Author: David Nahass

• August 13, 2019
• Class I, Freight, Freight Cars, Locomotives, Mechanical, Short Lines & Regionals

Clickbait Journalism at The New York Times

FINANCIAL EDGE, AUGUST 2019: With a 100-plus-degree F temperature and/or heat index blanket covering half the U.S., the summer doldrums are fully upon us. The time of year lines up with the anniversary of one of the most horrible rail tragedies in recent memory—the Lac-Mégantic derailment in July 2013. The 47 deaths that occurred as a result of that accident are unrecoverable losses for families and communities. Their memory should always serve as a reminder of the importance of safety and the need for best practices throughout the railroad industry.

• July 19, 2019
• Class I, Finance/Leasing, Freight, Freight Cars, Locomotives, Mechanical, Short Lines & Regionals

Leasing Market Approaching “New Normal”

FINANCIAL EDGE, JULY 2019: The longstanding and well-regarded Editor-in-Chief of Railway Age, William C. Vantuono, recently had the dubious honor of rescuing the Leasing and Equipment Finance panel at the Rail Insights Conference, held last month at the Union League Club of Chicago.

• May 09, 2019
• Class I, Commuter/Regional, Freight, Freight Cars, Intercity, Intermodal, Locomotives, News, Passenger, Short Lines & Regionals, Switching & Terminal

Amtrak: Freedom From Responsibility is Illusory

THE FINANCIAL EDGE, MAY 2019 – In a recent TED talk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suggested that, in an attempt to combat abusive speech and harassment, Twitter would consider moving from threads written by individuals to topic threads. Dorsey suggested these interest networks would be easier to monitor for Twitter code of conduct breeches.

• March 26, 2019
• Class I, Finance/Leasing, Freight, Freight Cars, Locomotives, Mechanical, Short Lines & Regionals, Switching & Terminal

REF 2019 roundup

If you missed this year’s Rail Equipment Finance Conference held in La Quinta, Calif., you may have missed the best rail equipment and finance program ever assembled in one location. Never fear, here is the “Financial Edge” annual summary of key takeaways from the speakers gracing the podium at REF 2019.

• March 11, 2019
• Class I, Freight, Freight Cars, Mechanical, Regulatory, Short Lines & Regionals, Switching & Terminal

Fuzzy math, politics and railcars

THE FINANCIAL EDGE, MARCH 2019 – On Feb. 19, the Alberta government announced that it had entered into transportation (and some logistics) contracts with CN and Canadian Pacific to begin to move Canadian oil sands crude from the Albertan province down to the Gulf of Mexico. The province intends to move 20,000 barrels per day (BPD) by rail beginning in July 2019, increasing to a total number of 120,000 BPD by midyear 2020.

• February 11, 2019
• Class I, Finance/Leasing, Freight, Freight Cars, Locomotives, Mechanical, Regulatory

First thing we do is file all the liens

Financial Edge, February 2019: One danger of writing for a monthly periodical is that high-profile situations (say the shutdown of the federal government) might begin and end between two issue publication dates. In a word, to tackle the risk of balancing remaining contemporary without becoming dated, one must be “fearless.”

• December 21, 2018
• Class I, Finance/Leasing, Freight

The Ghosts of A Railroad Christmas Story

Financial Edge, January 2019: Railway Age’s January Issue will be released early next month, but we thought we’d give our readers a Holiday treat with Financial Editor David Nahass’ column, which has a particularly relevant (and a bit tongue-in-cheek) Christmas theme centered around a famous Charles Dickens short story.

• November 14, 2018
• Class I, Finance/Leasing, Freight, Freight Cars, Mechanical, Regulatory, Safety, Short Lines & Regionals

Who will protect the French Fries?

Financial Edge, November 2018: In mid-September, CSX filed a report to the FRA stating that its June 2018 derailment near Princeton, Ind., (about 150 miles south of Indianapolis) was caused by buckled track. The derailment included 23 freight cars and caused the evacuation of nearby homes (within a radius of about one mile from the crash site) as a precautionary measure. Some of the derailed cars were carrying liquid petroleum gas (LPG or NGLs) and liquid propane (LP). 60,000 gallons of liquid NGLs were released. One tank railcar filled with leaking propane was on fire.

• July 27, 2018
• Class I, Freight, Regulatory, Safety

Tempest in a tank car

Industry watchers greeted the news of the recent BNSF derailment in Doon, Iowa, as typical ho-hum news. 32 tank railcars hauling crude derailed on a stretch of track that had been compromised by floodwaters. Several of the cars were ruptured and there was a crude spill. Emergency services (BNSF and others) were able to contain the size of the spill, and residents of the area were evacuated as a precaution. Luckily for all parties involved, there was no conflagration whatsoever as a result of the derailment.

• March 06, 2018
• Finance/Leasing, Freight Cars, Locomotives, Mechanical

Financial Edge March 2018: Steel tariffs and increasing railcar prices

President Trump has accepted the recommendations from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that steel and aluminum tariffs be implemented to prevent the dumping of foreign products at a discount. These cheaply sold products undercut the pricing of domestic (and other legitimately imported) steel and aluminum products.

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