WASHINGTON — A global infrastructure fund based in Australia will acquire RailUSA, the holding company that operates the 430-mile Florida Gulf & Atlantic and the 228-mile Grenada Railroad in Mississippi. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners reached a purchase agreement with RailUSA on Nov. 23, according to a regulatory filing with the Surface Transportation Board last week. The […]
NEW YORK — Train crew shortages that have affected service on Class I railroads this year also have cropped up on short lines, as rail workers seek greener pastures and new hires are hard to find. Genesee & Wyoming, the largest shortline holding company, saw the number of employees leaving the railroad double in the third […]
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a grant of up to $687,622.50 to replace rail on a portion of Pioneer Lines Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway’s line east of Defiance, Ohio. NDW’s line runs from Woodburn, Ind., to Napoleon, Ohio, with interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Woodburn and CSX in Defiance. […]
EL RENO, Okla. — Jaguar Transport Holdings has entered into an agreement with Haskell Lemon Construction to operate the Oklahoma Central Rail Park in El Reno, Okla. The 200-acre facility just west of Oklahoma City will be fully operational on Jan. 1, 2022. Less than 2 miles from I-40, the Rail Park connects with the Union Pacific Railroad and […]
PHOENIX — Amit Bose, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Deputy Administrator, covered a great deal of ground in his keynote address Thursday to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Only once, however, did he display a degree of agitation about his subject matter: when discussing a forthcoming rule proposal on train crew size. The […]
PALMETTO, Fla. — Pennsylvania-based Regional Rail LLC has signed an agreement to operate the short line at Port Manatee in Palmetto, Fla. The agreement runs through at least 2036 with options through 2051. The railroad, which began operation in 1970, includes more than 7 miles of track with a connection to CSX Transportation. It has […]
CHICAGO — Anacostia Rail Holdings, operator of railroads including Pacific Harbor Line, New York & Atlantic, and the Chicago South Shore & South Bend, has created an advisory board to assist the company in developing and achieving strategic objectives. Members of the board will be: — Ronald Batory, former president of the Belt Railway of […]
Of all the colorful stories that emerged in the 1970s from the tangle of Northeast railroading after Penn Central’s 1970 bankruptcy, perhaps none is more intriguing than the Delaware & Hudson’s battle to maintain its independence, a fight led by its president, Carl B. “Bruce” Sterzing Jr. A lawyer by training, Sterzing became president of […]
WASHINGTON – Canadian National and Watco have urged the Surface Transportation Board to lift the hold it placed on the transfer of nearly 500 miles of former Wisconsin Central branch lines. Watco, in a filing on Tuesday, told the board that it has been preparing to launch service on the routes in Wisconsin and the neighboring […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — Norfolk & Western Class J locomotive No. 611 will remain at the Strasburg Rail Road this winter, undergoing an annual inspection and maintenance, following the conclusion of its operations on the Pennsylvania short line. The Virginia Museum of Transportation’s 4-8-4 had operated at Strasburg since May, wrapping up its schedule of excursions, […]
The latest special issue from Classic Toy Trains! If you’re looking to build your first toy train layout, or maybe just something more manageable, Toy Train Layouts for Small Spaces has you covered! It’s full of plans for layouts under 100 square feet that will fit in a spare room, including island and around the […]
CLEWISTON, Fla. – On October 1, Sugar Express 4-6-2 steam locomotive No. 148 will power the first cane train of the season, signaling the official start of the sugarcane harvest. The train will depart 1st Avenue and Florida Avenue NW in Moore Haven at about 9:30 a.m., and pull south through Clewiston over U.S. 27 […]
