FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway’s engineering crews have added a 1,300-foot wind fence to block the pesky prevailing wind on a bridge in Abo Canyon on its Southern Transcon in New Mexico. The Clovis Subdivision bridge, at milepost 874.2 near the west end of the canyon, experiences more severe winds due to the terrain, […]
WASHINGTON — There is a lot to unpack in the Federal Railroad Administration’s latest long-distance route update, as discussed at six regional meetings held between June 4-13, 2024. These were the fourth round of meetings in a planning exercise mandated by a provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The latest report […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has detailed its plans for next week’s return to East Palestine, Ohio, for community meetings and a public meeting to approve its final report on last year’s Norfolk Southern derailment and toxic-chemical release. The board will hold community meetings June 24 and June 25 at East Palestine High […]
LONDON — A British company has announced plan to convert a 1980s diesel locomotive to a prototype of a zero-emission steam powered unit. Rail equipment leasing firm Eversholt Rail Group said earlier this month it would convert a British Rail Class 60 locomotive, a C-C unit built by Brush Traction, in a partnership with Steamology, […]
OWOSSO, Mich. — The 2024 debut of Pere Marquette steam locomotive No. 1225 in June offered multiple firsts for the 2-8-4 and its owner, the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI). Ultimately, it was the first time since 2019 that the Berkshire-type operated for the public outside of its regular holiday-season North Pole Express schedule. But for […]
ORLANDO, Fla. — The James E. Strates Shows carnival train will return to the rails this summer for the first time since 2019. The train — the last of its kind — was sidelined by the pandemic. Strates shifted its traveling midway show entirely to trucks as fairs gradually reopened. This year Strates officials had […]
WASHINGTON — Responding to criticisms from members of Congress in a House hearing last week, Amtrak has posted a 14-page PowerPoint presentation aiming to justify a controversial incentive system that pays millions of dollars in bonuses to company executives. Board Chairman Anthony Coscia said the compensation of senior executives would be posted on the Amtrak […]
PENINSULA, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad announced it has acquired an Alco FPA4 and an FPB4 from the Grand Canyon Railway, and aims to purchase one more of each unit from the Grand Canyon. The two diesels will join three FPA4 units already on the Cuyahoga Valley roster and are part of what […]
WASHINGTON —Weekly U.S. rail traffic continued to show overall gains compared to 2023 in the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, thanks to the strength of intermodal volume. For the week ending June 15, overall traffic was 493,138 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.4% increase over the corresponding week a year ago. That […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has officially announced its plans to develop a massive logistics hub on the outskirts of Phoenix. The project, quietly in the works for several years, will be built on a 4,321-acre property in northwest Maricopa County, the railroad said yesterday. The hub, adjacent to the Phoenix Subdivision in Wittmann, […]
EDON, Ohio — In its third year with the Indiana Rail Experience, the 2024 Tri-State Scenic steam excursion had new wrinkles for its Father’s Day weekend treks along the Indiana Northeastern Railroad between Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. What hasn’t changed was steam locomotive No. 765 as the star for the all-day trips out of Edon. […]
MOBILE, Ala. — A once-unlikely source — the Alabama State Port Authority — has agreed to provide a share of the funding needed to launch Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. On Tuesday, the Port Authority board, once a vehement opponent of Gulf Coast service on the grounds it might interfere with freight […]
