A railroad study in snow On Jan. 15, 1885, Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, a farmer from Jericho, Vt., became the first person to successfully photograph a single snow crystal — a snowflake. Bentley, in his study of snow, went on to capture images of more than 5,000 individual snowflakes, finding that, in fact, no two were […]
Train orders The train order, variously called the “flimsy” or the “tissue” — together with its attendant operators, train order offices, and order hoops — has been rendered obsolete by the radio, the computer, and amended work rules. With its passing in the late 1980s, so did a whole concept of railroad traffic control that […]
BROOKS, Alberta — Seventeen cars of a CPKC train derailed Monday afternoon near Brooks, closing a provincial highway, Global News reports. The intermodal train derailed shortly after 4:30 p.m. CPKC told the news network that there were no injuries and the cause is under investigation. Highway 873 near Brooks was closed as a result of […]
TORONTO — The government of Ontario will launch a program integrating fares on all transit systems in the Toronto area later this month, meaning transit users will essentially pay one fare no matter how many transfers they make. The One Fare program will include GO Transit, the Toronto Transit Commission, and several other agencies, with […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad has announced plans for its 2024 main line excursion schedule, which will begin Saturday, April 6, and has placed tckets for the schedule on sale. Regular-season excursions from Reading Outer Station in Reading, Pa., and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Regional Station in Pittston, Pa., will operate on weekends through […]
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Senate President Nicolas Scutari has named Anthony Abrantes to fill a seat on the NJ Transit board vacated by Sangeeta Doshi, whose term expired Jan. 14, the New Jersey Herald reports. Abrantes, of East Hanover, N.J., is assistant executive secretary-treasurer of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. He […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most Sacramento light rail service was restored this afternoon (Monday, Feb. 5), following power outages and other storm damage that hit the Sacramento Regional Transit system on Sunday. An advisory on the Sacramento RT website says Blue Line service was restored at 2 p.m. with Green Line and a portion of the […]
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern’s engineering team completed $1 billion in improvement projects last year, including installation of new wayside detectors as well as repairs and replacement of tracks, bridges, and grade crossings. “Our extensive infrastructure work is an important component of being a customer-centric, operations-driven railroad and represents an investment in the safety of our […]
Railroad reporting marks Railroad cars are identified by two, three, or four letters and by a number of up to six digits. The letters, known as reporting marks, indicate the owner of the car, while the number places it in the owner’s fleet. Reporting marks ending in X indicate ownership by a private concern as […]
WASHINGTON — NJ Transit will receive $75 million to support replace a 70-year-old facility damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021, the Federal Transit Administration has announced. The money will go toward construction of a maintenance-of-way facility in Clifton, N.J., replacing what NJ Transit calls an obsolete and flood-prone facility in Wood-Ridge. “The new facility in […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]
Rotary snowplow Snow … There are few things that mother nature can throw at the unsuspecting railroader that can wreak such havoc on operations. Those pretty little white flakes can blanket a landscape under an impenetrable frozen glaze, jamming the network and shutting down the main line. Fortunately, there are some tools in the railroader’s […]
