The Persistence of Crude Oil

Tanker cars

    But this new source of revenue has a troubling side.   Rapid growth strains the capacity of railroads to move crude oil.   And, safety has become an even bigger issue following the tragic derailment of a crude oil train in Quebec in July 2013 that killed 47 people and leveled a town.   Other spectacular […]

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The Transportation of Lumber

Lumber being stored on a train

  Thanks, Jim.  Canadian National is the No. 1 lumber-hauling railroad in the U.S.   It takes particleboard out of British Columbia and moves it across the continent to where its needed.   If you see new homes or condos or apartments being built, chances are that the wood for them came by rail.   CN moves about […]

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Digest: Biden announces stimulus plan with $20 billion for transit

Train driving through the city

Friday morning rail news: Biden coronavirus plan includes $20 billion for transit Some $20 billion in “relief for the hardest hit public transit agencies” is part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan released by President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday, a wide-ranging legislative package including $1,400 per-person payments to most households, a national COVID-19 vaccination […]

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News Photo: New locomotive for NJ Transit

Train being carried off a ship

NEWARK, N.J. — The first of 25 new ALP-45A locomotives for NJ Transit has arrived at Port Newark, N.J. The Tier IV-compliant locomotives, built by Bombardier in Germany, was offloaded at the port’s Berth 17. The new engines will replace some of NJ Transit’s older locomotives, as well as some PL42s, according to the NJ […]

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Digest: MARC to suspend operations because of inauguration security

MARC commuter rail logo

More Friday rail news: MARC to suspend operations Jan. 17-20 because of inauguration security Maryland’s MARC Train commuter rail service will suspend operations on all three of its routes — the Penn, Camden and Brunswick lines — beginning Sunday, Jan. 17, in response to expanded security efforts associated with the upcoming Presidential inauguration, the Maryland […]

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BNSF’s Needles Division

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This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. BNSF Needles Subdivision stretches from the Arizona/California state line at Needles west to Barstow, California across almost 170 miles of desert that tests man and machine every day in the struggle to keep the railroad moving. For the majority of its […]

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Canadian Pacific Railway on the shore of Lake Superior

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This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental mainline across Canada traverses a wide range of terrain, from the Rocky mountains in the west, across the plains in its midsection to the Canadian Shield in the east. One of the most beautiful and inaccessible locations is […]

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Automobiles on the Rails

Car stored in a train car

    Originally, cars didn’t have it so good. They went in boxcars. They went on flatcars, stacked one on top of the other. Trains were important in making cars, too, and auto-parts special trains with nicknames like the *Sparkplug* began to appear. It didn’t take long to realize that something better had to come […]

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BNSF/Florida East Coast and natural gas testing

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This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. Natural gas as a locomotive fuel has been around for decades. Testing in the 1980s and 1990s on several railroads failed to yield the interest and scope of testing the fuel has enjoyed in the past several years. Six of the […]

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Operations on the Delaware Lackawanna

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This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD.   The northeast United States continues to be an Alco and MLW stronghold. The largest percentage of active units from these two builders call many short line railroads in this region home. Two of these railroads, Western New York & Pennsylvania […]

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