MOBILE, Ala. — A former Alabama Export Railroad locomotive engineer has been charged with reckless manslaughter in the Nov. 17, 2020, death of a Mississippi man who was killed when his track maintenance equipment was struck by the engineer’s train at Prichard, Ala., just outside Mobile. The Associated Press reports that James Jeffery Elder, 49, […]
Major railroad labor disputes haunted the nation during the latter part of the 19th century, highlighted by the “Great Railroad Strike,” which spread from Maryland to California in 1877 and the Pullman Strike 17 years later. Both of these bitter conflicts led to multiple deaths and costly physical destruction. The Shopmen’s Strike of 1922-23, however, […]
The 20th century saw a dramatic increase in railroad labor productivity. In 1916, the peak year for U.S. Class I railroad route-miles, those 100-plus carriers employed 1,559,158 people. If we assume 85 percent of those employees, or 1,325,284, were allocated to freight traffic — which totaled almost 339 billion ton-miles — this works out to […]
Four events highlight the history of the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway: two spectacular accidents, a visiting steam locomotive, and a murder. Remarkable is that the TP&W rebounded from the negative incidents to last through 1983, when it was merged into the Santa Fe Railway. After three years, though, Santa Fe wanted out, and the […]
RENO, Nev. – Rank-and-file members of railroad labor unions are disappointed with the Presidential Emergency Board’s contract recommendations and overwhelmingly support a strike, according to an online survey conducted by Railroad Workers United. Nearly 83% of those surveyed said the PEB’s recommendations fell short of their expectations. Nearly 8% expressed neutral sentiments, while the remaining […]
Earlier this month, Trains drove alongside BNSF Railway’s Southern Transcon from Barstow, Calif., to Belen, N.M., to see how North America’s busiest freight railroad and intermodal corridor is faring amid the crew shortages that have affected operations. BNSF’s California and Southwest divisions have been among the hardest hit in the country as the big four […]
WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation’s failure to fully mitigate the risk of freight cars rolling off a yard track and onto the Acca Yard lead in Richmond, Va., was the probable cause of the death of a remote-control operator in October 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an Aug. 30 report on the incident. […]
A Union Pacific merchandise train derailed in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night, killing a railroad employee. Two cars derailed into a back yard on the 7700 block of Barton Street, the El Paso Fire Department reported. Fifty residents were evacuated briefly until a damaged natural gas line could be shut down. The accident occurred […]
Railroads have reached tentative agreements with three unions as the prospect of a September strike looms. The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, which represents the freight railroads in national collective bargaining, on Monday afternoon said it has reached tentative deals with the Transportation Communications Union/IAM, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace […]
DENVER — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said Monday he believes railroads and unions will begin to reach agreements on new labor contracts, but that he is also “confident” that Congress will intervene if the ongoing labor dispute reaches the point of a strike or a lockout. Fritz, in a brief address to the American […]
CLEVELAND — On-line and in-person meetings last week did not result in an agreement between railroads and unions over a new contract, the heads of two unions said in a joint statement issued Saturday. Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), and Dennis Pierce, president of […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation is pushing back against allegations a local union official has made regarding operations and safety at the railroad’s hump yard in Selkirk, N.Y. A combination of layoffs, crew shortages, changes to remote-control switching jobs, and CSX’s takeover of New England regional Pan Am Railways has created congestion at the yard near […]
