Well, I left everybody hanging with the end of my last story, the Cascade Tunnel adventure. The adventure continued even after my conductor, Chris, and I left our freight train inside the 7.9-mile-long Cascade Tunnel after the ventilation failed and hurried our light engines to daylight — and fresh air. Once outside, Chris and I […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway and Iowa Northern Railway have officially joined their operations, CN said today (Monday, March 3). “This additional investment in the United States underscores our dedication to delivering outstanding rail service while driving economic growth,” CN CEO Tracy Robinson said in a press release. “CN customers and partners along this network […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. railroads generated more than $233 billion in economic activity and support almost 750,000 jobs nationwide, the Association of American Railroads says in a new report on the economic impact of the rail industry in 2023. “Railroads are a key pillar of American commerce, powering our supply chains and driving economic growth nationwide,” […]
It was an oddball branch line with a just-as-odd history that is still worth recounting. The Rio Grande’s Farmington Branch was built in 1905 to connect Carbon Junction, Colo. (just outside of Durango to the southeast), and Farmington, N.M. It was a modest, 47.68-mile standard gauge line (later narrow gauge) that followed the […]
SAN DIEGO — The effort to determine a new rail route through Del Mar, Calif., will repeat a step — and has a new twist, as well. At a Friday, Feb. 28, meeting, the San Diego Association of Governments restarted the run-up to developing an environmental assessment of the project, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. […]
HO scale model trains are a significant part of model railroading history, and we can partially credit the overall popularity of model trains with the rise of a convenient, tabletop scale like HO. With origins dating back a century, HO scale trains have grown into the most popular model train scale in the world. Model […]
LA GRANDE, Ore. — Eleven single-stack container cars of a Union Pacific train derailed west of La Grande on Thursday evening, Feb. 27, Union County Emergency Services reports. The derailment occurred about 9 p.m. No injuries were reported and Union Pacific confirmed no hazardous materials were involved. Two grade crossings — at Fire and Greenwood […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Port Authority and CSX Transportation broke ground on a new inland port intermodal facility in Montgomery that will be capable of handling 30,000 containers for transfer between trains and trucks. The $94 million Montgomery Intermodal Container Transfer Facility or ICTF, was announced in 2022 [see “Alabama Port Authority announces …,” […]
Several piggyback cars head northbound on the Wabash at Forrest, Ill., en route to Chicago in March 1960. In a few years, the route would host the railroad’s Roadrunner overnight TOFC train. J. Parker Lamb photo […]
YUMA, Ariz. — Approximately a dozen cars of a Union Pacific intermodal train derailed Tuesday evening just north of Yuma, closing a grade crossing overnight and significantly delaying the Sunset Limited. No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred about 6:15 p.m., UP said in a statement to TV stations KYMA and KECY. Rural […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic fell below 2024 levels for the week ending Feb. 22, 2025, ending a string of three weeks where traffic was ahead of prior-year levels. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, total volume was 458,514 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.1% from the same week a year ago. […]
This 40-foot Canadian National boxcar was built in November 1923 and was still in service in the 1970s. The car is single-sheathed (meaning sheathed only on the inside of the truss-style metal bracing) and has wood sides and ends. Note the modern AEI panel on the 1923-built car. Michael Dean photo […]
