KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — In a conference that — like most most rail gatherings these day — had a great deal of focus on PSR, Patrick Ottensmeyer was thinking and talking about PTC. That’s not to say Precision Scheduled Railroading wasn’t part of the Kansas City Southern CEO’s Wednesday […]
To apply the car-card-and-waybill freight-car routing system I described in part 1 takes more than just the two basic forms. The first form is the car card identifying each freight car with a pocket to hold the other form, a 4-step waybill. The pocket and waybill are sized so that only one of the waybill’s […]
One of the most widely used model railroad car-routing systems is an identification card for each car with a pocket to hold a waybill naming a destination. It’s a flexible and versatile method that’s easy to set up, use, and modify as you go along. It’s so common that it will probably be familiar to […]
WASHINGTON — Legislation to force oil companies to decrease the volatility of crude oil shipped by rail has been introduced in Congress. On Jan. 13, Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced the Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act. The law would require […]
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has expressed support for a plan by the White House to dramatically change the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. NEPA requires the federal government to review how major infrastructure projects would impact the environment, but federal officials say it is […]
CORONADO, Calif. — A few final notes from last week’s National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado: NS communications restructuring: One unique aspect of Norfolk Southern’s “reimagining,” — its label for Precision Scheduled Railroading-style changes — is that it has spun off its communication and signals group, historically part of its engineering […]
Ron Batory, Federal Railroad Administration administrator TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Ron Batory, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, was one of the final-day speakers at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference that concluded Wednesday. At the beginning of his talk, he said wanted to leave time for questions from the audience. […]
A conductor and engineer pose for a photo on CSX Transportation GP38-2 No. 6237 on July 4, 2019. Joe Kohnen WASHINGTON – For the first time since the government began tracking employment statistics in the 1940s, the number of people employed by railroads has dipped below 200,000. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has industry-specific […]
WASHINGTON – Operation Lifesaver is launching a new public service announcement campaign that brings attention to the dangerous distractions that could lead to unexpected and sometimes deadly tragedies for pedestrians on or near railroad tracks. “Walking on the railroad tracks is considered trespassing – it’s against the law,” says Executive Director Rachel Maleh. “This new […]
CORONADO, Calif. — If there’s a trend in this year’s Class I capital plans — at least as they’re being presented at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference — it’s that the railroads are keeping the nature of those plans closer to the vest than they have at previous conferences. Dollar figures for […]
Analysts expect fourth quarter earnings to fall at four of the six publicly traded Class I railroads as cost cutting, rate increases, and share buybacks were not enough to offset the impact of traffic declines. On average, earnings per share at the six publicly traded railroads will fall by 1%, according to consensus estimates by […]
CORONADO, Calif. — Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel spoke for nearly an hour Monday as the keynote speaker at the NRC Conference. In addition to his remarks on mergers and Precision Scheduled Railroading, he also touched on a number of other topics. — Creel said that while railroading might eventually see significant savings through adoption […]
