CSX, short lines wind down operations at Hurricane Milton approaches landfall

Blue and yellow locomotives with boxcars

TAMPA, Fla. — Locomotives and freight cars are being moved to higher ground and railroad operations are winding down as Hurricane Milton is only a few hours from making landfall between Tampa Bay and Sarasota on Florida’s Gulf Coast. CSX is bracing customers for delays in the Tampa area as Hurricane Milton nears landfall later […]

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Freight, passenger railroads on high alert as Hurricane Milton intensifies to Category 5 (updated)

Diagram showing projected track of Hurricane Milton across Florida

TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Milton is still 700 miles from Florida’s coastal railroads, but the storm’s rapid strengthening from a weekend tropical storm into a Category 5 hurricane has freight railroads on high alert, and Amtrak is already canceling most of its Florida service for the week. Amtrak’s southbound Silver Star No. 91 and Silver […]

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West Point Route history remembered

Streamlined diesel locomotive of West Point Route history with passenger train at station

  First the tracks were built east. Then west. Then west some more. Such were the uncertain beginnings of what became the West Point Route. Construction began on the banks of the navigable Alabama River at Montgomery, the capital. During 1834-41, 32 miles of standard-gauge track extended east toward both West Point and Columbus, Ga., […]

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Port strike ends on third day (updated)

The strike by dockworkers that shut down East Coast ports came to an end today (Thursday, Oct. 3) when the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance announced they had come to a tentative agreement on wages and an extension of the master contract. The agreement ended the strike on its third day. […]

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Amtrak Crescent service suspended south of Atlanta by bridge issue

Amtrak train at station

ATLANTA — Operation of Amtrak’s Crescent has been suspended between Atlanta and New Orleans because of a bridge issue on Norfolk Southern’s main line near Slidell, La. The Amtrak Alerts feed on X.com reported on Monday, Oct. 1, that the southbound Crescent that left New York on Sept. 30 was being terminated in Meridian, Miss., […]

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Dockworkers’ union rejects latest pay offer

Aerial view of trucks and containers at port

The war of words continues as the strike by International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) workers against U.S. East and Gulf Coast port employers entered its second day. The job action primarily affects container handling and roll-on, roll-off services at ports and terminals from Texas to Maine, and comes as importers enter the critical end-of-year retail selling […]

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Norfolk Southern lines from Georgia to West Virginia still out of service after Hurricane Heline

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern crews are out across the network tending to widespread damages caused by Hurricane Helene on Friday. Rail service is still suspended across many lines from Georgia to West Virginia. Railroad crews are spending today (Monday, Sept. 30) clearing trees across a 70-mile section of its Brunswick District between Macon, Ga., and […]

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CSX contributes $100,000 to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE — CSX Corp. will donate $100,000 to American Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in communities hit by Hurricane Helene, the company has announced. The company will also provide a dollar-for-dollar match for donations by employees to the Red Cross. “The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene has deeply impacted the communities where our employees, […]

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CSX’s former Clinchfield largely unrecognizable after historic flood

Town and rail line showing flood damage

ERWIN, Tenn.  — CSX Transportation’s ex-Clinchfield Railroad mainline has seen devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene’s once-in-a-generation flood. It is still too early to determine the full extent of damages, but photos along the famed Clinchfield route are revealing extensive damage exacerbated by the region’s remoteness. High waters are prohibiting emergency responders and railroad officials from […]

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You can only predict for so much: Seminole Gulf reflects on Hurricane Ian two years later

Train with two locomotives on long bridge

FORT MYERS, Fla. — It has been two years since Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, but for rail shippers in far southwestern Florida, railcars only started moving again a few months ago. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, with a record-setting storm surge, unprecedented inland […]

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Once-in-a-generation floods hit North Carolina mountain railroads (additional update)

Flood waters and debris at railroad bridge

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Communities along the former Southern Railway and Clinchfield Railroad in western North Carolina have seen record-setting rainfalls in the days prior to Hurricane Helene. Now, tropical weather is pouring additional rainfall into the area, creating what local meteorologists are calling a once-in-a-generation storm. Places along NS’ former Southern S-Line on the French […]

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Mt. Rainier Scenic acquires cars from North Carolina museum

Side view of green heavyweight passenger car

ELBE, Wash. — The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has purchased three ex-Reading Co. passenger cars from the North Carolina Transportation for use in its steam heritage rail operations. Mt. Rainier Scenic said in a press release that the museum determined the cars, built between 1922 and 1927 by the Standard Steel Car Co. and Bethlehem […]

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