A Cargill unit feed train rolls through Shawnee, Kan., in June 2009. The train consists of covered bathtub gondolas pulled from coal service. Zach Pumphery Q While traveling near Atchison, Kan., I noticed a BNSF Railway train with covered bathtub coal gondolas. What were the covers for, and could they be removed should they be […]
A Union Pacific train crosses underneath a positive train control-equipped signal bridge on BNSF Railway tracks in Cajon Pass, Calif., in 2013. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A year ago, three of the Class I railroad systems — Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and CSX Transportation — were operating under the late E. Hunter Harrison’s Precision Scheduled Railroading […]
OTTAWA — Canada’s Minister of Transport has ordered the nation’s railroads to update their work rules to address crew-fatigue issues. In a Dec. 21 news release, transport minister Marc Gastineau said companies must submit updated rules for review by May 19, 2019, with the government to approve the updated rules by the end of June. […]
Cars will Union Pacific’s West Colton, Calif., yard in April 2014. The railroads hope to make their networks more efficient by incentivizing shippers to release cars more quickly. Brian Schmidt WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are shining a spotlight on Class I railroad demurrage and accessorial charges, which the railroads levy on customers for things such […]
John Williams PALO ALTO, Calif. – John H. Williams, president of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and The Woodside Consulting Group, and former chairman of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, died this month of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 78. Williams’ railroad interests can be traced to childhood. His wife Linda recalled that his […]
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 15, 2018. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 568,941 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 15 […]
Union Pacific workers took an aerial drone photo of the wreck of two UP freight trains on Oct. 4. An eastbound train struck a parked train near Sherman Hill, killing two railroaders. Union Pacific via the National Transportation Safety Board Safety investigators around the world are still gathering data and learning what caused several runaway […]
Firefighters set a back burn along the Durango & Silverton tracks as part of their efforts to contain the 416 Fire in early June. Wyoming Interagency Hotshots Railroaders have always had to deal with whatever Mother Nature threw at them, but 2018 was a particularly trying year for railroads dealing with natural disasters, from fires […]
Behind six units, an eastbound Z-train flies through historic downtown Laramie, Wyo., on June 7, 2018, exactly 150 years to the day that Union Pacific tracks reached the town named for French-Canadian fur trader Jacques La Ramee. Bill Stephens OMAHA, Neb. — More of Union Pacific’s intermodal trains will operate daily, up from five or […]
A Norfolk Southern SD70ACe pushes on an empty crude oil train in Toledo, Ohio, in March 2013. Michael D. Harding Q Watching passing freight trains, I’ve seen a locomotive located in the middle or at the end of the train. Are these pusher locomotives being run by remote control by the engineer in the lead […]
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 8. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 570,225 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]
NEW YORK — The spread of Precision Scheduled Railroading to most of the Class I railroad systems is both an opportunity and a risk for short line and regional railroads. The opportunity, short line executives say, is that Class I railroads focus more on carload traffic, provide service that’s more consistent and reliable, and spin […]
