NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. — The driver of a BNSF maintenance-of-way vehicle was killed Monday, Nov. 4, when the vehicle was struck by a train, KFGO Radio reports. The collision occurred about 11 a.m. Eddy County Sheriff Paul Lies told the station that the vehicle was hit when it was backing across railroad tracks about 2.5 […]
WASHINGTON – In the wake of the disastrous hazardous materials derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio, the Federal Railroad Administration has repeatedly said it’s doing everything it can to improve rail safety. Yet under Administrator Amit Bose the FRA has stymied Class I railroad efforts to combine automated track and equipment inspections with traditional […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s profits, revenue, and volume all increased for the third quarter, thanks to surging intermodal and agricultural shipments. BNSF’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday that the railroad’s quarterly operating income increased 13.4%, to $2 billion, as revenue grew 2.8%, to $5.9 billion. Expenses declined 2% for the quarter. The railway’s […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract, while the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers has ratified its agreement with the railroad. The BNSF-IBEW agreement is the ninth reached by the railroad in the last two months ahead of the […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway this week placed 12 additional miles of second main track into service on its Emporia Subdivision in Kansas as part of its Southern Transcon double-tracking project. The new section of double iron, which runs between Augusta and Rose Hill, Kan., includes the seventh and eighth segments of the nine-segment […]
ROSWELL, N.M. — BNSF Railway’s Carlsbad Subdivision has been closed by a washout near Roswell that will keep the line closed for most of the week, the railroad has informed customers. An advisory on the railroad website says the washout was reported shortly after 7 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20. After assessment by BNSF personnel, […]
SILVIS, Ill. — Santa Fe No. 537 sparkled in the paint booth of the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America shops during a Friday night dinner and unveiling of the repainted GE B40-8W at the former Rock Island Railroad Silvis Locomotive Shops. The RRHMA hosted its “Trains & Tractors” event on Friday and Saturday, October 18-19, […]
WASHINGTON — Nine projects in Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming have received more than $108 million in federal funding under a program for states that do not have Amtrak passenger service or are not connected to the national rail network. Six of the projects are in South Dakota, two are in Alaska and one is […]
ESSEX, Mont. — One main track at the site of an Oct. 12 grain train derailment near Essex has been reopened, with the second expected to be reopened this evening, according to a BNSF advisory to customers. A dozen cars were reported to have derailed at Java, Mont., early Saturday [see “BNSF grain train derails […]
ESSEX, Mont. — Twelve cars of a BNSF grain train derailed near Essex early today (Saturday, Oct. 12), KRTV reports. No injuries were reported. The incident occurred about 5:42 a.m. near Java, Mont., on the Hi Line Subdivision, according to a BNSF customer advisory. Both tracks of the main line were affected; BNSF is estimating […]
Railroad lingo What is the railroad’s lingo? Utilized mostly by railroaders, it’s a way of speaking among co-workers that involves using railroad terminology, jargon, slang, or argot. Common lingo can vary from one group of individuals to another. Not born of this world, I’ve struggled to understand some of the language the railroad professionals use […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The second annual New Mexico Railroad Days, Sept. 28 and 29, marked the first public use of the Rail Yards’ south-end property in Downtown Albuquerque. What hasn’t changed was the drawing card of Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 2926, as it made its second visit of the year to the facility [See “Santa […]
