NEWARK, N.J. — Thousands of people have applied to become locomotive engineers for NJ Transit, addressing the transit agency’s shortage of people to operate its commuter trains. But relief will be far from immediate. NJ.com reports that more than 5,000 people have already applied to become engineers, with the deadline for applications arriving on Friday. […]
NEW YORK — Norfolk Southern is approaching Precision Scheduled Railroading differently than CSX Transportation, with a much slower timetable and no appetite for disruptive change. But NS sees no reason why it can’t close productivity and operating ratio gaps with its more efficient eastern rival, Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Earhart says. “The biggest difference for […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has addressed some flaws in conducting background checks as part of its hiring process, but some issues remain, according to a report by Amtrak Office of Inspector General. Most notably, according to the report issued Nov. 1, reviews of applicants’ education and employment histories are insufficient, and the company does not ensure […]
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — R.J. Corman’s family of shortline railroads now includes a significant part of Nashville’s shortline railroading scene. R.J. Corman announced this week it has finalized an agreement to purchase the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Corp.; Nashville & Western Railroad Corp.; Transit Solutions Group, the operator of Nashville’s Music City Star commuter railroad; and […]
OMAHA, Neb. — The first phase of Union Pacific’s shift to an operating plan based on the principles of Precision Scheduled Railroading appears to be going smoothly. Federal regulators have not received shipper complaints about service and are satisfied that the railroad is keeping its customers informed as it methodically rolls out operational changes on […]
FULL SCREEN Runner-up: Before I was of driving age, I railfanned Tacoma, Wash., using my father’s small boat: buzzing up and down the Tacoma Narrows and other waterways, gathering knowledge of photography and railroad operations. After getting my license, I continued to photograph trains from the water. From my boat, May 5, 2013, in Tacoma, beachgoers […]
At InnoTrans, Turkish manufacturer Tülomsas displayed a mid-1980s-vintage Turkish State Railway DE11000 diesel loco, rebuilt to run on either diesel or batter power. Keith Fender Bombardier’s battery-powered Talent 3 EMU after a demonstration run at Hennigsdorf, Germany. Keith Fender BERLIN — If there was one recurring theme at the 2018 InnoTrans rail trade fare, it […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s bullet train dodged its second fatal projectile Tuesday in less than a week when voters overwhelmingly elected Democrat Gavin Newsom as high-speed rail champion Jerry Brown’s successor as governor. With 53 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Newsom held a 58 percent to 42 percent lead over Republican candidate John Cox, […]
Skookum 2-4-4-2 Martin E. Hansen GARIBALDI, Ore. — The wait list is over. The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad is now taking reservations for a second Trains Magazine photo charter with logging railroad locomotive 2-4-4-2 Skookum. Trains and the railroad made the announcement late Tuesday. This photo charter will happen March 14 and 15, 2019, in […]
An Adirondack Scenic Railroad passenger train to Thendara, N.Y., prepares to depart the station at Big Moose, N.Y. Alex Mayes UTICA, N.Y. — The ongoing battle over whether parts of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad will become a rail trail is likely to intensify in December, when the state agency that oversees New York’s Adirondack State […]
NEWMAN, Western Australia — Media outlets are airing videos that better show the extent of the damage done to a runaway iron ore train that crashed in the Western Australia desert on Monday. The Guardian, Australian Broadcasting Corp., and others are showing hand-held cell phone videos of the BHP Billiton train that became a runaway […]
Visit Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with Editor Jim Wrinn. The train operates on a former Baltimore & Ohio line through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland. You’ll see visiting Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765, tour cars from the famed California Zephyr, and much more! […]
