More than 20 years after he retired as Norfolk Southern’s CEO, David Goode still draws a crowd. Goode and his wife, Susan, and an informal host committee held a reunion of NS Thoroughbreds in the Norfolk, Va., area on Oct. 9. More than 100 NS alumni and friends from the Goode era gathered in Virginia […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has approved Fortress Investment Group’s acquisition of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway and Akron Barberton Cluster Railway. The acquisition will be effective Dec. 26. In a press release today (Nov. 26), the board notes that the two properties will join six Class III railroads already in the Fortress […]
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — David DeBoer, an intermodal pioneer who was instrumental in the development of the now ubiquitous double-stack well car, died on Nov. 17. He was 87. He began his transportation career with the New York Central, and later spent time at Trans World Airlines. He joined the Federal Railroad Administration after the bankruptcy […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former official of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen local in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $55,000 from the union. David L. Scofield, 65, of Independence, Mo., is the former recording financial secretary of BRS Local Lodge 21. On Tuesday (Nov. 25), he pleaded guilty to U.S. […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has told federal regulators that Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific complaints about its train-length restrictions and handling of their intermodal trains on the Meridian Speedway have no merit. On Sept. 30, the eve of the federal government shutdown, NS and UP wrote separate letters to the Surface Transportation Board, […]
ROSEVILLE, Calif. — The California Office of Emergency Services and city of Roseville have opened a new Hazmat Derailment Training Site at the Roseville Fire Training Center, filling a need in the state that was underlined by a November 2020 derailment and hazardous materials spill near Goshen, Calif. The facility, opened with a dedication ceremony […]
WASHINGTON — More than 60 trade associations have told federal regulators that they fear that Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern will raise rates, hurt service, and put too much traffic under control of a single railroad. “History has shown that increased rail consolidation leads to fewer choices, higher transportation costs, service […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has revived its efforts to serve a pair of quarries located on Union Pacific trackage in Texas and Arkansas. UP and Southern Pacific served the locations prior to UP’s 1996 acquisition of the SP. As a condition of regulatory approval of the merger, BNSF was granted the right to serve so-called […]
Genesee & Wyoming has unveiled the latest in a series of locomotives honoring America’s 250th anniversary — and the first in a modified paint scheme reflecting changes after two units were originally painted with a lighter blue as the primary color. The Buffalo & Pittsburgh locomotive, C44-9W No. 4434, features a Liberty Bell design. It […]
WASHINGTON — Rail trespassing and suicide fatalities increased by 70% between 2016 and 2025, and now account for 50% of all fatalities reported to the National Transit Database, the Federal Transit Administration said in a safety advisory issued Monday, Nov. 24. Advisory 25-1 calls on state agencies overseeing rail transit operations to direct those operators […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will receive an extra $219.9 million in state funding to address infrastructure work and safety issues, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced today. The money will come from the state’s Public Transit Trust Fund, the source of money for capital projects that was also used to keep SEPTA at […]
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The CSX Santa Train distributed more than 15,000 toys, 6,000 train safety books, and 5,700 backpacks filled with gifts, gloves, and hats on Saturday (Nov. 22) as part of part of its 83rd trip on a 110-mile route through Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. “The CSX Santa Train embodies the best of what […]
