HAMILTON, Ontario – It turns out that the railroad industry’s emergency advisory sidelining 675 new steel coil cars with suspect wheelsets was a false alarm. In the wake of a March 4 Norfolk Southern derailment in Springfield, Ohio, the Association of American Railroads issued an equipment advisory recommending that the cars, built by National Steel […]
WASHINGTON — Most chemical shippers say railroad service has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey released today by the American Chemistry Council. Some 77% of ACC members surveyed said rail service was worse in January than it was in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. Some 22% said service had returned […]
Rail labor leaders welcomed the safety advisory that the Federal Railroad Administration issued last week that encourages railroads to take steps to reduce the in-train forces that can cause long trains to derail. Railroads, meanwhile, said they were reviewing the advisory to make sure their operating practices are in line with the FRA’s recommendations. “For […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has tightened its train makeup standards for long, heavy trains in order to reduce the in-train forces that can cause derailments. The new restrictions — part of the railroad’s broader push on safety in the wake of the disastrous Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — have caused significant increases […]
JASPER, Ala. — Two crew members were injured Saturday night when a locomotive and 11 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed Saturday night, AL.com reports. Also on Saturday, an NS train was involved in a minor derailment in Pittsburgh. In the Alabama incident, the railroad said the locomotive rolled onto its side, spilling some […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine today (Friday, March 31) signed Ohio’s $13.5 billion transportation bill, which includes new rail safety requirements as well as a provision crucial to the city of Cincinnati’s plan to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to the Norfolk Southern Railway. House Bill 23 requires two-person crews on freight trains within […]
I love Lego, and I love trains. When I first saw the SoundTraxx Blunami decoder being demonstrated inside a Lego locomotive at Trainfest, I knew that I had to install my own decoder in a Lego locomotive. What you’ll need Obviously, you will need a locomotive. Trains.com producer Ben Lake donated his Lego Creator No. […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Norfolk Southern over the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, seeking recovery of costs and civil penalties for pollution from the release of toxic chemicals as a result of the Feb. 3 incident. The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Legislation setting the stage for the Cincinnati Southern Railway passed the Ohio House and Senate on Wednesday, sending the bill to Gov. Mike DeWine. HB23, the state transportation bill, passed the state House by a 93-2 vote and the Senate by a 30-1 vote. A conference committee on Tuesday reconciled differences between […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The city of Cincinnati’s plan to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern — which had been in jeopardy — has been revived by the state legislature. WXIX-TV reports that, after the state House and Senate passed versions of a transportation bill with conflicting language regarding the sale, a conference committee […]
The famous Saluda grade in western North Carolina has seen its last train. Railbanked in December 2001, nature has slowly but ever so surely reclaimed the right of way. Now, in 2023, an agreement has been reached to sell the railroad to become a hiking trail. Let’s take a look back to the years when […]
Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, the two railroads I was most familiar with were Burlington Northern and Soo Line. Sure, I would see Conrail freight cars now and then. Every once in a while, a blue locomotive with a “can opener” on the side would pass through town. But as I was going through my […]
