Blogs

The documentary about the CANADIAN NATIONAL TURBO TRAIN is an eye-openeng expose of the technical aspects of the turbo power plant, pendolino-type tilting on curves, shared bogies between cars, fully reclining swivel seats, galley, and 'turbo-club'...

"AHSP & FRS---by far the largest nuclear/clean-coal/solar/windmill/electrical network of railroads in the world---close to half a million miles---represents one of the greatest civil, geo-technical, mechanical, electrical and transport technology...

I spent the past two days visiting with senior BNSF Railway Co. executives — including top exec Matt Rose — at the Class I’s Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters. Needless to say, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. deal was a main discussion topic...

BNSF Railway Co. is trying to push the efficiency-gain envelope by operating longer distributed-power (DP) intermodal and grain trains. In May 2007, the Class I began moving 10,000-foot intermodal trains and since has operated more than 800 of the trains...

"...bringing you the NEW in New York Central!" "You'll find a world of new comfort not only on the fleet shown here, but on dozens of other daily trains. Production's caught up with the world's largest orders for re-clining...

Bloomberg TV had economist Mr. Rohaytn on saying that a full infrastructure rebuilding in the USA would easily create 5,000,000 - five million or so jobs! Railroad reconstruction could easily have more than a quarter of the jobs... There are hundreds...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is back at the forefront of railroad news. Yesterday, in Minneapolis, he delivered the keynote address for the opening general session of Railway Interchange 2011. Now, I'll be honest about two things right...

During Norfolk Southern Corp.’s fourth-quarter earnings conference held Jan. 27, senior executives mentioned a few dark clouds hovering over their 2010 business prospects, namely domestic coal demand and international intermodal traffic. But Chairman...

In yesterday's column, George Will slams California and Gov. Jerry Brown for pursuing high-speed rail in a state struggling to pay its bills. What do you think of Will's views on this topic and of California's pursuit of high-speed (or higher...

Honestly, I was hoping my negativism had been temporarily exhausted! I felt sure the time had come to outline specific improvements, so we could begin making our presumed railroad passenger renaissance something other than a trite catchphrase. Sadly...

China's 80,000km rail network will soon be expanded another 30,000km and will soon have the world's largest high-speed railway network by 2012! According to the MOR - Ministry of Railways: "Chinese Railways will undergo an historic change...

Hybrid Switch Engines – When Will We See The Adaptation of the Basic Principles of Efficiency? I have been a student of Hybrid Technology since I authored a paper titled – “Flywheel Storage and Regenerative Braking in Wheeled Vehicle...

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood paid a visit on July 1st to Oregon Iron Works plant in Portland. Secretary LaHood said: "I'm not sure I've ever seen a group of workers so proud of what they've built together. If you look below...

The one constant in Washington appears to be the lack of anything remotely close to a national transportation policy. While bloggers at the PR blog site are focused on high speed rail passenger service and hybrid technology, the government behaves as...

Total railway mileage for the United States of America for the year 1855 AD was 18,374 total miles. According to Amtrak National Facts: In the year 2009 AD, Amtrak operates a nationwide railway network, serving more than 500 destinations in 46 states...

From birth, Amtrak has had more than its share of problems. I've always believed its biggest was a route network whose size falls far short of critical mass. "You can't get there from here" - even in the northeastern U.S. (outside of...

Just read the Midwest HSR in IL news...Chicago to STL at 220mph. MHSRA suggest getting in that app for ARRA $....they only need $10M to do the study. It's just clicking now that "how much money is being sucked out of this ARRA pot to "study"...

To further increase the efficiency of the 'Super-Speed Electroliner Transcontinental Fleet', high efficiency photovoltaic solar collectors will be installed on the roofs of the passenger & sleeping carriages, dining, lounge coaches, observation...

The U.S. Army Transportation Corps states: "Rail transportation provides a service which insures that a body of troops and their impedimenta will be transported to destination with the leat amount of inconvenience and fatigue. The railroads can...

"Gateways to Safe and Pleasant Journeys" "To the rail terminals of American cities come the famous trains whose names spell the romance of travel. To there stations come travelers, in EVER increasing numbers , who appreciate the dependability...

Recently, the Texas Department of Transportation, a.k.a. "TXDOT," republished a three year old study which confirms what most of us have known all along: our system of roadways costs us plenty ! These highways and byways not only cost us...

Passenger trains? So much for the Obama administration's "sense of urgency." The U.S. Department of Transportation has not only solidified its reputation for ineptitude when dealing with railroad matters; they've also proven incapable...

Based on the ferocious fires that are engulfing the Los Angeles area, the most suitable approach to dealing with future fires -could- shape up something like this: Million gallon+ water towers primarily located 'above' fire prone populated...

"All three types of motive power---steam---electric, and diesel-electric---were used to produce the amazing totals of 725,000,000,000 (billion) freight ton-miles and 85,000,000,000 (billion) passenger-miles in 1943." "Only American Locomotive...

As word comes of more passenger trains for North Carolina that are about to start, I pose this question. : Do you think other states should follow the North Carolina approach to building a conventional passenger rail system ? The state of North Carolina...