CHICAGO — Metra has taken delivery of another SD70MACH, part of an order of 15 of the remanufactured freight locomotives currently in progress for the commuter agency. No. 505, the fourth in the series to arrive in Chicago, was delivered on Thursday, May 11. This unit is slated to have positive train control equipment added […]
BOSTON — Five members of an Amtrak maintenance-of-way crew have been taken to a hospital following an incident at a Boston rail yard Friday morning, WXFT-TV reports. The injuries are non-life-threatening, Amtrak said in a statement. The incident occurred about 4:30 a.m. at the Readville commuter rail station in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, about 8 […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — The preservation group seeking to block demolition of a 140-year-old BNSF Railway bridge has taken its effort to court. The Bismarck Tribune reports that the group Friends of the Rail Bridge has filed an appeal with the state’s South Central District Court seeking to overturn a decision by the state Department of […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration issued a safety advisory this week in the aftermath of an April collision and derailment on Union Pacific that involved a misaligned hand-throw switch. The FRA continues to investigate the April 16 collision in Texas that occurred in dark territory with no positive train control overlay. The National Transportation […]
NEW YORK — Amtrak and NJ Transit are experiencing major service issues today as a result of problems that began Thursday at the infamous Portal Bridge in Kearney, N.J. An Amtrak advisory issued Thursday afternoon says all trains traveling between New York and Newark are experiencing delays because of signal issues at the bridge. All […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has released its 2022 Building America Report, outlining the company’s efforts to address sustainability, safety, corporate accountability, and community engagement by outlining its actions in areas ranging from workforce training to cybersecurity to contributions to nonprofit organizations. “This report highlights our progress to achieve the goals outlined in our Building […]
CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC today launched the Mexico Midwest Express premium intermodal service linking Chicago, Kansas City, and Laredo, Texas, with Monterrey and San Luis Potosi in Mexico. A nighttime photo on CPKC’s home page showed train MMX-181 about to break through a CPKC de Mexico banner on its inaugural northbound run. The newly merged […]
Before radio communication came into wide use in the 1960s, a locomotive’s whistle was an important tool in conveying information to other employees, both on and off the train, and many signals were on the books. The General Code Of Operating Rules, used by many railroads, contains the following list of whistle signals and their […]
WASHINGTON – Amtrak has reached a settlement in principle with two freight customers in Pennsylvania who had asked federal regulators to prevent the loss of rail service during a six-week track project. Amtrak told federal regulators on May 10 that it had reached a confidential settlement with Esbenshade and the Wenger Group, which operate feed […]
WASHINGTON — A Union Pacific train was going about 48 mph when it was sent onto a yard track from the main line and 35 mph when it hit a parked train at a yard in Chico, Texas, on April 16, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. Two […]
End-of-train devices replaced cabooses that, not so long ago, train watchers almost everywhere could count on as a final point of interest at the end of each freight train. The distinctive little cars housed crew members who would observe the cars ahead for defects, process the train’s paperwork, operate track switches, monitor the air-brake system […]
WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a significantly revised version of the Railway Safety Act today (Wednesday, May 10), advancing the bill to the full Senate. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the bill, introduced in the wake of the Feb. 3 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, passed by a 16-11 margin, a […]
