ATLANTA — A union message to its members indicates that Norfolk Southern may soon move all train dispatching to a corporate base in Atlanta. A representative from the American Train Dispatchers Association, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, sent a message to members this week telling them that NS executives plan to relocate and centralize all train […]
The remains of Amtrak Cascades train No. 501 in December 2017. Steve Carter WASHINGTON — As part of its ongoing investigation into the Dec. 18, 2017, derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in DuPont, Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board released Thursday an update about the agency’s investigation. NTSB investigators interviewed the engineer and the […]
Hearne, Texas Google Maps OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will build a new hump yard in Texas to handle growth in carload traffic that threatens to eventually swamp existing yards in the Lone Star State. The $550 millon Brazos Yard, to be built in Hearne, Texas, is scheduled to open in 2020, Chief Operating Officer […]
CSX train Q261 glides through peak fall foliage it climbs the east slope of Sand Patch grade at Foley, Pa., in October 2011. This auto rack train originated at CSX’s Curtis Bay facility in Baltimore and will terminate in Lordstown, Ohio. Alex Mayes JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation is no longer considering the former Baltimore […]
TACOMA, Wash. – A former BNSF Railway locomotive engineer is suing the Class I railroad because he was allegedly fired after preventing a wreck at a yard in Portland, Ore., the Seattle Times reports. Earlier this month, a federal judge denied a motion by the railroad to throw out the case. According to court documents, […]
CSX Transportation eastbound auto rack train Q264 slices through the fog on the former Boston & Albany route in Westfield, Mass., in 2008. The B&A, as well as branches in Massachusetts, are among the 8,000 miles CSX is reviewing for potential sale. Bill Stephens JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation is reviewing 8,000 miles of rail […]
Skookum, a 2-4-4-2 logging locomotive reunited with its tender for the first time in decades the week of Jan. 20 in Garibaldi, Ore. Rich Gitschlag GARIBALDI, Ore. — Another milestone has been reached in the long-awaited restoration of the famous Pacific Northwest Baldwin-built logging 2-4-4-2 Skookum. The unique 1909 locomotive was reunited with its tender […]
CHICAGO — Ed Burkhardt says jurors in the Lac-Mégantic trial made the right call by finding three former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic railroaders “not guilty” of killing 47 people in July 2013. “None of these three accused meet the standard of criminal negligence, which is very tight,” Burkhardt, former chairman of the Canadian short line […]
Video via YouTube. BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Grade-crossing accidents just a mile apart that resulted in the deaths of two people in a week have the new Brightline passenger service in the crosshairs of elected officials and trial attorneys. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate. Boynton Beach officials […]
GE Transportation CEO Raphael Santana, left, shakes hands with a Kazakhstan railroad official after signing a $900-million contract for GE locomotives in the Asian nation. GE Transportation CHICAGO — GE Transportation signed two contracts, valued at more than $900 million, with Kazakhstan’s state-run railroad Kazakhstan Temir Zholy — the company’s largest international rail customer — […]
A Pacific Surfliner hugs the beach at Carpinteria, Calif., in 2013 Bob Johnston LOS ANGELES — Amtrak and the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency continue to expand the capacity of Pacific Surfliner service in response to the closure of U.S. Route 101, which severed the direct highway connection between Santa Barbara, Calif., and the rest of […]
Amtrak’s Seattle-to-Los Angeles Coast Starlight crosses a trestle at Goleta, Calif. Pacific Parlour cars used in the train’s consist will soon be removed from Amtrak service. Bob Johnston The Pacific Parlour Cars, which were built by Pullman-Standard for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway as hi-level lounge cars and have been a regular part […]
