OKLAHOMA CITY — BNSF Railway has filed suit to block an Oklahoma law which allows fines for railroads blocking grade crossings for more than 10 minutes. The Oklahoman reports the suit filed Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City seeks to establish that, as interstate commerce, railroad operations are governed by federal agencies. The suit specifically […]
SEATTLE — Bill Gates: Software mogul or railroad tycoon? Gates is best known for being the co-founder of Microsoft, a founding father of the personal-computing era, his current career as a philanthropist, and his status as one of the richest people on the planet. He’s also an investor in railroad stocks. Cascade Investment LLC, the […]
WALTON, Kan. — BNSF Railway trains are moving over a Kansas main line again less than two days after high winds toppled 145 freight cars on the plains. A BNSF Railway representative tells Trains that no injuries were reported after high winds knocked over 93 empty tank cars parked on a siding near Walton, and […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota State University study says it would be feasible to convert BNSF Railway’s Bismarck-Mandan bridge into a pedestrian crossing of the Missouri River, but such a conversion would be expensive. The study by the university’s Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture places the costs of the conversion of the bridge […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway reported higher second quarter profits on Friday despite a traffic slump and disruptive Midwestern flooding. BNSF’s pre-tax profit rose 7%, to $1.8 billion, as revenue rose 0.3%, to $5.9 billion, corporate parent Berkshire Hathaway reported in a regulatory filing. The railroad’s operating ratio improved 2.1 points to 65.4% for […]
EDMOND, Okla. — Police in Edmond have cited BNSF Railway under a new state law allowing tickets and fines for blocking a grade crossing. KOKH-TV reports that police issued two tickets under the law which allows fines of $1,000 for blocking a crossing for more than 10 minutes. Exceptions are allowed for emergencies, waiting for another […]
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Two collapsed bridges and an unknown number of freight cars are on the ground after a spate of derailments on three Class I railroads within 30 hours of each other on Tuesday and Wednesday. First, on Tuesday afternoon, a Manitoba derailment sent several cars of a Canadian Pacific train off the rails, […]
Midwest flooding map BNSF Railway OMAHA, Neb. — Plagued with weather-caused outages since mid-March, BNSF Railway reports all service is restored. Operations were slated to resume over the July 20 to 21 weekend on the 80-mile Napier Subdivision, along the Missouri River from near Omaha to near St. Joseph, Mo. It was BNSF’s hardest hit […]
The worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet in the wake of two fatal crashes has not stopped rail shipments of new fuselages from Kansas to Washington State via BNSF Railway and regional Montana Rail Link. Boeing has curtailed production of the 737 MAX for the duration of the grounding, which is related to […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway opened its new intermodal terminal in Barstow, Calif., this week for premium container service between Southern California and Chicago. The $27 million terminal includes two production tracks totaling 6,600 feet, two lifts, and 640 paved parking spaces, BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent says. Service is provided five days a week. […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Following the recent bankruptcy filing of coal producer Cambrian Holdings, another Appalachian coal company has filed for bankruptcy protection. According to court documents, Revelation Energy LLC and its Blackjewel LLC parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of West Virginia. According to the filing, made under the […]
GLEN HAVEN, Wis. — The main BNSF Railway route between Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul will remain closed through at least Tuesday after a mudslide caused a derailment Monday morning, sending at least one car into the Mississippi River. About 15 cars of the southbound intermodal train were reported to be derailed, the Wisconsin State Journal […]
