Railway Age honors the Louisville & Indiana Railroad Company and the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad as its 2019 Short Line (Class III) and Regional (Class II) Railroads of the Year. Both carriers will be recognized at the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association Connections Convention in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday, April 9.
One of the North American railway industry’s most valuable assets is the vast amount of institutional knowledge held by its people. Railroading, freight or passenger, is a complex undertaking, from many angles. We owe these young people, and countless others like them, the best of who and what we are. Railway Age and Nick Little, Director of Railway Education at Michigan State University’s Center for Railway Research and Education, have selected our Fast Trackers–10 Under 40 honorees. These rising industry stars are making an impact in their respective fields, and represent the “best of the best.”
Joseph H. Boardman, former Amtrak President and CEO and Federal Railroad Administrator, and Railway Age’s 2014 Railroader of the Year, died March 7, 2019, of a stroke while vacationing with his family in Florida. He was 70.
It’s better to be safe than sorry—even in sub-freezing weather.
Conrail has tabbed Trainyard Tech to install the CLASSMASTER™ hump yard process control system at Oak Island Yard in Newark, N.J.
“HOW SAFE ARE AMERICA’S RAILROADS? Lesley Stahl reports on a recent string of crashes on U.S. railroads and the delay in implementing life-saving technology that could have prevented them.” Oh brother. I think you know what CBS 60 Minutes reported on March 3. It’s not pretty. But in my humble opinion, the rail industry can take most of the responsibility for what turned out to be a damaging report, because no one in the rail industry wanted to go on camera. More on that later. Here, after the fact unfortunately, is my attempt to shed light on some of the misconceptions and negative picture of our industry the 60 Minutes program perpetuated.
DJ Products has just released the RailCarCaddy Rail Car Mover, a battery powered, compact mover “that makes moving railcars weighing up to 200,000 pounds entirely effortless, safer and easier,” the company says.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) submitted testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee in mid-February supporting the American Trucking Association’s (ATA) proposal to increase the fuel tax by $0.20 per gallon, noting that “an increase in the fuel tax could be helpful as a short-term bridge to a longer-term future that, we think, should include a vehicle miles traveled fee or a weight-distance fee.”
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has named Karalyn Moreira as Executive Director of Business Development. She joins TTCI after spending the past 17 years in Brazil as Commercial Director for Scomi Engineering, Bhd., and as Director of Business Development Operations for HKM Solucoes Tecnologicas.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has partnered with five railroads with operations in the state—Norfolk Southern, Georgia Northeastern Railroad, Georgia Southern Railway, Ogeechee Railroad Co. and St. Mary’s Railway West—to add “Stop” or “Yield” signs at nearly 600 crossings that do not have automatic warning devices.