SEATTLE — In a busy year for changes in operators for short lines in the Pacific Northwest, here’s another one. This time it’s a BNSF Railway-owned line in northeastern Washington and southern British Columbia currently operated by OmniTrax subsidiary Kettle Falls International Railway. The new operator, according to Surface Transportation Board filings, will […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad has resumed operations after being shut down by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the Anchorage area on Friday, Nov. 30. The first train to successfully cover the railroad’s entire route since the quake did so on Monday evening, with full service resuming Tuesday, Dec. 4, following the completion of […]
OAKMONT, Pa. — Carload Express, Inc. today announced a second expansion of rail freight service in the Delmarva Peninsula. Carload’s Delmarva Central Railroad was selected through competitive bid to operate two rail lines owned by the State of Delaware, extending from Georgetown to near Harbeson, Delaware (the “Lewes Running Track”) and from Ellendale to near […]
An image of earthquake damage on the Alaska Railroad right-of-way. Alaska Railroad ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad remains shut down between Anchorage and Fairbanks following a 7.0 earthquake that shook the southern part of the state on Friday. No one was injured in Friday’s earthquake — or the more than 1,000 aftershocks that have […]
Financial hardships, highway competition, and inadequate maintenance and investment led to the abandonment of a wide array of railroads. Take a look at our free 45-page PDF download to uncover the history behind the following railroads: The formation of the Wisconsin & Calumet Railroad and the different rail lines it operated, restored, and acquired. How the Vicksburg Route changed […]
Crews hoist former Pan Am Railways GP9 No. 52 into the air. The locomotive will soon serve the Heber Valley Railroad in regular service. Mike Manwiller HEBER CITY, Utah — After a 3,000-mile journey from Maine, the Heber Valley Railroad’s new GP9s are ready for service in Utah. Earlier this month, ex-Pan Am Railway GP9s […]
Iowa Interstate QJ 2-10-2s Nos. 6988 and 7081 doublehead in Iowa in 2011. Trains: Jim Wrinn MENLO, Iowa — In the first announcement of a scheduled big steam locomotive running on a regional railroad in 2019, Iowa Interstate officials Friday said that steam will operate to benefit a volunteer fire department in this community located […]
FULL SCREEN Tom Danneman GE B23-7 No. 4201, built for Conrail in 1978 FULL SCREEN Tom Danneman EMD SW14 No. 102, built for Illinois Central in 1951 FULL SCREEN Tom Danneman EMD GP30 No. 2508, built for Rio Grande in 1962 FULL SCREEN Tom Danneman EMD GP9R No. 8319, built for Southern Pacific in 1955 […]
Norfolk Southern will lease its Ithaca Secondary line to Watco Companies, which has said in regulatory filings that it will create the Ithaca Central Railroad short line. TRAINS: Rick Johnson/Steve Sweeney ALBANY, N.Y. — Watco Companies has filed for permission to lease track from Norfolk Southern and operate a new Class III railroad in New […]
CSX line sales in Florida CSX Transportation’s line sales are highlighted in yellow on the map. TRAINS: Rick Johnson/Steve Sweeney WASHINGTON — Shortline holding company RailUSA will acquire nearly 375 miles of CSX Transportation main line across the Florida Panhandle. Last week RailUSA notified rail labor on the affected routes that it would be acquiring […]
SEATTLE — The Pacific Northwest has an abundance of publicly and privately owned short lines. Two of the publicly held railroads have new operators. Oregon In the case of the International Port of Coos Bay in Oregon, the new operator is the port itself. The 133-mile line, running west from Eugene, Ore., to the coast […]
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — R.J. Corman’s family of shortline railroads now includes a significant part of Nashville’s shortline railroading scene. R.J. Corman announced this week it has finalized an agreement to purchase the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Corp.; Nashville & Western Railroad Corp.; Transit Solutions Group, the operator of Nashville’s Music City Star commuter railroad; and […]
