OKLAUNION, Texas — Twenty-nine cars of a BNSF Railway train caught fire following a derailment Saturday, closing a highway for several hours. KAUZ-TV reports Wichita Falls and Vernon fire departments, as well as firefighters from Sheppard Air Force Base, responded to the fire involving a train with 98 cars of denatured alcohol. No injuries to […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The historic East Broad Top narrow gauge railroad will hold its Winter Spectacular on Feb. 19, and has released dates of other special events and a schedule of regular operation for the 2022 season. EBT Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit organization that bought the railroad in 2020, has laid out its calendar […]
EMERYVILLE, Calif. — The eastbound California Zephyr is shown above as it pulls into its originating station at Emeryville at 12:13 p.m. Sunday after being serviced at Amtrak’s Oakland Maintenance facility. It departed at 12:31 p.m., more than 3 hours late, after the equipment arrived on its westbound counterpart at 1:57 a.m., 9 hours, 47 […]
VENTURA, Calif. — Martin Erickson has been named as executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, succeeding Darren Kettle, who was named CEO of commuter rail operator Metrolink in July 2021. Erickson, who had been the commission’s public transit director since 2016, was selected after a four-month search, the Ventura County Star reports. The organization, […]
NEW YORK — Janno Lieber, the acting board chairman and CEO of Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been nominated for the position on a permanent basis by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul also nominated Elizabeth Velez for a position on the MTA board. Lieber has been the acting chairman and CEO since July 2021. He was originally […]
HAMBURG, Pa. — The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum has received a $100,000 state grant to be used for outdoor upgrades at the facility, the Reading Eagle reports. The funds will be used to buy ties for the construction of tracks into the museum’s recently completed railcar protection building; materials for construction of a small replica […]
PHOENIX — There is A LOT going on in terms of capital projects for CSX Transportation — enough that Ed Sparks, the railroad’s chief engineer, bridges, design & construction — had no problem running well past his scheduled 25-minute slot Saturday at the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Conference. Rest assured the audience did […]
PHOENIX — Along with participation by six Class I railroads and a number of other entities, the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Conference that concluded Saturday featured presentations from three major short line companies. Here’s an overview. Genesee & Wyoming The largest of the short line holding companies, with 116 properties in North America […]
PHOENIX — The start of construction on of a long-delayed intermodal facility will highlight Canadian National capital work in 2022, after the railroad completed several major projects in 2021. Martita Mullen, the railroad’s senior manager, design and construction, provided a review of the 2021 work and preview of 2022 on Friday at the National Railroad […]
WASHINGTON – Railroads have not been immune to the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases across the U.S. as the more contagious Omicron variant spreads nationwide. The number of railroad employees infected with COVID-19 reached its highest point of the pandemic in the week ending Jan. 1, according to Federal Railroad Administration data released on Friday. […]
GLEN RIDGE, N.J. – Famed steam photographer Michael A. Eagleson, who traveled the world in search of steam power as it retreated from service, died of complications of COVID-19 Jan. 6. He was in his late 70s. Eagleson was famous in the railway and steam locomotive enthusiast community, having traveled worldwide to witness and photograph […]
PHOENIX — Extreme weather and natural disasters took a broad toll on railroads in 2021, and BNSF Railway was certainly not exempt. “All of us in the industry,” said Craig Rasmussen, BNSF’s assistant vice president, engineering services and structures, “have realized that Mother Nature is not a nice lady. Sometimes she is really tough to […]
