LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt executives remain confident that intermodal can grow faster than trucking despite current capacity constraints in Southern California amid a wave of imports from Asia. “We still think there is a huge opportunity in intermodal … It is a significant number of shipments that are moving on the highway that really […]
Digest: North Judson, Ind., to sell short line to Midwest & Bluegrass
More Tuesday morning rail news: North Judson, Ind., to sell railroad to Midwest & Bluegrass The town of North Judson, Ind., will sell its short line to Midwest & Bluegrass Rail, which already operates the line through its purchase of the Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad in 2020. WKVI Radio reports the purchase will end almost […]
Digest: Kansas City Southern pledges reduction in greenhouse gases
Tuesday afternoon rail news: KCS to set goal for greenhouse gas reduction Kansas City Southern has pledged to set a goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, submitting a commitment letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative to establish a target to align with what climate scientists say is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal […]
Digest: Former NYC transportation commissioner Trottenberg nominated as Deputy Secretary of Transportation
Tuesday morning rail news: Trottenberg, former NYC transportation commissioner, nominated as deputy transportation secretary Former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg will be nominated as U.S. Deputy Secretary for Transportation, the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden has announced. A press release announcing the appointment calls Trottenberg “a nationally recognized transportation leader […]
Metra’s Derwinski expects permanent change to schedules in wake of pandemic
CHICAGO — The schedules that Metra ran before the COVID-19 pandemic are likely gone for good, Executive Director and CEO Jim Derwinski says, and the process of determining the nature of service that takes the place of those schedules will likely take some time. “We have a core belief that our old schedules mostly won’t […]
Cass Scenic Railroad steam logging locomotive quintuple-header (that’s 5 at once!)
Join Trains Editor Jim Wrinn in Cass, West Virginia, in June 2020 for the re-opening of the Cass Scenic Railroad. Although the opening came amid a serious health crisis, Cass crews steamed up five locomotives and coupled them end-to-end for a quintuple-headed steam train — rare in any location in modern times. The highlight […]
Rio Grande Southern steam locomotive returned to service in Colorado
Follow along with Trains Editor Jim Wrinn as he gets a close look at Rio Grande Southern No. 20 — a newly restored narrow-gauge 4-6-0 steam locomotive now homed at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colo. Before 2020, No. 20 had not steamed since the 1950s and required more than a decade of […]
News Photos: Amtrak testing on the Point Defiance Bypass
For the first time since a fatal derailment in December 2017, Amtrak trains ran on Washington’s Point Defiance Bypass, the intended passenger-only route to shift trains off the coastal line shared with BNSF Railway freight traffic. Test trains on Saturday and Sunday on the 14-mile line between Tacoma and Nisqually Junction are for familiarization and […]
Robert C. Jones, rail author and railroader, dies at 86 (corrected and updated)
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Robert C. Jones, educator, railroader, and prolific author, died on Jan. 13 at age 86 of natural causes at his Vermont home. A graduate of the University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College, he was a teacher for 32 years. He wrote, co-wrote, or edited 24 books of northern New England Railroad […]
Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway re-construction work
Trains’ Editor Jim Wrinn visited the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway in August 2020 to grab video above the tree line to record portions of the tourist line’s re-construction project. The railroad itself is being completely re-built and is expected to re-open in May 2021. The railroad has also ordered new trains from […]
Digest: Utah governor gives early edge to gondola over cog railway, buses to serve ski areas
Still more Monday morning rail news: Utah governor indicates preference for gondola system to service ski areas, but says decision has not been made Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is leaning toward seeing a gondola system, rather than a cog railway or enhanced bus service, as the solution to traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon, the route […]
Digest: Massachusetts governor signs transportation bill, vetoes call for full MBTA service
Monday morning rail news: Massachusetts governor signs transportation bond bill, blocks legislation requiring MBTA to reverse service cuts Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed a $16.5 billion transportation bond bill while vetoing specific elements of the legislation, and has vetoed a bill which would have required the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to use its federal […]