Rocky Mountaineer’s GoldLeaf class equipment displays an open platform at Jasper, Alberta, in August 2009. Steve Hobson You may no longer be allowed to experience platform riding and open vestibules on Amtrak routes, but these amenities still appear frequently on tourist railroads and other passenger trains across North America. Several tourist railroads in the U.S. […]
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have announced tweaks to their interline intermodal service in the wake of major changes made earlier this year that dropped nearly 500 low-volume lanes. The latest moves, which take effect on July 1, follow the same theme: Favoring high-density routes that support steel wheel interchange in Chicago and Memphis. This […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is relaxing some of its demurrage and accessorial charges in the wake of shipper complaints and scrutiny from federal regulators. UP announced in November that it would charge customers $10,000 if they cancelled a unit train less than 48 hours prior to its original release date. Effective immediately, UP has […]
Blue Line train from O’Hare to downtown Chicago travels along the center divider of Interstate 90, the Kennedy Expressway, on April 13, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen This article is the first of five on transit in the U.S., and North America. Read parts Two, Three, Four, and Five online. Across the U.S., cities have added […]
BURLINGTON, Iowa — BNSF Railway’s Ottumwa Subdvision has felt the wrath of the Mississippi River, as its waters have covered tracks in downtown Burlington, Iowa. Trains have continued to operate, although at a greatly reduced speed. The river crested at 24.45 feet on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. That same day, a […]
Cass Scenic Railroad’s long anticipated Climax is nearing completion this summer. Cass Scenic Railroad CASS, W.Va. — In less than 12 weeks, a more than decade-long project will be completed when Cass Scenic Railroad crews finish the restoration of Middle Fork Climax No. 9. Cass shop crews are expecting the arrival of the locomotive’s steam […]
BNSF Railway flooding map BNSF Railway Union Pacific flooding map as of May 31 Union Pacific LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas River flooding has closed portions of the Union Pacific in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere in the Midwest, while BNSF Railway has restored Midwestern service and remedied a brief Friday shutdown in Missouri of its […]
Amtrak’s Illinois Zephyr passes through Lisle, Ill., on the BNSF Railway on May 25, 2019. Among items in the new Illinois budget is funding for two additional state-supported Amtrak trains and extension of BNSF commuter service into Kendall County. TRAINS: David Lassen SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In a surprise Saturday session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a […]
A South Charleston police cruiser was destroyed Sunday after getting stuck on a CSX right-of-way near Charleston, W.Va. The car became stuck on a rail while in pursuit of a vehicle. Two photos, Harry Hamrick CHARLESTON, W.Va. – For the second time in two weeks, a police car has been involved in a collision with […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined a request from the Association of American Railroads to review a lower-court ruling regarding the authority of Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to establish on-time performance metrics and standards for Amtrak operation on host freight railroads. The convoluted legal history of the case has seen a […]
ST. LOUIS — Amtrak’s suspension of Missouri River Runner operation between St. Louis and Kansas City has been extended again, this time through at least Wednesday, June 5. Rerouted Union Pacific freight traffic, the result of flooding elsewhere in the Midwest, continues to lead to track congestion resulting in the suspension. Chartered buses are substituting […]
DALLAS — Trinity Rail Maintenance Services, a subsidiary of carbuilder Trinity Rail, has announced it will build a $60 million railcar repair facility in the eastern Iowa community of Shell Rock. The company, headquartered in Dallas, has purchased a 230-arce site for the facility, which will employ more than 250 people when completed in 2020. […]
