Central Illinois short line adds former ICG Geep rebuild

Yellow rebuilt low-nose locomotive

WAPELLA, Ill. — Short line Illinois Terminal Belt Railroad has added to its fleet of former Illinois Central Gulf Paducah rebuilds with the addition of Midwest Locomotive Leasing (MWLX) No. 602, a former GATX Rail Locomotive Group diesel built as Illinois Central Railroad No. 9130 in January 1956. The 65-year-old locomotive was rebuilt as ICG […]

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Brightline, Florida seek funds for grade-crossing safety projects

Yellow and white passenger train crosses street

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Brightline and the Florida Department of Transportation will seek a $25 million federal grant to help fund a $45 million project to address ongoing grade-crossing accidents along the passenger operator’s route in South Florida. The Palm Beach Post reports in a paywalled article that the project would make improvements at […]

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UP derailment shuts down main line in Nebraska

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

SHELTON, Neb. — Fifteen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Friday evening near Shelton, Neb., temporarily closing the railroad’s main line on the Kearney Subdivision. The Grand Island Independent reports the derailment occurred about 5:45 p.m. about a mile west of Shelton along U.S. Route 30. No injuries were reported, and no hazardous materials […]

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What is Precision Scheduled Railroading?

Hunter Harrison, Canadian National Railway

Amid lot of talk, just what is Precision Scheduled Railroading? It began with a simple lesson. In the late 1960s E. Hunter Harrison was working in the tower in Frisco’s Tennessee Yard in Memphis when Bill Thompson, the railroad’s operations chief, dropped by. Thompson pointed to the yard tracks, chocked full of freight cars, and […]

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The fate of carload traffic hinges on local service: Analysis

Let’s set aside the railroad industry’s current bout of temporary service problems and discuss something more important. Class I railroads’ local service — which ranges from OK to downright embarrassing — for years has been where the rubber meets the road. Shippers divert rail shipments to trucks when a local regularly fails to show up, […]

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New CEO spells out priorities for Canadian National

Woman in black suit and white blouse standing near windows in high-rise

MONTREAL — New CEO Tracy Robinson likes what she sees at Canadian National. “As I sit here, 60 days in … I can tell you that I’m more excited about our prospects than when I first arrived,” Robinson told investors and analysts on the railway’s earnings call this week. “At CN, we have an incredible […]

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STB settles CP-KCS merger traffic data issue

Maroon, gray and yellow locomotive leading train

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Canadian Pacific to resubmit specific traffic density data that will be used as part of its Kansas City Southern merger application. The Surface Transportation Board’s decision, issued on Wednesday, keeps review of the first Class I railroad merger in two decades on hold. CP must submit new baseline traffic density […]

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BNSF train derails in Texas

BNSF Railway logo

ROGERS, Texas — Twenty-two cars of a BNSF Railway train derailed Sunday between Rogers and Buckholts, Texas, the Milam County Sheriff’s Office reported. No injuries were reported, and no hazardous materials were involved, KWTX-TV reports. No other information was reported. The derailment site is parallel to U.S. Route 190 about 14 miles south of Temple, […]

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News photo: Changes coming for Shore Line East?

Electric multiple-unit trainset passes through station, as seen from overhead

WESTBROOK, Conn. — A Metro-North/Connecticut Department of Transportation Kawasaki M8 electric multiple-unit trainset passes through Westbrook on Saturday, April 23, during training runs for Amtrak crews to operate the equipment. The qualifying runs between New Haven and Old Saybrook, Conn., are reportedly in preparation for use of the M8s on Connecticut’s Shore Line East commuter […]

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