SEATTLE — Amtrak Cascades between Seattle and Portland, Ore., remain suspended through Friday, April 14, while BNSF Railway crews clear a mudslide that has kept passenger trains from operating since Tuesday. Portland-Eugene, Ore., and Seattle-Vancouver, B.C., trains have continued to operate, while the Coast Starlight to and from Los Angeles has been turning at Portland. […]
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WASHINGTON — Most chemical shippers say railroad service has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey released today by the American Chemistry Council. Some 77% of ACC members surveyed said rail service was worse in January than it was in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. Some 22% said service had returned […]
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Rail labor leaders welcomed the safety advisory that the Federal Railroad Administration issued last week that encourages railroads to take steps to reduce the in-train forces that can cause long trains to derail. Railroads, meanwhile, said they were reviewing the advisory to make sure their operating practices are in line with the FRA’s recommendations. “For […]
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WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration on Friday issued a safety advisory calling on railroads to address potential safety risks resulting from the structure of long freight trains, saying it has “noticed a rising trend in recent incidents where train build and makeup have been identified as a potential cause or contributing factor.” Limitations on […]
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All the positive freight railroad safety statistics in the world — like more than 99.9% of hazardous materials shipments arriving without incident — can’t overcome that image of a towering column of black smoke rising from East Palestine, Ohio. The toxic cloud from the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment did far more than upend 4,700 […]
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Of the big six Class I railroads, only Canadian Pacific’s traffic volume was in positive territory for the first quarter. But that was due to favorable comparisons with last year’s first quarter, when a March labor dispute in Canada shut down CP’s operations for two days. The best the other railroads could do during the […]
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Railroad heritage freight cars: Appreciating the liveries of our favorite fallen flag railroads on the mainline today is mostly limited to the predecessor railroads remembered by Class I railroads’ heritage programs. Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and Canadian National collectively recognize more than 30 fallen flag railroads with paint schemes adapted on modern locomotives. Beyond official […]
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SARDINIA, Ohio — Ten railcars of gravel derailed on a Cincinnati Eastern Railroad train Tuesday afternoon, with two cars overturning, according to WCPO-TV and WXIX-TV. No injuries were reported. A grade crossing at Cowboy Road was blocked as a result of the derailment; Eastern Joint Fire and EMS District estimates the road will remain closed […]
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Why are there so many derailments? Freight train derailments have been in the headlines since the disastrous Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern wreck in East Palestine, Ohio. Some have been spectacular, like the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train caught on video at a grade crossing in Springfield, Ohio.; the fiery derailment of a BNSF Railway […]
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News & Products for the week of April 3rd 2023 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. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 3rd 2023. […]
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What was your first byline in Trains? Kevin Gilliam: My first byline was what became a Trains Trackside (previously Trains Presents) five-minute video that was concurrent with the Norfolk Southern 21st Century Steam Program visit to Asheville, N.C., in April 2013. More of those short videos followed, eventually culminating in the first feature-length 611 In Steam […]
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The Nickel Plate Road’s major components were all in place by 1949. The Nickel Plate, formally the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, was conceived in 1881 as a Buffalo-Chicago project to compete with the parallel Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (later New York Central) of William H. Vanderbilt. To thwart rival […]
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