Q: While browsing a railcar photo site, I came across an interesting Burlington Northern car. The photo’s caption calls it an “air repeater car.” What is its intended purpose? Where is it mainly used? – Tom Huffman, Fort Worth, Texas A: An air repeater car is used to keep up the pressure in brake air […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — In a new twist to a lengthy battle by a preservation group to save a BNSF Railway bridge over the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan, N.D. — which has thwarted railroad efforts to build a new structure — the Friends of the Rail Bridge is claiming the bridge in question actually […]
FORT WORTH – Analysts and industry observers suspected that BNSF Railway had to pay a pretty penny to buy out Montana Rail Link’s long-term lease on the former Northern Pacific main line. It turns out they were right. BNSF’s financial report suggests the railroad paid MRL around $2 billion to tear up the lease well […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has urged federal regulators to take steps to protect cross-border traffic to and from Mexico as part of any approval of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. But BNSF dropped its plan to pursue trackage rights over KCS to the Laredo, Texas, gateway in its Monday regulatory filing, which was […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mid-America Car of Kansas City has completed the cosmetic restoration of former Santa Fe SD45-2 No. 5704 — donated to the Southern California Railroad Museum in Perris, Calif., in 2021 — to the eye-catching bicentennial paint scheme it wore in the mid-1970s. Mid-America’s craftsmen took several months to recreate the appearance […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF will increase capital spending to $3.55 billion in 2022, after a spend of $2.97 billion in 2021, the railroad reported in its fourth-quarter financial summary. Of that $3.55 billion, $2.71 billion is budgeted for maintenance and replacement, including 14,000 miles of track surfacing or undercutting; replacement of 381 miles of […]
CHICAGO — BNSF Railway is working to recover from intermodal service issues in the Chicago area stemming from weather and construction impacts, the railroad informed customers on Friday. The Corwith, Cicero, Wilow Springs, and Logistic Park Chicago facilities were hit by blizzard conditions Feb. 17-18, leading to major road closures and “reduced productivity at intermodal […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway produced record profits in 2021 amid broad growth in traffic and revenue. For the year, BNSF’s operating income surged 13.7%, to $8.8 billion, as revenue rose 11.6%, to $22.5 billion, the railroad’s corporate parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. The railroad’s operating ratio improved 0.7 points to a record 60.9%. […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — A U.S. District Court Judge has again prohibited unions from striking BNSF Railway over new attendance policies, granting an injunction and saying the railroad is likely to prevail in arbitration, and that the strike would cause irreparable harm to the railroad. The heads of the unions involved in the dispute say […]
CHICAGO — The family of a Georgia couple killed in last year’s derailment of the Empire Builder near Joplin, Mont. — while on a trip celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary — filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court on Monday alleging Amtrak and BNSF were responsible for the fatal accident. The suit was filed […]
MITCHELL, S.D. — A South Dakota company has announced plans to build a new soybean processing plant, a facility to be served by BNSF Railway and capable of processing about 35 million bushels of soybeans per year. The Mitchell Republic reports South Dakota Soybean Processors will build the facility about 2 miles south of Mitchell […]
FRAZEE, Minn. — BNSF Railway is estimating it will reopen the first of two tracks at the site of Thursday’s two-train derailment in Frazee by midnight today (Friday, Feb. 18), the railroad says in an update to customers on its website. Track 2 will be the first to reopen. A time for reopening Track 1 […]
