House committee asks General Accountability Office to investigate Precision Scheduled Railroading The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has asked the head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office to investigate the impact of Precision Scheduled Railroading on shippers, Amtrak and commuter railroads, employees and others. In a letter earlier this week from committee chairman Peter […]
Locomotive builders use model designations to differentiate between products, describing major features found on them. Often, these model designations will be used by the railroads who purchase them, or they will be shortened or modified to conform to space limitations on a computer system, uniform naming schemes, or to identify features that are important to […]
Twin Cities Zephyr Led by 1936 power unit 9905 Zephyrus, the Burlington’s Twin Cities Zephyr swings into the downtown La Crosse, Wis., depot circa 1939. Slow street running was an obstacle in the speed war with rivals Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road. Elden H. Hunter photo […]
Indiana Harbor Belt has unveiled a new Salute to Veterans locomotive. Recently acquired GP38-2 No. 3800 wears an employee-designed paint scheme. It is shown on May 10 in Hammond, Ind. — Michael Miller […]
MINNEAPOLIS — The Friends of the 261 has unveiled a new “retro” paint scheme for Milwaukee Road E9A 32A. The E unit, acquired by the Friends in 2019, is painted orange and maroon to fit with the majority of the Friends passenger fleet. Since Milwaukee Road E9s were only painted Union Pacific yellow, the group […]
OMAHA, Neb. — With a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26% by the end of the decade, Union Pacific is working to improve locomotive fuel efficiency, plans to roll out battery-electric locomotives soon, and is exploring alternatives to the diesel-electric. “We do not plan on buying any new locomotives — unless it’s battery-electric locomotives […]
F unit parade Two Great Northern paint schemes are on display as GN Extra 312-A passes Extra 311-C, waiting in the siding at Floodwood, Minn., on Aug. 16, 1969. Doug Wingfield photo […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is primed for volume growth due to service and cost improvements, a new approach to sales and marketing, and the ongoing rollout of new technology that makes it easier for customers to do business with the railroad. UP executives outlined their growth plans for the next three years during a […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation will gradually rebuild Pan Am Railways’ slow main line track, pare its aging locomotive roster, and extend positive train control over the full route of Amtrak’s Downeaster service that links Boston and Maine. CSX detailed its plans for the New England regional in a more detailed merger application filed this week with […]
Initial test of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive have concluded, with both the manufacturer and testing partner BNSF Railway saying the locomotive’s revenue testing in Southern California — which covered more than 13,000 miles — indicate the promise of the technology. During Wednesday’s quarterly earnings call — as the locomotive was making its way back to […]
ST. JACOBS, Ontario — Canadian National has retired its final two GMD1 locomotives as of April 28, but at least one will be preserved. As many as 14 were on the roster until recently, with fewer actually in service. But the numbers for the Winnipeg- and Toronto-based locomotives dwindled quickly, as CN parked the venerable […]
Grain train on the prairie A Canadian Pacific GP9 switches the grain elevator at Headingley, Manitoba, in August 1980. In this time of transition, the cars to be loaded are a mix of cylindrical covered hoppers and boxcars. John Uckley […]
