General Electric ET44 diesel locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $174.99; with dual-mode ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder, $269.99 Era: 2014-present (depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, 7598 Highway 411, Benton, TN 37307; 844-987-2467; scaletrains.com Features: Road-number-specific details Factory-installed details including wire grab irons, m.u. clusters, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, and […]
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NEW YORK — Domestic intermodal service is running at historically low levels, with trains routinely arriving a day or two behind schedule, J.B. Hunt executives say. “We never saw numbers like this before the pandemic,” Darren Field, J.B. Hunt’s intermodal president, told an investor conference this week. “It’s really a labor and crew issue for […]
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NEW YORK — Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation executives say their railroads are slowly on the mend as more conductors begin active duty and start to ease the crew shortages that have caused widespread service problems. Neither railroad has been able to handle freight demand and both have lost traffic to trucks as on-time performance […]
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GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The Environmental Protection Division of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources has ordered Norfolk Southern to remove soybeans that ended up a waterway because of a derailment, or face penalties as high as $50,000 a day. The Times of Gainesville, Ga., reports the agency informed the railroad in an Aug. 17 letter that […]
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WASHINGTON — The Presidential Emergency Board charged with making recommendations to resolve the longstanding contract differences between the U.S. Class I railroads and their unionized workforce today submitted its report to the White House, railroads, and organized labor. The board recommended a 22% wage increase, along with $5,000 in service recognition bonus payments, over the […]
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American Car & Foundry 50-foot exterior-post boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $34.98 Era: 1974 to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com 50-foot American Car and Foundry exterior post boxcar features: Plate B dimensions 33” turned-metal wheelsets with RP-25 contours Proto-Max metal couplers Road names: Burlington Northern […]
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NORTH LAWRENCE, Ohio — Nineteen cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed in North Lawrence on Monday morning after the train hit a truck at a grade crossing, the Canton Repository newspaper reports. No injuries were reported after law enforcement and fire agencies responded to the collision at about 7:45 a.m. The accident occurred at […]
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PITTSBURGH — The engineer and conductor of a Norfolk Southern train derailed by a rockslide last year are suing the railroad, arguing the railroad’s negligence led to the accident. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports engineer Matthew Marchionda and conductor Edward Mansfield were the crew of the train en route from Chicago to New Jersey when it […]
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GREENVILLE, S.C. — No injuries were reported and no hazardous-material situation resulted when a Norfolk Southern train derailed Thursday morning in Greenville’s Poe Mill Community. WSPA-TV reports the derailment occurred about 8 a.m. The presence of three tank cars among those that had derailed led first responders to initially treat the incident as a potential […]
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If there’s one thing all railroaders have in common, it’s the ability to complain about anything and everything. They’re world-class grumblers. So when train crews and labor unions bash the railroads for this, that, and the other thing, sometimes you have to wonder if they’re crying wolf. Wonder no more. The union-management pot, which is […]
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Grade-separation projects in Springfield, Ill., and Sheffield, Ala., are among the latest projects to receive grants under the Department of Transportation’s RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) program. In Springfield, a $19.8 million grant will fund an overpass at North Grand Avenue over Norfolk Southern and Illinois Midland rail lines. In a press […]
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ATLANTA — Efforts to address the company’s carbon footprint and those of its customers are highlighted in Norfolk Southern’s Environmental, Social, and Governance report, releases today (Aug. 10, 2022). The company’s sustainability efforts include creating a carbon calculator for shippers, designed to help them reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains; a sustainability summit at […]
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