— Plasser & Theurer founder Dr. Josef Theurer has died, the track maintenance equipment firm has announced. Theurer, 91, died March 19. A holder of more than 1,000 patents, Theurer and Franz Plasser founded the company, which developed machinery to replace much of the manual labor in track maintenance, in 1953; he managed the company for more than 60 years before turning it over to grandson Johannes Max-Theurer in 2011. “My grandfather will always be a role model: as a pioneer, innovator, and entrepreneur, but above all is a person,” Johannes Max-Theurer said. Theurer is survived by his daughter, Elisabeth Max-Theurer, an Olympic equestrian medalist, as well as grandchildren Johannes and Victoria Max-Theurer.
— The City of Hanford, Calif., has approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the California High Speed Rail Authority which will allow an elevated right-of-way and station in the community. The Hanford Sentinel reports the change from original plans for an-grade station reflect issues between the high speed agency and Union Pacific, which originally was to have its line at the site lowered below grade.
— CSX Transportation has become the first railroad in North America to have emission reduction goals approved by the Science Based Target Initiative. The railroad said in a press release that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 37.3% between 2014 and 2030. The CSX announcement came a week after Union Pacific announced it had submitted its own letter of commitment to the SBTI.
I second Andrew’s comment — thank you!
Thank you Trains for keeping this forum running. Doing normal things help us act normal. Do not fear. Blessings,