A Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay passenger special departs the Santa Cruz boardwalk in December 2012. Elrond Lawrence SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings is seeking to end its contract as the operator of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Iowa Pacific subsidiary Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The National Conference of Firemen & Oilers became the latest union this week to ratify a new labor contract with the nation’s Class I railroads. The union is part of the Coordinated Bargaining Group coalition of unions that have been negotiating with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee for more than a year […]
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern will be suspending operations in observance of the Christmas Day. In an announcement online, railroad officials state that NS will not accept trains for interchange from 7 a.m. Dec. 24 through 10 p.m. Dec. 25. Railroad operations will cease completely at 3 p.m. Dec. 24 through 10 p.m. Dec. 25. […]
Amtrak No. 454 rolls a ‘Pacific Surfliner’ by the Thomas Fire at Emma Wood State Beach near Ventura before service was suspended north of Oxnard on Dec. 7. Alex Gillman LOS ANGELES – Wildfires in Southern California continue to disrupt Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo on the Union Pacific Coast […]
New York, Susquehanna & Western Edward S. Kaminski PATERSON, N.J. – When you gotta go, you gotta go. One New Jersey man learned that lesson in more ways than one this week when he fell into a river ahead of an oncoming train while allegedly defecating off a railroad bridge, NorthJersey.com reports. According to reports, […]
Metra CHICAGO – Metra has painted a MotivePower MP36PH into the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad’s red and yellow livery in honor of CEO and Executive Director Don Orseno who is retiring this month. Orseno is retiring after 44 years in railroading and first worked for the Rock Island in the 1970s. Locomotive No. […]
A GE-built 44-ton switching locomotive may be restored to original Great Northern colors in Maryland. David Tunison WALKERSVILLE, Md. — One of the earliest examples of General Electric’s popular 44-tonner switcher produced has been preserved by a private individual and moved to the Walkersville Southern Railroad. Jamie Haislip, an electrical contractor by trade who also […]
WASHINGTON — The increasing length to which Class I railroads build trains has piqued the interest of Congress. For railroads, longer freight trains are a way to cut down expenses: CSX, the third largest American railroad by revenue, has increased its trains by 400 feet to an average length of 6,833 feet in total since […]
Norfolk Southern C44-9W No. 9345 leads train 36T, a Buffalo, N.Y., to Allentown, Pa., manifest train on a new steel arch span on Dec. 11. The arch replaces an iron truss bridge built by the Erie Railroad in 1875 and shown on the right. Norfolk Southern Corp. Portageville (N.Y.) Bridge in context Norfolk Southern Corp. […]
LOS ANGELES — Caterpillar is on the hook for $25 million in fines and restitution after company officials pleaded guilty on the company’s behalf to defrauding freight car owners on repairs. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that United Industries, a unit within Caterpillar’s Progress Rail division, accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors […]
The boiler for White Pass & Yukon 2-8-0 No. 61. Stockton Locomotive Works Stathi Pappas works on White Pass & Yukon 2-8-0 No. 61 at his shop in Antonito, Colo. Stockton Locomotive Works ANTONITO, Colo. — Stathi Pappas is a busy guy. As assistant general manager at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic, Pappas has the […]
A Chicago-bound Canadian National intermodal train passes a CN hopper train stopped on a siding near Theresa, Wis., in November 2017. TRAINS DRONE: Steve Sweeney NEW YORK — Canadian National is in a better position to handle a growing North American economy because it continued investing in infrastructure during the traffic downturn last year, its […]
