HOUSTON — Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority has shut down 15 miles of light rail operations, affecting three routes, to deal with a “wire fatigue” problem that could put bystanders at risk of contact with a live electrical line. The Houston Chronicle reports that the closure of all of the Green and Purple lines, as well […]
Photo opportunities with Big Boy No. 4018 will be part of the Museum of the American Railroad’s Transcontinental Railroad Watch Party in Frisco, Texas. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn FRISCO, Texas — The Museum of the American Railroad will hold a “watch party” for the sesquicentennial of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad this Friday, May […]
BENEDICT, Kan. – Crews are working to clean up a Tuesday derailment between Benedict and Buffalo in southeastern Kansas. The Union Pacific train derailed 19 cars, two of which carried non-toxic argon gas. No injuries are reported, according to KOAM-TV. The report cites a washout as a possible cause. The line, which connects Kansas City, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Investigators and railroad officials are looking into the cause of a derailment and tank car fire early Wednesday morning in Fort Worth. Union Pacific representative Kristen South tells Trains that about 25 tank cars hauling ethanol derailed near Echo Lake close to 12:30 a.m. The trains’ crew was not injured and […]
Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz Union Pacific OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has slowed work on the new hump yard it is building near Hearne, Texas, and no longer has a firm opening date for the $550-million Brazos Yard. UP now has about 90 contractors working on the yard, down from 300. Crews were aiming […]
A BNSF Railway track backhoe removes debris from flooded trackage on the Creston Subdivision on the Southeast edge of Pacific Junction, Iowa on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Steve Smedley Looking west at the Nebraska Central Railroad’s bridge over the Loup River at Monroe, Neb., on Tuesday evening. Steve Smedley Looking north on the BNSF Railway’s […]
Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce SMITHVILLE, Texas – A fire destroyed the building that housed a railroad museum and the Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center in Smithville on March 24 in a blaze that officials said was likely started by an arsonist. The museum displays included old timetables, photographs, uniforms, and tickets that had […]
Flooding of the Platte River, south of Omaha, Neb., has destroyed spans of BNSF Railway’s Omaha Subdivision, along with the Union Pacific’s Fall City Subdivision. On Tuesday morning, a Union Pacific crane was working on removing a log jam on the upstream side of the bridge. Steve Smedley Three truckloads of rock are being dumped […]
HOUSTON — A high-speed rail project in Texas could see significant growth in the near future as land acquisition efforts by the developing company are ramped up. According to a Community Impact Newspaper report, Texas Central, the company undertaking the project, has acquired about 30 percent of the land parcels needed to support the land […]
Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz Union Pacific NEW YORK — Construction is proceeding on the new hump yard Union Pacific is building in Texas, but the railroad will use the yard differently than originally envisioned due to its shift to Precision Scheduled Railroading. “We continue to evaluate exactly how are we going to use it,” […]
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved House Bill 2472, a Republican-backed measure to allow law enforcement to fine railroads up to $10,000 for blocking grade crossings for more than 10 minutes. The bill, which enjoys large bi-partisan support, passed by a vote of 92-5, and will now move forward to […]
Athens, Texas Google Maps ATHENS, Texas — One East Texas student is dead and one is injured after an Athens Independent School District bus driver drove in front of a Union Pacific freight train on Friday afternoon. The collision took place just after 4 p.m. in south Athens, and left the school bus partially wrapped […]
