Still more Wednesday morning rail news: Transit agencies combine with Amtrak to form regional ‘Mask Force’ A group of transit agencies in New York and Philadelphia areas have joined with Amtrak to create a regional ‘Mask Force’ to encourage mask compliance on public transit. New York’s MTA, NJ Transit, the Port Authority of New York […]
Railroad: BNSF
BNSF reports lower revenue and earnings, but operating ratio improves to 59.7%
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway posted what’s believed to be a record low operating ratio of 59.7% for the third quarter, despite deep declines in revenue and volume due to the economic impact of the pandemic. BNSF’s third-quarter operating income fell 8.4%, to $1.8 billion, as revenue sank 14%, to $5 billion, the railroad’s corporate […]
Digest: BNSF to resume taconite payments in Superior, Wis.
Still more Wednesday morning rail news: BNSF to resume taconite payments to Superior, Wis., homeowners BNSF Railway will resume taconite-dust cleaning payments to homeowners near its taconite loading facility in Superior, Wis., after having stopped some of the payments earlier this year. Wisconsin Public Radio reports the payments, which the company has paid out for almost 50 […]
Dead line
Various BNSF Railway yard switchers sit in storage at Galesburg, Ill., in October 2010, waiting for their next assignment. Photo by William B. Cecil […]
One of Burlington’s firsts
Credit the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy for building the first modern-day dome car. The “Silver Dome,” built from a coach, debuted in 1945. Photo by Burlington Route […]
BNSF and Union Pacific in Rochelle IL
Union Pacific to Clinton, Iowa 64.5 miles BNSF to Savanna, Illinois 60.0 miles BNSF to Aurora 45.3 miles UP to Proviso 59.6 miles Watch live railroading action 24 hours per day on TrainsMag.com! Our Rochelle Web Cam captures live action as the BNSF and Union Pacific main lines cross. Learn about Rochelle’s Railroad Park […]
Rochelle Web cam – Frequently Asked Question
Q. I don’t get motion and/or sound. What’s wrong with the camera? A. Likely nothing. While outages happen, they are relatively rare. The biggest cause of user distress is outdated software. We recommend updating the Adobe Flash Player plugin regularly and using a modern web browser, such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, to view […]
Rochelle, Ill., Railroad Webcam
Union Pacific to Clinton, Iowa 64.5 miles BNSF to Savanna, Illinois 60.0 miles BNSF to Aurora 45.3 miles UP to Proviso 59.6 miles Watch live railroading action 24 hours per day on TrainsMag.com! Our Rochelle Web Cam captures live action as the BNSF and Union Pacific main lines cross. Learn about Rochelle’s Railroad Park […]
Quad Cities region
The Quad Cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Ill., straddle the Mississippi River, creating an historic intersection of river and rails. In April 1856, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific’s predecessors opened the first Mississippi River crossing, known as the Government Bridge, at Davenport. Later, a riverboat struck the bridge […]
Belen, New Mexico
Pastoral Belen remained a New Mexico farming village after the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway pushed track down the Rio Grande River valley toward Texas and Mexico in 1880. Even Bronco Bill and Kid Johnson killing the sheriff and a deputy in a gunbattle after robbing a train south of town proved only a temporary sensation. Then the Belen Cutoff, the Santa […]
Sandpoint, Idaho
Sandpoint, Idaho, is near Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced “pond oray”) in Idaho’s Panhandle. Sandpoint features the main line of BNSF’s Kootenai River Subdivision, the busy northern transcontinental route, as well as Union Pacific’s Spokane Subdivision from Eastport, Idaho. UP trains to and from Eastport use trackage rights on BNSF’s Newport Subdivision from North Sandpoint (where […]
Marias Pass, Montana
Although Marias Pass is among the lowest railroad crossings of the Continental Divide in the United States at 5,213 feet, nothing is small about BNSF Railway’s route through northwest Montana. Built by James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway in the 1890s, the line across Marias Pass remains a critical transcontinental route to the Pacific Northwest […]