It always bothered me that I couldn’t identify the engineer in this picture of Amtrak train No. 98, departing Main Street Station in Richmond, Va., on Sept. 14, 1974. He wasn’t the regular throttle jockey, whom I knew. Still, it’s one of my favorite images and was used to promote my first book, From the […]
Read More…
LONDON, Ontario — An Ontario man arrested for tampering with railroad tracks is not allowed to use tools as a condition of his bail, the London Free Press reports. Wael El-Ghadban, 35, of London, Ont., was arrested Feb. 1 and charged with mischief endangering human life after acts of tampering at several locations in Middlesex […]
Read More…
CAIRO, Neb. — Three locomotives and 57 cars of a BNSF coal train derailed early this morning (Friday, Feb. 9) near Cairo, News Channel Nebraska reports. No injuries were reported in the incident about 4:45 a.m. along State Route 2, which blocked crossings in a 3-mile stretch from High Street in Cairo to 110th Road southeast […]
Read More…
Valentine’s Day train rides Sometimes doing something together and on the spur of the moment is the best. Because even the best laid plans can go awry, trust me I know. So … here is a quick, last-minute guide to some of the 2024 Valentine’s Day-themed train rides in the U.S. — just in case […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON – For the second time in the past three months, federal regulators are being asked to settle a dispute related to Union Pacific’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific. BNSF Railway has requested that the Surface Transportation Board allow it to access a UP-served quarry in Arkansas. In a filing that appeared on the STB […]
Read More…
Railroading Railroading is violent business. Freight cars coupling sound like small explosions, diesel engines reverberate like distant thunder, and horns at grade crossings are so loud that even deaf people can feel them. So, with all of this violent sound going on, how do you get the attention of a railroader at work? Use more […]
Read More…
More former British High Speed Train, or HST, trainsets are now on their way to Mexico. An initial shipment of HST equipment arrived last year for passenger service on the Tehuantepec Isthmus Railway/Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec rail line in the south of the country [see “Passenger equipment from Britain, US heads to Mexico,” Trains […]
Read More…
DORVAL, Quebec — An incorrectly lined derail caused the derailment of a Canadian National train on CSX track in a December 2022 incident near Huntingdon, Quebec, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its final report released Thursday, Feb. 8. No injuries occurred in the incident, which saw two locomotives and six intermodal cars […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — Drivers in two fatal January collisions at the same grade crossing in Melbourne, Fla., drove around lowered crossing gates before being struck by Brightline trains, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report issued Thursday, Feb. 8, confirming earlier news reports. Officially, the NTSB is investigating a Jan. 12 collision at […]
Read More…
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A modified Pacific Surfliner schedule because of landslide issues in San Clemente has been extended at least another week, through Friday, Feb. 16, according to the updated Travel Advisory page on the Surfliner website. The modified schedule, available here and described in detail on that advisory page, includes two outright cancellations […]
Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Supreme Court has rebuffed a preservation group’s latest legal effort to block demolition of BNSF’s Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge, upholding a lower court’s dismissal of a suit by Friends of the Rail Bridge on technical grounds. The Fargo Forum reports that the court’s five justices, in a decision released today […]
Read More…
MOBILE, Ala. — The City of Mobile will not take part in the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing on delays in launching Amtrak service between Mobile and New Orleans, Mayor Sandy Stimpson informed the board in a brief letter today (Thursday, Feb. 8). The board announced Tuesday that it would proceed with that hearing on Feb. […]
Read More…