FORT MYERS, Fla. — More than 500 days after Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida, and the Seminole Gulf Railway, on Sept. 28, 2022, the railroad has restored operations to Fort Myers. On Tuesday, the railroad operated its first test train across the Caloosahatchee River, having completed the rebuilding of four bridges and track structures across […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
FRA Administrator cautions Norfolk Southern on ‘backsliding’ on safety
WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, in a Wednesday letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, has cautioned against “backsliding, as a result of a change in leadership or otherwise, on the safety-oriented path” the railroad has established since the February 2023 East Palestine derailment. Bose’s letter comes in response to an effort by […]
UP announces $3.4 billion capital plan for 2024
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific plans to spend $3.4 billion on capital projects in 2024, the railroad announced Wednesday, with more than half of that going to basic infrastructure upgrades and replacement, such as rail, ties, and ballast. The $1.9 billion for infrastructure represents approximately 56% of the capital plan. Another $600 million is budgeted […]
Air repeater
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MacDonald named vice president, chief operating officer at Sierra Northern
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brenton A. MacDonald has been named vice president and chief operating officer at Sierra Northern Railway, the company announced Tuesday. MacDonald, who joined the company in 2013, most recently had served as general manager. He has also been manager of safety and training and well as a conductor and engineer. He […]
CPKC says union for Canadian crews misrepresents negotiations
CALGARY — The union representing engineers, conductors and yard workers has “chosen to grossly misrepresent the facts” and “distorted the truth,” Canadian Pacific Kansas City said late Monday in a response to statements by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference regarding contract negotiations, saying the railroad has “offered two options for renewed contracts that provide benefits […]
BNSF train derails in Montana
HEDGESVILLE, Mont. — Twenty-six cars of a BNSF train derailed early Monday near Hedgesville, in Golden Valley County in central Montana. The incident occurred about 3:30 a.m., according to the Golden Valley County Sheriff’s Office. No injuries were reported, and all the cars that derailed were empty. KTVQ-TV reports BNSF was hoping to have the […]
Pacemaker Freight Service
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Teamsters Canada Rail Conference claims CN, CPKC seek work stoppage
MONTREAL — The president of Teamsters Canada claims Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are seeking a work stoppage in an effort to eliminate rest provisions for workers, the union said in a press release today (Monday, Feb. 19). The release is the union’s response to separate moves by CN and CPKC on Friday to […]
When trains take a detour
Trains take a detour The whir of an electric switch motor fills the air as a dwarf signal flashes from red to green. Beneath a blinding headlight, four locomotives advance stiffly along a tight connecting track as the rails squeal in protest. A dark figure emerges from a pickup truck waiting in the gathering darkness, […]
Surviving a train wreck: Improving passenger safety
This story originally appeared in the May 2012 issue of Trains Magazine. Train wreck Two very similar passenger trains approach a standing locomotive at slow speed in an over-under video produced by the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass. On impact, one train crumples with the lead car, but stays in […]
California provides additional funding for San Clemente slide repairs
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The California Transportation Commission has awarded an additional $7.2 million in emergency funding to address the landslide issues that have halted Amtrak and Metrolink passenger service through San Clemente, the Orange County Transportation Authority announced. The new funds, awarded Friday, follow an earlier $2 million award from the state for cleanup […]