NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum will add two rare EMD BL2 locomotives to its collection through a lease with the engines’ private owner. The two locomotives, built in 1949 for Maine’s Bangor & Aroostock Railroad, previously operated on New York’s Saratoga & North Creek Railway. Only 59 of the locomotives were […]
Section: News & Reviews
Digest: Restoration of Illnois Amtrak routes set for July
Full restoration of state-supported Amtrak routes in Illinois set for July 19 The state of Illinois announced plans to restore all service on its four state-supported Amtrak lines as of July 19 as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. The restoration of full schedules on the Chicago-Quincy, Chicago-Carbondale, and Chicago-St. Louis routes in July […]
U.S. rail traffic remains far above 2020 levels, stable within 2021
WASHINGTON — U.S. railroads continue to show significant traffic increases over pandemic-depressed figures from 2020, according to the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads. Statistics for the week ending May 15 show U.S. railroads moved 242,806 carloads, a 31.6% increase over the corresponding week in 2020, and 291,066 containers and trailers, a 25.6% […]
Norfolk Southern executive says ‘one-person crew’ is a misnomer (updated)
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern’s chief financial officer says the term “one-person crew” is a misnomer that has only stoked controversy about the rail industry’s proposal to use ground-based conductors on routes protected by positive train control. “It’s unfortunate the terminology on one-man crew or one-person crew … because I don’t think it’s really the […]
High speed operator Eurostar survives financial crisis
LONDON — Eurostar, the high speed passenger rail operator that runs trains via the Channel Tunnel from London to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, has secured new financial backing from a consortium of banks after months of uncertainty. Since March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic has led to severe cuts in Eurostar service, with often no more […]
Canadian National has no plans to drop bid for KCS, despite concerns of major investor
MONTREAL – Canadian National has no plans to back off from its proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern and remains confident that it can obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to create the first railroad linking Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, CEO JJ Ruest said today. Ruest’s comments came a day after CN’s fifth-largest shareholder, TCI […]
M.T.H. will continue to make trains
Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part […]
M.T.H. will continue to make trains
Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part continues […]
M.T.H. will continue to make trains
Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part continues […]
Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp’s C&O No. 2716 restoration
The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp., based in Ravenna, Ky., is hard at work to restore its prized possession, Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716, while also making improvements to its property to better serve the engine. Volunteers installed new tracks to be able to move No. 2716 outside the shop to better accommodate disassembly. President […]
BNSF hit by washouts, flash flooding in Southern Plains region
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway is reporting track washouts in several locations and other service disruptions because of severe weather and flash flooding throughout the Southern Plains portion of its network. The Longview Subdivision in Texas and Cherokee Subdivision between Tulsa, Okla., and Springfield, Mo., are currently affected. Service is expected to be restored […]
BNSF and UP at loggerheads over Gulf Coast haulage traffic in Texas
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Union Pacific are locked in a dispute over BNSF haulage rights traffic that moves over UP rails along the Texas Gulf Coast. As part of UP’s acquisition of Southern Pacific in 1996, BNSF gained access to customers along UP between Houston and Brownsville, Texas, which also is a gateway to […]