U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward must have thought he was making the real estate deal of a lifetime — 600,000 square miles for a cost of less than two cents an acre. That is the price Seward negotiated with Edouard de Stoecki, Russian minister to the U.S., for the purchase of what would […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City will launch the “Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour,” featuring 4-6-4 No. 2816 on a Canada-to-Mexico trip to celebrate last year’s Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, on April 24 at its headquarters in Calgary. A total of 11 stops are planned for the tour, concluding June 4 in Mexico […]
Trains LIVE — Season two begins — 1-31-2024 — No big fanfare, please. This is premier week for season two of Trains LIVE. We have a few changes coming down the line, in addition to new episodes taking you behind the scenes of railroading. Change No. 1 — Our video production team has been working […]
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — BNSF Railway has resumed freight operations through the location of the latest landslide on Southern California’s Surf Line, which remains closed to passenger traffic following a Jan. 24 incident near the San Clemente Pier. The Orange County Register reports BNSF began freight movements with a 10-mph speed restriction between 9 p.m. […]
DULUTH, Minn. — Following successful test runs and a single excursion in autumn 2023, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 will be pulling a number of trips in 2024. The museum announced the 2-8-0 will be under steam on four weekends during the upcoming season on the museum’s North […]
DETROIT — The landmark Michigan Central Station, undergoing revival by the Ford Motor Co. as a technology hub, could also become the home of a hotel, the Detroit Free Press reports. A spokesman for the Ford subsidiary overseeing the station’s redevelopment said Monday that the company is seeking a zoning change from the current heavy […]
CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific Kansas City bucked the industry trend by posting fourth-quarter gains in volume, operating income, and revenue. “I am proud of how our team of incredible railroaders finished this transformational year with a strong fourth quarter, allowing CPKC to deliver volume growth and best-in-class earnings growth in 2023,” CEO Keith Creel […]
Will the persistent low water levels in the Panama Canal and ongoing attacks on ships bound to and from the Suez Canal wind up diverting international container traffic to West Coast ports? Railroad executives think so, although most say a shift in international intermodal volume has yet to materialize. The drought in Panama has prompted […]
WASHINGTON — In the latest twist in a long-running Chicago interchange dispute, federal regulators yesterday ruled that it’s unreasonable for Canadian National to unilaterally designate the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard as the location where it will exchange traffic with rival Canadian Pacific Kansas City. It’s the second time that the Surface Transportation Board […]
Locomotive power 2024 Someone turned on the new locomotive faucet, but its just a slow drip right now. For several years no new six-axle freight locomotives have been built for North America’s Class I railroads. Now, there are some signs of life. Last year saw orders from Canadian National and BNSF Railway — Canadian National […]
WASHINGTON — The 180-day nationwide safety blitz that the Federal Railroad Administration conducted in the wake of the Feb. 3, 2023, hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, found that railroads’ track, equipment, and processes were generally in compliance with federal regulations. But the FRA, outlining its findings in a report released last week, did […]
An EMD AR20 alternator from CSX SD70MAC 4549 at the railroad’s Huntington, W.Va., shop. Chris Guss Understanding brake horsepower: Diesel engines, like all engines, are built to perform a specific function. In a locomotive, that role is to provide power to move freight cars from one place to another. When buying locomotives, one thing management […]
