Tesla Semi Tesla Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk says his company’s battery-powered big rig, unveiled last week, will be 20 percent cheaper to operate than diesel trucks and represents “economic suicide for rail.” But reports of rail’s impending death may be exaggerated. “Is this going to be a game-changer? No, not yet anyway,” says […]
The cab of Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 awaiting restoration in July 2015. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn CUMBERLAND, Md. — A lack of money is forcing the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad to stop all work on restoring Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309. “A lot of our visitors have the idea that we should throw all of […]
New GE locomotives take shape in the high-bay portion of the Fort Worth, Texas, plant in May 2013. Chris Guss ERIE, Pa. — GE Transportation will soon be sold or partnered away from the parent company. Wall Street analysts even seem to notice, along with historians, that the move brings an end to one of […]
Churchill, Manitoba Google Maps OTTAWA, Ont. — The Canadian federal government has launched an $18-million dollar lawsuit against Omnitrax, the U.S.-based shortline operations company. The lawsuit alleges that Omnitrax allowed tracks leading to the isolated community of Port of Churchill, Manitoba, to fall into disrepair after flooding washed away portions of the tracks. If proven […]
Looking for a great movie featuring a train? If so, then consider avoiding the cost of a theater ticket for the most recent incarnation of “Murder on the Orient Express.” See the film if you were going to see a movie anyway, because there are high points and good acting, but it lacks greatness. A […]
A Talgo car body on a flatbed truck headed from Seattle to Milwaukee, Wis., for repairs. J. Johnson The Talgo trainset stayed mostly upright and did not jackknife when train 502 derailed on July 2, 2017, thanks to the semi-permanent couplings and steering linkage, shown here between the first and second units behind the locomotive. […]
Amtrak ACS64 No. 627 shortly after it crashed into a maintenance-of-way backhoe that was fouling a track on the Northeast Corridor near Chester, Pa., in April 2016. National Transportation Safety Board WASHINGTON — If Amtrak had deployed a familiar device that trips “stop” signals, it could have avoided an accident at Chester, Pa., on April […]
A cosmetically restored Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2700 as it now appears in Dennison, Ohio. Jason Johnson Workers install boiler jacketing on C&O No. 2700. Jason Johnson DENNISON, Ohio — The first example of Chesapeake & Ohio’s fleet of 2-8-4s has been cosmetically restored by the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum. C&O No. 2700 was […]
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – A former BNSF Railway employee in Oregon has been convicted of murdering a supervisor in 2014, the Herald and News reports. James Forshee, 62, was convicted of murder last week in the April 2014 shooting death of Emery Connor, 42, at BNSF’s yard in Klamath Falls. After a week of testimony […]
CHICAGO – General Electric announced plans on Monday to focus on three core industries – aviation, power, and healthcare – leading to the sale of its GE Transportation division and its locomotive product line within two years, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Today, GE announced that it will divest the Transportation business from its portfolio. The […]
Various preserved motive power is seen at the Illinois Railway Museum at Union in July 2005. Michael Karlik UNION, Ill. – The Illinois Railway Museum has retired the last of its land acquisition mortgages, a move that museum staff says makes the operation debt-free for the first time in 50 years. Communications director Frank Hicks […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Caltrans announced Wednesday that Sumitomo Corp. of Americas along with Siemens will be fulfilling a $371 million multi-state contract for new railcars to be used throughout California and the Midwest. The newly finalized contract will supply 137 single-level passenger railcars, 49 to Caltrans and 88 to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The […]
