” CEO […]
Presidential Emergency Board named for NJ Transit-BLET dispute
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has named a three-member Presidential Emergency Board to address the labor dispute between NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Biden established the board in an executive order released Wednesday and effective today (July 25). An accompanying statement notes that appointment of the board is required under […]
Paris expands rail system in time for the Olympics
PARIS — The French capital hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, its third turn as host and first in a century. The Opening Ceremony this Friday, July 26, will be held beside the River Seine in the center of the city, with events running through to the end of the Paralympics on Sept. […]
NJ Transit orders 36 new EMU railcars from Alstom
NEWARK, N.J. — The NJ Transit board of directors on Wednesday approved the purchase of 36 Multilevel III electric multiple-unit railcars from Alstom Transportation, increasing to 174 the number of the new railcars ordered since 2018. The order is part of an option of an existing contract with Alstom, at a cost not to exceed […]
Cars involved in Fredericksburg derailment were runaways
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Last Saturday’s derailment of CSX railcars that damaged garages at a Fredericksburg apartment complex involved runaways, a CSX representative said at a community meeting on Wednesday, July 24. “One section of the train was tied down improperly,” CSX State Relations Director Randy Marcus told the meeting, according to a WUSA-TV report. Those […]
Weekly U.S. rail traffic remains up slightly
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic was again ahead of 2023 levels for the week ending July 20, 2024, with overall volume up 1.4% compared to the same week last year, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Railroads handled 480,083 carloads and intermodal units. That included 214,348 carloads, a 3.4% decrease from the […]
‘Flying Yankee’ changes hands, will be moved to Conway Scenic Railroad
CONCORD, N.H. — Ownership of the Flying Yankee trainset was officially transferred from the state of New Hampshire to the Flying Yankee Association preservation group today (July 24), and the train could be moved to the Conway Scenic Railroad as soon as next week. The sale of the 1935 Budd streamliner, nearly identical to Burlington’s […]
BNSF derailment in Kansas leads to Southwest Chief cancellations
GARDEN CITY, Kansas — An apparently minor BNSF Railway derailment has led to cancellations of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. Images on the KSNW-TV website show a small number of covered hoppers, perhaps as few as a half-dozen, involved in the derailment. The viewers who provided the photos said the incident was 15 to 20 miles east […]
Mobile reaches agreement with Amtrak on funding, lease at station site
MOBILE, Ala. — Amtrak appears to be on the verge of an agreement with the City of Mobile that finally will allow Gulf Coast passenger service to move forward. WALA-TV reports that a spokeswoman for Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the city and Amtrak had finalized language for a funding agreement for Mobile-New Orleans service and […]
CN reopens main lines to key British Columbia ports while monitoring Alberta wildfires (updated)
MONTREAL — Canadian National was able to reopen its main line through Jasper, Alberta, this afternoon while keeping a close eye on a pair of wildfires that have been threatening the resort town. “CN resumed rail operations at approximately 12 Noon MST on Wednesday, July 24, through Jasper. In collaboration with the Unified Incident Command […]