CPKC announces schedule for 2816’s ‘Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour’

CP_2816

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City will launch the “Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour,” featuring 4-6-4 No. 2816 on a Canada-to-Mexico trip to celebrate last year’s Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, on April 24 at its headquarters in Calgary. A total of 11 stops are planned for the tour, concluding June 4 in Mexico […]

Read More…

JB Hunt elects former KCS President and CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer as new board member

Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer

LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced the addition of Patrick Ottensmeyer to its board of directors. Effective Jan. 12, 2024, the former Kansas City Southern CEO will serve on the board’s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee, according to a recent news release. Beginning in 2006, Ottensmeyer held multiple leadership roles […]

Read More…

NTSB releases final report on Texas switching fatality

Diagram of fatal accident at Beaumont, Texas, refinery

WASHINGTON — A conductor entered the “red zone” where there was an increased likelihood of being struck by equipment, and an engineer did not follow operating procedures to stop his train after failing to hear instructions from the conductor, the National Transportation Safety Board said in determining the probable cause of the fatal Oct. 28, […]

Read More…

Train time at Canton, S.Dak.

Milwaukee Road Midwest Hiawatha at Canton, South Dakota station

The Milwaukee Road’s station at Canton in the southeast corner of South Dakota is bustling with activity as cars off the Midwest Hiawatha from Chicago are switched into the Sioux Falls section of the Sioux. The year is about 1944; note the sign on the depot: “Canteen. Service men and wives only.” Henry J. McCord […]

Read More…

Two U.S.-Mexico rail crossings in Texas to be shut down because of migrant surge

Train on bridge approaching small building covering tracks

EL PASO, Texas — U.S. officials are halting freight train operations across the U.S.-Mexico border at two locations because of a surge in migrant traffic, the El Paso Times reports. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency will temporarily suspend the freight crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso — the No. 2 and No. […]

Read More…

One crew member hurt as UP train derails after grade crossing collision

Derailed locomotive tangled in debris from collision

WEATHERFORD, Texas — One crew member suffered what were reported to be minor injuries after a Union Pacific train derailed after hitting a truck hauling an oversized load at a grade crossing today (Sunday, Dec. 17), the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Two engines and 17 cars of the train derailed in the incident about 9:30 […]

Read More…

Texas mayor vocal about need for passenger rail at House hearing: Analysis

Passenger train in background with station in foreground

WASHINGTON — Austin, Texas, Mayor Kirk Watson expressed strong support for expanded rail service in the San Antonio-Dallas-Houston “Texas Triangle” at a hearing of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s rail subcommittee in Washington today (Wednesday, Nov. 29). The session, however, primarily provided a platform for critics of the California High-Speed Rail Authority to […]

Read More…

Preservation group, BNSF return to North Dakota Supreme Court over Bismarck bridge

Steam-powered passenger train on large truss bridge over water

BISMARCK, N.D. — The fight over the future of BNSF Railway’s Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge over the Missouri River was back in front of the North Dakota Supreme Court on Thursday, as the court heard arguments on a preservation group’s effort to overturn state permits allowing construction of a new bridge to proceed. The group Friends […]

Read More…

Kansas DOT holds public meeting on Heartland Flyer extension

Short passenger train at station platform

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation presented a tentative operating schedule for an extension of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kan. — where it would connect with the Southwest Chief — as part of an online informational meeting Wednesday to seek public comment. The 20-minute presentation included in the meeting […]

Read More…

Short line train derails in Oklahoma

Logo of the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, a Watco property

RAMONA, Okla. — At least 10 cars were reported to have derailed on Sunday in an incident involving a South Kansas & Oklahoma train near Ramona. KWON Radio reports the derailment occurred shortly after noon, according to the Ramona Volunteer Fire Department, and that officials with Washington County Emergency Management say that County Road 3500 […]

Read More…

‘Empire Builder’ disruptions triggered by snow, mechanical issues

Passenger train at station with snow on the ground.

CHICAGO — The Chicago-Seattle/Portland, Ore., Empire Builder is finally on the road to recovery after incurring significant challenges during the past week following a late October High Plains snowstorm and related issues. A series of delays throughout the week culminated in eastbound train No. 8 departing Seattle more than 5 hours late on Saturday, Oct. […]

Read More…