Buckingham Branch Railroad founder Robert E. Bryant dies at 87

Man and woman standing near passenger car

DILLWYN, Va. — Robert E. Bryant, founder and chairman of Virginia’s largest short line, the family-owned Buckingham Branch Railroad, died May 8 at his home. He was 87. After a long career with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and its successors, Chessie System and CSX Transportation, Bryant formed the short line in 1988 by acquiring […]

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Watco opens expanded training facility in Alabama

Watco logo, new version as of 2022

FAIRFIELD, Ala. — Watco has completed expansion of its training center, the Safe Performance Center in Fairfield. The $3 million project including a new 11,000-square-foot building with classrooms, a conference room, and space for a locomotive simulator. The expansion of the original facility built in 2017 increases the number of individuals who can receive training […]

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Genesee & Wyoming christens new Gulf of Mexico rail ferry

Ship loaded with railcars at dock

MOBILE, Ala. —  With the sound of shattering glass and a big splash of champagne, Genesee & Wyoming short line CG Railway on Wednesday christened one of its new rail ferries that can haul up to 135 freight cars across the Gulf of Mexico. Virginia Reeves, a 34-year G&W employee who works in corporate communications, […]

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Second RS1325 may be preserved

Orange locomotive passes brick building

SANFORD, N.C. — One of just two RS1325 locomotives built by EMD, which had been in danger of being scrapped, may be saved following a Facebook post from a local railfan sounding an alert about the diesel’s status. Former Chicago & Illinois Midland No. 30 has been at North Carolina’s Atlantic & Western Railway since […]

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News photos: Gettysburg & Northern GP10s on borrowed time?

Black locomotive leads train across highway

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Time may be short for the GP10 locomotives that handle traffic on the Gettysburg & Northern, a 27-mile Pioneer Lines short line connecting to CSX Transportation at Gettysburg and Norfolk Southern at Mt. Holly Springs, Pa. Photographer William Anderson reports that the railroad is currently testing a CEFX (CIT Rail) lease unit, […]

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Engineering, construction firms selected for Uinta Basin project

Logo of Uinta Basin Railway

FORT WORTH, Texas — The engineering and construction teams have been selected for Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway project, parent Rio Grande Pacific Corp. has announced. Companies selected to take part in development of the 85-mile railroad in northeastern Utah are: — AECOM, which will design the railroad, except for its tunnels; — Skanska-WW Clyde Joint […]

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News photo: D&I railroad buys two Hawkeye Express cars

Black and yellow bilevel passenger cars at end of train

DELL RAPIDS, S.D. — The D&I Railroad has purchased two gallery passenger cars from the former Hawkeye Express football-train service for use in future events. The cars are shown on on a D&I train at Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 10, 2022. The D&I is a 138-mile short line operating on former Milwaukee Road trackage […]

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Louisville & Indiana Railroad acquires Southern Indiana Railway

Maroon locomotives in switching yard

  JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC), a 106-mile-long regional carrier connecting Indianapolis with Louisville, Ky., has acquired a Louisville-area short line, the defunct 5.5-mile-long Southern Indiana Railway (SIND). One of several railroads owned by the Chicago-based Anacostia Rail Holdings Co., LIRC operates from a yard and maintenance shop here. It will […]

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Lake State buys first comfort cab locomotives

Freshly painted blue and grey locomotive in a rail yard.

Lake State Railway has recently acquired six SD70Ms to add to its all-EMD fleet of power. The Michigan-based railroad operates approximately 375 miles of track in the eastern half of the state. The six units were chosen from a group returned by Union Pacific to the lessor. These units had a solid reliability record on […]

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