Dates set for Minnesota steam locomotive’s return to operation

Steam locomotive with vintage freight cars under huge plume of black smoke

DULUTH, Minn. — After a two-year hiatus, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s North Shore Scenic Railroad will return Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 to service in September The locomotive will pull trains between Duluth and Two Harbors, Minn. Sept. 10-11 and 24-25. Trains will depart Duluth at 10:00 a.m. each day. No. 332 […]

Read More…

Unions, railroads hold three meetings; no agreement reached

Logos for BLET, SMART-TD unions

CLEVELAND — On-line and in-person meetings last week did not result in an agreement between railroads and unions over a new contract, the heads of two unions said in a joint statement issued Saturday. Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), and Dennis Pierce, president of […]

Read More…

STB grants request for more mediation time in Gulf Coast dispute

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted a request by the parties in the Amtrak Gulf Coast dispute to extend board-sponsored mediation for an additional 30 days. Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority and Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks had filed the request on Aug. 24, saying they agreed […]

Read More…

LA Metro, SMART-TD ratify new contract

LA Metro light rail train on curving bridge

LOS ANGELES — Transit agency LA Metro has approved a new five-year agreement with the union representing Metro rail and bus operators and scheduling analysts. The agreement with more than 4,600 members of International Assoication of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) local GO-875 includes an average annual raise of 3.4% compounded […]

Read More…

Eight injured when Tri-Rail train hits vehicle and derails

TriRail_logo

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Six passengers required hospitalization and two others were treated at the scene after a Tri-Rail commuter train struck an abandoned vehicle and derailed during the Friday morning commute. All of the injuries were described as minor. WSVN-TV reports 63 people were on board the northbound train when the collision occurred about […]

Read More…

CSX rekindles its relationship with venerable Dash-8 locomotives

Blue standard-cab locomotive operating as second of two units on freight trainFre

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After selling or retiring its roster of more than 100 General Electric C40-8 locomotives, CSX Transportation once again owns the late-1980s era Dash-8 standard cab locomotive through its June 1 acquisition of Pan Am Railways. The Class I railroad began divesting the 4,000-horsepower six-axle GE several years ago, retiring and selling most […]

Read More…

News photos: Completing the Merchants Bridge

Aerial view of bridge with missing span, with old span on barge in foreground

ST. LOUIS — The third span of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis’ Merchants Bridge, the Mississippi River crossing which has been undergoing rebuilding since 2018, is slated to be floated into place today (Friday, Aug. 26). Trains News Wire will provide updates as photos become available. As of midday, as shown in these […]

Read More…

CSX refutes union allegations of problems at Selkirk Yard

Cars moving over hump in yard

WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation is pushing back against allegations a local union official has made regarding operations and safety at the railroad’s hump yard in Selkirk, N.Y. A combination of layoffs, crew shortages, changes to remote-control switching jobs, and CSX’s takeover of New England regional Pan Am Railways has created congestion at the yard near […]

Read More…

St. Louis Merchants Bridge project reaches final major milestone

Red crane hovers over bridge truses in front of St. Louis Arch

ST. LOUIS — The culmination of the Merchant’s Bridge rebuild project, which began in 2018, is scheduled to take place today (Friday, Aug. 26), with the third and final new span being floated into place on the Mississippi River. Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) owns the bridge. The 4,340-foot-long bridge, completed in 1889, […]

Read More…

Florida’s Broward County funds commuter rail effort

Pasenger train passes tall buildings

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Broward County Commission on Thursday approved $15.5 million to study and develop a proposed commuter rail line between Fort Lauderdale and Aventura, Fla., along the Florida East Coast Railway/Brightline route. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports the proposal known as the Broward Commuter Rail Link would provide a connection with […]

Read More…