Dixie Line

Man in coveralls stands by blue and gray streamlined diesel locomotive in profile

Dixie Line The Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis rostered 23 F7A and eight F7B units, built 1949-51. Mainline freight and passenger trains were dieselized with GP7s and F units starting in 1948 with the last steam operating in 1953. It was merged into parent Louisville & Nashville in 1957. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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Intermodal congestion will persist for months, experts say

Containers on railcars in foreground with many stacked containers behind

LONG BEACH, Calif. — It will take at least six months to alleviate monumental intermodal congestion that stretches from Asian ports, across the Pacific to U.S. ports, and on to railroads and their inland terminals. “The intermodal industry is under unprecedented strain … worse than anything I’ve seen in 41 years that I’ve been in […]

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FRA issues advisory on PTC design issue

Federal Railroad Administration logo

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory after identifying a design issue with positive train control that makes it possible for a crew member to circumvent PTC enforcement. The advisory, published earlier this month in the Federal Register, says the interface design issue allows crews to manually operate the cut-out valve […]

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Steam locomotive arrives at Hoosier Valley museum

Small, ornately decorated steam locomotive

NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — An operable steam locomotive has arrived at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, moving the museum closer to offering steam excursions for the first time in more than a decade. Bock Lumber Co. No. 1, an 0-4-4T Forney-type locomotive build by Baldwin in 1908, arrived at the museum on Monday. The museum […]

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Kentucky Steam Heritage operates first excursion trains

Small steam locomotive pulling two cars

RAVENNA, Ky. — Train operations are now underway at the Kentucky-based nonprofit where steam locomotive C&O 2716 is being restored, and officials there are looking forward to larger-scale operations in the near future. On Saturday, Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. hosted train excursions for the first time in its six-year history to help celebrate the Ravenna […]

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GP9

Angular diesel locomotive in contrasting dark and light scheme

GP9 Alco was first on the market with the road-switcher concept, but it was EMD that capitalized with its “Geeps,” such as this Northern Pacific GP9. EMD sold more than 6,800 of its 1,500-hp GP7s and 1,750-hp GP9s. EMD photo […]

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NYC train map: Subways, NJ Transit, LIRR and more!

Detail portion of a NYC transit map.

The image above is a NYC train map. For the 2020 special issue, Railroad Maps 2, Trains Senior Editor David Lassen embarked on an ambitious project: Map New York City railroads. The map above shows New York City subway lines, and routes and major several passenger railroads. These include Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, PATH, […]

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Will railroads emerge winners from efforts to fight climate change?

Formal portrait of man in suit and tie

CHICAGO –—Climate change provides an opportunity for railroads, even as more frequent extreme weather events take a toll on railroad operations and infrastructure and require investments in new locomotive technology, executives told a shipper conference last week. The increased emphasis on sustainability is a tremendous opportunity for rail carriers, BNSF CEO Katie Farmer told the […]

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Major CN stockholder makes formal call for shareholder meeting, says it will nominate four new board members

Canadian National logo

LONDON — Activist investor TCI Fund Management has formally requested a special meeting of Canadian National’s shareholders and named four individuals it will nominate for the railroad’s board of directors. “We did not seek a proxy fight,” Chris Hohn, TCI founder and managing partner, said in a Monday press release, “but without urgent action CN’s […]

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Ask MR: What do you know about Santa Fe’s train NCX?

A black-and-white photo of a manifest freight train headed by a pair of EMD FT diesels running through the San Fernando Valley in California.

Q: I’ve heard about a freight train the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe operated in the early 1970s and earlier in California called the NCX. The few references I’ve seen indicate it was a hotshot intermodal train. This train sounds interesting, especially since it ran at the same time as the famous Santa Fe Super […]

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