WASHINGTON — Three labor organizations have opposed Amtrak’s request for a waiver allowing installation of a device the company claims will prevent incidents where trains fail to trigger track circuits. As a result, a decades-old issue that recently has forced Amtrak to assign at least seven Superliners to trains operated over Canadian National’s Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The long-awaited Albuquerque convention by the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, previously postponed due to COVID-19, called for a visit to the downtown’s Rail Yards as part of the annual gathering. Adding on to the itinerary was the June 26-27 appearance of steam locomotive No. 2926, making its first mainline […]
Trains contributor Steve Smedley put together this video of Canadian Pacific Hudson No. 2816 in Iowa on the return leg of the Final Spike Steam tour to accompany his earlier photo gallery of the July 1 move from Davenport to Dubuque, Iowa [see “‘The Empress’ and its train make the trip back to Canada,” Trains.com, […]
CARRINGTON, N.D. — Multiple cars of a CPKC train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire early today (July 5) in east-central North Dakota. The Associated Press reports that 29 cars derailed, including cars carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur, and methanol, according to an official from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. Wind was blowing […]
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Already facing one major project — recovery from major flood damage — the Sioux City Railroad Museum announced Wednesday that it would take on another: restoring one of the museum’s steam locomotives to operating condition. The museum, its parent Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, and the American Heartland Railroad Society are beginning […]
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — The Pikes Peak Cog Railway is bringing back its sunrise trips on four days this summer and fall, after introducing the early-morning departures last season. On these four days, the first departure from the railway’s Manitou Springs station will be at 4:30 a.m. instead of the usual 8 a.m. The early […]
DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has introduced a new early evening steam excursion, the Highline Express, which made its first trip on July 1. Running on Mondays and Tuesdays this month, the 3½-hour trip is the railroad’s shortest summer excursion and its only evening train, departing Durango at 4:30 p.m. […]
Road foreman As a young engineer, age 38, I was appointed road foreman of engines on the Lehigh Valley Railroad working out of Sayre, Pa. My territory ran from Coxton, Pa., to Manchester, N.Y., which is half way to Buffalo, N.Y. It was in 1953 and the job lasted until 1955 when I was fired […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed a 3.8% gain in June over the same month in 2023, the fifth straight month of increased volume, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. Weekly traffic, for the week ending June 29, showed a 3.9% gain compared to the corresponding week a year ago. The monthly […]
EVANSTON, Wyo. — Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 is four days into its “Westward Bound” tour, preparing for a Fourth of July move from Evanston to Salt Lake City after travel from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Evanston in three days of travel, with an off-day Tuesday in Rock Springs, Wyo., for an employee event. The […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has completed agreements with all 28 of its labor unions, an accomplishment covering 16 collective bargaining agreements, the agency announced today (Wednesday, July 3). The agency says this is the first time in 15 years it has had agreements in place with all its unions, and — with […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern’s Lamberts Point Coal Terminal in Norfolk, Va., set a two-month tonnage record after the collapse of the Key Bridge shut down an export facility at the Port of Baltimore. NS diverted coal trains to Norfolk for CONSOL Energy, whose Baltimore terminal was blocked on March 26 after a container ship struck […]
