Hot stove On the day after Thanksgiving of 1981, the crew desk called me as the conductor to dog catch the North Bend local. We went on duty at Burlington Northern’s Stacy Street Yard in Seattle, a former Northern Pacific Terminal, located south of downtown and a couple blocks west of today’s Lumen Field (Seahawks) […]
PLEASANT LAKE, Ind. — The Indiana Rail Experience operated its second cigar train using Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society passenger cars on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, on host railroad Indiana Northeastern. The “Rocky Patel Rolling Smoke Cigar Train” train operated behind Nickel Plate Road SD9 No. 358 in pull-pull fashion from Pleasant Lake to Hillsdale, […]
MANSFIELD TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The operator of a train on NJ Transit’s River Line has died after the train stuck a downed tree early this morning, KYW-TV reports. The incident occurred shortly after 6 a.m. when a southbound train from Trenton hit the tree just north of the Roebling station. Forty-five people were reported to […]
SIMSBORO, La. — No injuries were reported when 19 cars of a CPKC train derailed Sunday morning between the towns of Simsboro and Grambling, La.. The Ruston Leader reports the derailment occurred about 6:30 a.m. The Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office reports that some cars carried a hazardous material, although the material involved was not specified. […]
MONTREAL — Apparently triggered by one or more incidents in which a VIA Rail Canada Venture trainset failed to activate highway crossing warning devices, Canadian National is now requiring that all of VIA’s Venture-equipped trainsets operate with 32 axles. The edict came late Friday, at the beginning of Canada’s Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend. It also […]
EAGLE PASS, Texas — Union Pacific and Mexican partner Ferromex have suspended permits for grain shuttles as a result of a derailment in Mexico, UP said in a notice to customers issued Saturday, Oct. 12. The suspension of permits for two active Ferromex embargos reflects “the high volume of ag unit trains in the pipeline […]
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — San Diego’s North County Transit District will abandon its original plans to build safety fencing along the Del Mar bluffs under a settlement reached last month with the California Coastal Commission, and as a result will end its long-running case before the Surface Transportation Board regarding the fence and bluff-stablization work. […]
CHICAGO — Two people have now been charged in connection with the looting of a Union Pacific intermodal train Friday on the city’s West Side, WLS-TV reports. Derrick Weathers, 53, and Lemar Hollingsworth, 21, are facing misdemeanor charges for theft. Weathers is also facing a felony charge for drug possession. At least six individuals were […]
ESSEX, Mont. — One main track at the site of an Oct. 12 grain train derailment near Essex has been reopened, with the second expected to be reopened this evening, according to a BNSF advisory to customers. A dozen cars were reported to have derailed at Java, Mont., early Saturday [see “BNSF grain train derails […]
A full-length heritage dome once operated seasonally on the New York-Montreal Adirondack north of Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y. That began during Amtrak’s 1990s product line era when managers focused on growing ridership and revenue on individual routes. The car was sold off during CEO Richard Anderson’s regime, although views are still terrific through Amfleet II coach windows. […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — CPKC on Friday, Oct. 11, marked the opening of its new U.S. Operations Center at Knoche Yard in Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Quinton Lucas and CEO Keith Creel participated in the ribbon-cutting for the four-story, 46,000-square-foot tower completed in just 15 months. The structure is home to the U.S. Network Operations […]
LONDON, Ontario — The Canadian government on Friday announced it would fund more than Ca$45 million in grade crossing safety projects and programs across the country, including infrastructure improvements and educational programs. The funding will Ca$44 million for 231 projects under the Rail Safety Improvement Program. The government has now announced more than 400 such […]
