Moving energy beyond borders
Can exports revive North America’s crude-by-rail and coal?
Can exports revive North America’s crude-by-rail and coal?
A Union Pacific train carrying 96 carloads of Bakken crude to a refinery in Tacoma, Wash., derailed in Mosier, Ore., on June 3.
From the May 2016 issue of Railway Age: Specialized equipment and training help protect assets from wildfire damage. Every summer, particularly in the Western U.S. and Canada, fires triggered by lightning or human activity are an ordinary occurrence. During recent summers, however, wildfires have put railroads increasingly in the crosshairs.
April 2016 will be remembered decades from now as the month when Rollin Bredenberg retired as V.P., Capacity Planning & Operations Research at BNSF Railway.
An assistant to the president of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company once said, “… let us direct our thoughts toward what would be required in the way of equipment or system for the safe operation of a train with no person at the controls. It is obvious that such a step must be made if we are to approach crewless train operation. It is equally obvious that the crewless train would have no one to look at wayside signals and therefore we should begin thinking in terms of an overall system that does not require wayside signals.”
Aside from unconfirmed reports of isolated tie damage to one Idaho short line, and moments of suspended service on both short lines and Class Is, the dozens of wildfires raging throughout the Northwest have, so far, caused no widespread damage to railway property. That’s remarkable considering the fact that one of the fires, the more than 280,000-acre Okanogan Complex in north central Washington, has been deemed that state’s largest wildfire in recorded history and is currently considered the number one fire priority in the nation. More than 1,200 firefighters are tackling that blaze alone, coming from as far away as Arizona, the East Coast, Australia, and New Zealand.
Could emergency service that’s been used worldwide be applied on a massive scale for California?
Tools and techniques both new and old help railroads cope with weather extremes.
A wind-driven wildfire that grew to at least 30 acres on the west side of Spokane, Wash., on June 11 was quickly knocked down by two helicopter drops, fire teams from six agencies—and the rapid deployment of a BNSF Railway Fire Train.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 30, 2015 celebrated the completion of extensive restoration work on the historic brick depot in Sandpoint, Idaho, which serves as Amtrak’s only scheduled stop in the Gem State. In attendance were Idaho Senator Shawn Keough, a spokesperson for U.S. Representative Raul Labrador and Amtrak Director of Government Affairs-West Robert Eaton.