With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada — and the expectation that pot will become a $5 billion business by 2020 — the rail industry now has a shipping code for cannabis and related products. Effective Feb. 2, a new Standard Transportation Commodity Code, or STCC, went into effect to govern the shipment of […]
Read More…
Kent, Wash. Google Maps KENT, Wash. — Is there a hamburger powerful enough to stop a train? The Puget Sound region’s rail-transit agency and fans of a local hamburger chain may find out. Sound Transit, the regional authority building and operating a light-rail system in Seattle and its suburbs, recently issued a list of six […]
Read More…
The National Park Service replica of UP No. 119 moves at Promontory in June 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — The first block of individual vehicle passes for May 10 has sold out in two weeks. A second block will be available starting at 10 a.m. Mountain Time on April 1, Spike 150, […]
Read More…
Police investigate the grade crossing accident in Brookfield, Wis., that left the automobile driver dead Monday. Cate Kratville-Wrinn BROOKFIELD, Wis. — A 70-year-old man died Monday when he drove his SUV into the path of Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder passenger train, according to police reports. The accident happened at 4:15 p.m. at Brookfield Road adjacent […]
Read More…
CLOQUET, Minn. and ST. LAZARE, Manitoba – It was a bad weekend for BNSF Railway and Canadian National as both railroads suffered derailments Feb. 16 in Minnesota and Manitoba, respectively. Around 11:25 a.m. Saturday a westbound BNSF coal train bound for Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center at Cohasset, Minn., derailed 40 cars near Draco siding […]
Read More…
Paul D. Schneider train-watching at Fullerton, Calif. David Styffe LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Railroading has lost one of its most versatile and accomplished storytellers. Paul D. Schneider, 64, died peacefully on Feb. 15, 2019, at the Rehabilitation Center on La Brea, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Fairfax, where he had been living for several […]
Read More…
An individual Solari board module. The numeric modules contain the numerals 1 through zero, while the letter modules contain all 26 letters of the alphabet. Jack Trowill, Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum LENOX, Mass. — The retirement of Amtrak’s last Solari train announcement board at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia has inspired the restoration of another […]
Read More…
FULL SCREEN Lance Myers Juniata Shops turntable project in Altoona, Pa. FULL SCREEN Lance Myers Juniata Shops turntable project in Altoona, Pa. FULL SCREEN Lance Myers Juniata Shops turntable project in Altoona, Pa. FULL SCREEN Lance Myers Juniata Shops turntable project in Altoona, Pa. FULL SCREEN Lance Myers Juniata Shops turntable project in Altoona, Pa. […]
Read More…
The westbound Canadian is 22 hours late as seen from its eastbound counterpart at Jasper, Alberta, on Feb 16, 2019. Two photos, Neil Lang CHICAGO – Keeping trains running through the so-called “polar vortex” in the center of North America and massive weather systems impacting the West Coast with heavy rains and snow have taken […]
Read More…
MONTREAL – As part of VIA Rail Canada fleet replacement program, Siemens Canada, the company that was selected by VIA Rail to manufacture the new trains to operate on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, is looking for interested suppliers. For this process, two Siemens’ procurement offices have been set up in Montreal and Oakville, Ontario. Siemens […]
Read More…
SEATTLE — One of the biggest construction projects in the Pacific Northwest in recent years is actually a demolition job — the removal of a two-mile double-decker elevated highway slicing between downtown and the Elliott Bay waterfront. And slicing under that highway structure is one of the region’s most important rail lines. BNSF Railway’s main […]
Read More…
FULL SCREEN California High Speed Rail Authority An excavation under State Route 180 near downtown Fresno gets some attention on Jan. 24, 2019. FULL SCREEN California High Speed Rail Authority An excavation under State Route 180 near downtown Fresno is nearly complete on Jan. 24, 2019. FULL SCREEN California High Speed Rail Authority The Road […]
Read More…