DENVER — The Durango & Silverton has agreed to pay $20 million and adopt fire mitigation plans in a proposed settlement to a lawsuit over its role in a massive 2018 Colorado wildfire. The money will settle a suit filed in 2019 by the federal government, which claimed cinders from one of the railroad’s locomotives […]
DENVER — The Regional Transportation District and its union have both approved a new three-year labor agreement including raises of at least 25% for bus and light rail operators. KMGH-TV reports the RTD board of directors authorized the agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, which represents about two-thirds of the district’s employees. It will […]
PUEBLO, Colo. — The Association of American Railroads is rebranding its research and technology subsidiary as “MvX Rail,” the AAR announced today. The subsidiary had previously been known as Transportation Technology Center Inc., or TTCI — a name that became problematic and a source of some confusion when the Federal Railroad Administration granted a lease […]
RAVENNA, Ky. — Part of a Santa Fe engine is heading East to help return a locomotive to operating condition, thanks to a creative collaboration between two unlikely preservation partners. Two non-profit organizations, the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. and the Pueblo (Colo.) Railway Foundation, will swap locomotive components, bringing one 78-year-old locomotive’s restoration closer to […]
DENVER — Widespread opposition has developed in Colorado to federal approval allowing construction of Utah’s Uinta Basin rail line, with opponents voicing environmental concerns over the rail line that could see shipment of up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil daily, or about 10 unit oil trains. The Denver Post reports 42 Colorado cities, 11 […]
FORT WORTH – Analysts and industry observers suspected that BNSF Railway had to pay a pretty penny to buy out Montana Rail Link’s long-term lease on the former Northern Pacific main line. It turns out they were right. BNSF’s financial report suggests the railroad paid MRL around $2 billion to tear up the lease well […]
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah bill which would require Union Pacific to use less-polluting locomotives in a Salt Lake City yard has been placed on hold at the request of the legislation’s sponsor, who says there have been “productive” conversations with the railroad. The Deseret News reports state Rep. Mike Schultz, the House majority […]
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana Rail Link plans to retain several branch lines that are not part of the lease agreement with BNSF Railway that it is ending, but has no plans to operate those lines, a company spokesman said recently. KPAX-TV reports that spokeman Jon Bennion told a recent meeting of the Big Sky Passenger […]
The railway at a glance Name of railroad: Virginia & DACS Railroad Size of railroad: Approximately 14′ x 36′ Scale: 1:22.5 and 1:20.3 Gauge: Nº 1 (45mm) Theme: Pre-diesel, western countryside Era: 1930s-40s Motive power: LGB and Bachmann steam-outline engines Length of mainline: Outer loop, 90′; inner figure-eight with spur, 120′ Maximum gradient: 3.5% Minimum […]
DENVER — The Regional Transportation District has hired a consultant to study the feasibility of a “peak service” plan to bring rail operations to its long-delayed Northwest, or B, commuter rail line. The agency announced Wednesday that it had selected HDR Engineering Inc. to look into the possibility of offering three inbound morning trips and […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is moving to pass a law that would require Union Pacific to use yard locomotives powered “wholly by a hydrogen fuel cell or electric power” in Salt Lake City no later than Jan. 1, 2028 — despite the railroad’s contention that the bill mandates an action not yet technologically […]
CHICAGO — The family of a Georgia couple killed in last year’s derailment of the Empire Builder near Joplin, Mont. — while on a trip celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary — filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court on Monday alleging Amtrak and BNSF were responsible for the fatal accident. The suit was filed […]
