ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has officially launched its TOP|SPG operating plan, which is primarily focused on improving the railroad’s intermodal network. “TOP|SPG works by making our daily operations simpler, more consistent, and executable,” Paul Duncan, vice president of network planning and operations, said in a statement on Monday. Implementing the new plan is an important […]
Fox Valley Models Trinity RD-4 coal hopper Scale: N (1:160) Price: $22.99, single car; 6-11 cars, $21.99 each; 12+ cars, $19.99 each Era: mid-1990s to present Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, scaletrains.com Fox Valley Models Trinity RD-4 coal hopper features: New road numbers Die-cast weight with interior detail Separate, factory-applied interior braces Removable coal load Detailed, free-rolling trucks […]
Former Santa Fe bicentennial diesel No. 5704 is on its way to its new home in California. Photographer William Tollett caught the SD45-2, restored to its mid-1970s paint scheme earlier this year, on Thursday, June 23, at Panhandle, Texas, on BNSF Railway train ZPLKLAC6-22. The locomotive was donated to the Southern California Railroad Museum in […]
CHICAGO — The family of a Metra passenger killed in a May 11 grade-crossing accident has filed suit against the commuter agency and BNSF Railway, as well as the moving company whose truck was involved in the accident and the driver of the truck. The Daily Herald reports the suit filed Wednesday in Cook County […]
WASHINGTON — A major grain shipper opposes Canadian National’s effort to force Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to divest the KCS line linking Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City. Earlier this year CN asked the Surface Transportation Board to condition approval of the CP-KCS merger on divestiture of KCS’s Springfield Line. CN promises to spend […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a lower-court ruling striking down an Oklahoma law allowing railroads to be fined for blocking grade crossings longer than 10 minutes. The Oklahoman newspaper reports the court turned down without comment Oklahoma’s appeal of a decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which […]
The U.S. Class I railroads’ recurring crew shortages, related bouts of service problems, and a lack of meaningful volume growth are intertwined. You can lay the blame for all three problems at just one place: Wall Street. BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are in the midst of the mother of all […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kaw River Railroad operations in Kansas City now feature two former Union Pacific SD60M’s in a paint scheme reflecting the line’s Watco ownership. The 6032 and 6033 are the first six-axle locomotives on the Kaw River, which operates former Kansas City Terminal Railway trackage in Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, […]
CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. — A truck struck by a Metra commuter train was rotated by the impact, causing substantial damage to the train’s cab car and resulting in the death of a passenger, according to a preliminary report issued Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The preliminary report sets out basic facts of the […]
CHICAGO — Water spray splashing the wheels of Lincoln Service train no. 300 coming off the Chicago River bridge Wednesday morning has nothing to do with Amtrak’s need to wash Windy City trains, and everything to do with making sure hot weather doesn’t sideline them. With temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees as they did […]
WASHINGTON — The National Mediation Board will end mediation between railroads and their unions over the long-running negotiations for a new national contract, moving the contract process closer to intervention by President Joe Biden. The organization representing railroads in the negotiations, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee, said in a press release that it was “disappointed […]
CHICAGO — Higher interest rates may not be significantly pulling back inflationary pressure thus far, but they are cooling down lumber prices, returning them to near pre-pandemic norms in an inadvertent sacrifice of Class I railroad carloads. According to rail carload data, so far this year the country’s seven Class I railroads have hauled approximately […]
