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Independent analyst Anthony B. Hatch is fond of saying that one of freight railroads’ enduring advantages is owning and maintaining their own infrastructure. Nothing could drive that point home better than the repair blitz that Union Pacific launched after its 1,200-foot Dry Canyon Bridge sustained heavy damage from a wildfire. The 150-foot-tall span in Hotlum, […]
MIAMI — Brightline President Patrick Goddard announced Tuesday the company will resume hourly West Palm Beach-Miami trains in “the first half” of November, with the exact date still to be determined. When service returns, Brightline plans a major innovation designed to create a seamless experience for passengers. The company is collaborating with software company lomob […]
NEW ORLEANS — Limited tickets remain for the Aug. 22 excursion from New Orleans to Plaquemine, La., to be pulled by UP Big Boy No. 4014. The excursion, the only one planned on this year’s Big Boy tour, is a fundraiser for the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The trip along the Mississippi […]
ATLANTA — An investigation by the Georgia Department of Transportation found that the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority violated numerous safety rules, but MARTA has called investigation “flawed and biased.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a copy of the investigation report, as well as written MARTA responses. The Georgia DOT report said the transit agency had […]
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A 31-year effort by the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum has reached fruition with the acquisition of Central of Georgia combine car Fort Mitchell, giving the museum the complete four-car streamlined, stainless-steel Man o’ War trainset built by Budd Co. in 1945. When restoration efforts are complete, the museum believes it will […]
WASHINGTON—Calling the issue “ripe for adjudication,” the Surface Transportation Board has agreed with Amtrak’s request for expedited hearings to determine what, if any, infrastructure improvements must occur before it can begin operating between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. Amtrak had sought to start two daily round trips along the Norfolk Southern-CSX Transportation route in January […]
Railroad man Gainesville Midland Railroad conductor L. C. Birchfield is perched in a caboose cupola in the late 1950s. The railroad ran between Gainesville and Athens in northern Georgia and one time had a branch to Monroe. Seaboard Air Line purchased the road in June 1959. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation has extended the deadline for negotiations with Brightline on a lease on its proposed Orlando-Tampa passenger route, which had been set for July 31. In a July 19 letter to Brightline President Patrick Goddard, Brad Thoburn, the state DOT assistant secretary, strategic development, cited “significant progress” in […]
Shortline savior North Carolina’s Laurinburg & Southern was a GE 70-tonner bastion in the Southeast. A pair works Dixie Guano in Laurinburg in September 1984. The GE small locomotive line enabled great savings for short lines that adopted them, keeping some of them running for years longer than if powered by steam. Jim Wrinn photo […]
RICHMOND, Va. — Thirteen cars of a CSX Transportation coal train derailed in Richmond on Friday afternoon, reportedly sending some of the coal into the nearby James River. WRIC-TV reported the derailment occurred about 1:30 p.m. There were no injuries. Initial reports said the waterway was not affected, but drone footage on Saturday showed coal […]
The Illinois Central Railroad is Classic Trains editors’ Railroad of the Month for July 2021. Please enjoy this photo gallery of IC locomotives selected from the files of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman today asked the Class I railroads to provide information on congestion at inland intermodal terminals, where international containers are stacking up faster than customers can receive them. “I am particularly concerned about significant increases in container congestion at key U.S. terminals, and substantial charges being levied by […]
