LONDON — Activist investor TCI Fund Management has asked Canadian National to delay the selection of its next chief executive until after the special shareholder meeting in March. CN on Monday said it would name a new CEO in January, when CEO JJ Ruest is scheduled to retire. TCI’s request for a pause in the […]
What has been railroading’s top story in 2021? Today, we begin the process of answering that question, as determined in balloting by the Trains editorial staff, Classic Trains editor Brian Schmidt (who spent most of the year on our staff), and key News Wire contributors. Balloting concluded on Dec. 10. We’ll be recapping stories each […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National rail operations in British Columbia have nearly returned to normal after disruptions from Nov. 14 to Dec. 3 caused by flooding and washouts, the railroad reported on Tuesday, even as repairs continue around the clock. A 150-mile stretch on the railroad’s line between Vancouver and Kamloops, B.C., experienced 58 outages from […]
ALDERSHOT, Ontario — So spotless you can imagine the smell of fresh paint, a half-dozen freshly rebuilt Wabtec AC44C6M locomotives bound for the Quebec North Shore & Labrador pass through Aldershot, Ont., today (Dec. 21, 2021) on Canadian National train No. 422 today. The units, rebuilt from BNSF C44-9s, will operate on the remote 257-mile […]
WASHINGTON — After a lengthy delay sparked by filings in opposition to the deal, the Surface Transportation Board has approved Watco’s purchase of about 650 miles of branch lines in Wisconsin and Michigan from Canadian National-owned Wisconsin Central. “After careful consideration of all comments received, the board finds that the issues raised do not demonstrate […]
Precision Scheduled Railroading has become a target for members of Congress, federal regulators, shippers, and rail labor. Hunter Harrison’s low-cost operating model — in place on all of the Class I railroads except BNSF Railway — has come under criticism as rail traffic has rebounded from pandemic lows. Intermodal terminals faced monumental congestion this summer. […]
Do railroad mergers live up to the hype? It’s a question that’s been rattling around in my head as federal regulators review the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, the first between Class I railroads in two decades. First, the projections. Within three years of the merger, Canadian Pacific Kansas City expects to gain 80,000 carloads […]
MONTREAL — A jerk caused by slack action, following a sudden brake application, resulted in a railroad crewman falling from a car he was riding in a fatal January accident at Canadian National’s Pointe-Saint-Charles Yard in Montreal, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in a report released Monday. The Jan. 6, 2021, accident killed […]
LONDON — Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern have received A-minus ratings from global environmental non-profit CDP for their efforts to address climate change. Earlier, Canadian National and CSX had been recognized as among 200 companies worldwide named to CDP’s “A list” [see “Canadian National, CSX named …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 7, 2021]. Norfolk […]
Product news Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of December 9, 2021. HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD70-series diesel locomotives. SD70M: […]
ST-LAMBERT, Quebec — In an echo of situations that significantly disrupted the railroad’s operations in early 2020, protesters staged a blockade Saturday of Canadian National’s line in St-Lambert, adjacent to Montreal , saying they were acting in solidarity with a First Nations group in British Columbia. The Montreal Gazette reports protesters said they were responding […]
Introduction to Clearing Yard in Chicago Clearing Yard in Chicago often operates at 1.8 mph, slower than the speed at which an average adult walks. Compound that brutally slow pace with the idea that this same portion of railroad connects six of the seven Class I carriers, and you soon get the feeling somebody has […]
