NEWARK, N.J. — With a potential strike or lockout now less than 24 hours away, NJ Transit is urging customers to reach travel destinations by midnight tonight in order to avoid being stranded at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 16. In a customer advisory posted today (Thursday, May 15), the agency — the nation’s third-largest […]
WASHINGTON — With carload and intermodal traffic both up, weekly U.S. rail traffic remains head of 2024 levels, according to the Association of American Railroads. Statistics for the week ending May 10, 2025, show overall U.S. volume 495,552 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.7% increase over the same week a year earlier. That includes 222,238 […]
Once we had the L-girders built, it was time to turn our attention to adding the legs and support bracing for the layout. We constructed the legs as simple subassemblies with their own cross bracing. It all bolts to the L-girder frames using ¼” carriage bolts, wing nuts, and washers. We used more dimensional lumber […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Severe flooding that hit the Cumberland, Md., area on Tuesday has shut down key CSX routes, the railroad said in a customer service alert today. Among the routes affected: The former Baltimore & Ohio main line linking Baltimore and Pittsburgh, which has taken on increased importance as a detour route for traffic […]
WASHINGTON — Legislation announced in Congress this week would bar federal funding for Chinese-built railcars and buses, tightening an existing prohibition. Six senators — three Republicans and three Democrats — announced the “Safebuarding Transit Operations to Prohibit China, or STOP China, Act. It would prohibit the use of Department of Transportation funding for the purchase […]
WASHINGTON — A coalition of 20 state attorneys general has filed two federal lawsuits over a threat to withhold transportation and disaster relief funds unless the states agree to comply with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. One lawsuit names Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, while the other targets the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department […]
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 34-year-old Buffalo man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for setting a fire on Norfolk Southern tracks, destroying trackside equipment. Michael B. Benitez was convicted of an attempt to wreck, derail, set fire to, or disable railroad on-track equipment for the incident in June 14, 2023. A press release […]
Editors note: For more on the Rhätishe Bahn and its heritage fleet, including Switzerland’s one-of-a-kind snowplow, see the July 2025 issue of Trains Magazine. PONTRESINA, Switzerland — Markus Zaugg, head of rolling stock for the Rhätische Bahn, is leading an informal tour of the railroad’s shop building in the mountain village of Pontresina. The town […]
NEW YORK — Rebuilding from hurricane damage and a major tunnel project cost CSX a million dollars a day in lost revenue in the first three months of 2025, the railroad’s top financial executive told an investor conference. “We got hit in the first quarter; it was a difficult winter,” said Chief Financial Officer Sean […]
WASHINGTON — Prospective Amtrak board of directors nominee Robert Gleason made clear in his opening statement at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing today (May 13, 2025) that he is committed “to bringing better passenger rail service to small towns across America.” At the same hearing, former Pan Am Railways president David Fink stressed his […]
The Surface Transportation Board has appointed three senior advisors to Chairman Patrick Fuchs. Sharon Clark, Rob Reilly and Chris Bertram will serve in the temporary positions in an effort to help drive reforms, and underscore Fuchs’ commitment to leveraging expert advice, analysis, and ideas on mission-critical initiatives and agency functions, according to a press release. […]
WASHINGTON — With a strike looming as soon as Friday, officials of NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers met with the National Mediation Board on Monday in Washington. No agreement was reached. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri thanked the board for convening the meeting in a statement, adding, “We found the discussion to […]
