The Home Depot is in the midst of a five-year, $1.2 billion expansion of its distribution network that will allow railroads to increase their share of inbound bulk items sold in the retailer’s 2,200 stores. The expansion, which includes larger buildings with more rail spots, is an opportunity for railroads to convert freight from the […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways will have a significant impact on employment levels at Pan Am Southern, the joint venture it will share with Norfolk Southern. Genesee & Wyoming, which has been designated the neutral operator of Pan Am Southern, estimates that it can run the railroad […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway is recovering quickly after blasts of extreme winter weather raked the system last month. BNSF has turned the corner on restoring fluidity to its network as volume recovers after the weather shocks, John Miller, the railroad’s group vice president of industrial products, told the Pacific Northwest Association of Rail Shippers […]
DC Metro proposal would see 22 stations closed, rail service reduced as of January 2022 The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority would could close 22 Metrorail stations, reduce rail service to 30-minute intervals on all routes, and shut down nightly at 9 p.m. instead of the current 11 p.m. under the rail component of a […]
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe’s dock at Ferry Point outside of San Francisco burned May 4, 1984. I was on the job in 1984 and remember the fire vividly. The Santa Fe ceased tug-and-barge service across the San Francisco Bay shortly after. When I hired out in the mid-1970s, west end jobs were responsible for […]
Friday afternoon rail news: Work at East Broad Top uncovers, removes decayed dynamite Stabilization work on a building at the East Broad Top Railroad took an unexpected turn this week with the discovery of five cases of material labeled as explosives. After work halted, analysis determined the material was probably decayed dynamite, estimated to be […]
The Biden administration’s efforts to kill key oil pipeline projects may boost crude by rail volumes, railroad officials say. President Joe Biden last month revoked a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that was under construction to carry oil sands crude from Canada to refineries in the U.S. “The pipeline was not going to be […]
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board will review several issues surrounding Colorado, Midland & Pacific’s proposed lease of Union Pacific’s long-dormant route over Tennessee Pass. The board’s decision, released today, indefinitely postpones what is normally a 30-day clock that covers deals between short lines and Class I railroads. Under U.S. law, railroad transactions fall into […]
More Wednesday morning rail news: CP derailment knocks out power in Field, B.C. The community of Field, B.C., was at risk of running out of electricity Tuesday night after a Canadian Pacific grain train derailed earlier in the day, knocking out power. The CBC reports the train derailed about 1:40 a.m., taking out a power line. CP […]
Wednesday morning rail news: Transportation Safety Board of Canada issues report on 2018 CN yard death Failure to fully secure two unattended cars and ice contamination of those cars’ brakes led to a fatal accident in 2018 at Canadian National’s yard in Edmundston, New Brunswick, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says in a report issued […]
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Winchester & Western, the 100-mile short line with trackage in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, was able to grow last year despite the pandemic. Traffic on the railroad, which short line holding company OmniTRAX acquired in September 2019, was up a shade over 9% last year. That was below railroad […]
NILES, Mich. – The new Siemens Venture cars for Amtrak Midwest service made their first test run on Monday, operating from Chicago to Pontiac, Mich., on the schedule of Wolverine Service train No. 350, suspended since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trainset, with four of the new coaches separated by former heritage sleeper […]
