Year: 2009

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Canadian National

CN Completes $100 Million Memphis Yard Reconstruction

September 24, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — CN announced the completion of the $100 million multi-year construction project to reconfigure and modernize its Memphis rail classification yard. “This project transformed an aged, inefficient rail yard into a state-of-the-art, effectively designed major terminal capable of handling existing and future traffic quickly and efficiently,” said CN executive vice-president Claude Mongeau, who will succeed retiring president and chief executive officer E. Hunter Harrison on Jan. 1, 2010. “Today’s yard can handle nearly double the traffic the old facility could in a 24 hour period.” Memphis, a major freight distribution hub, is a key operating center on CN’s North American network. It is an important destination for freight

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Miscellaneous

‘Common Sense’ safety tips for pedestrians

September 24, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

Part I: Play it safe when it comes to railroad crossings Part II: Train vs. motorists or pedestrians – the train will win A number of organizations – Operation Lifesaver, the U.S. Department of Transportation and major railroad companies – joined together to launch the Common Sense campaign. The initiative aims to reduce the number of pedestrians who are killed and injured when trespassing around tracks and trains. The only safe place to cross railroad tracks is at a public crossing—designated by the crossbuck. Turn your cell phone and MP3 players off when you’re near train tracks. Forget texting, as it could be a deadly distraction near the tracks. Trains

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Safety

Train vs. Motorists or Pedestrians — The Train Will Win

September 24, 2009 Todd DeFeo

MARIETTA, Ga. – A number of organizations – Operation Lifesaver, the U.S. Department of Transportation and major railroad companies – joined together to launch the Common Sense campaign. The initiative aims to reduce the number of pedestrians who are killed and injured when trespassing around tracks and trains. The campaign is targeted toward 18-34 year olds. “Young adults also may be distracted by cell phones, texting, or listening to MP3 players if they’re near the tracks. This new public awareness campaign has a simple message: staying away from the tracks is common sense, and it can save your life,” Cliff Stayton, a former locomotive engineer, said in a news release.

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Miscellaneous

FreightCar America Reports Strong Second Quarter 2009 Results

September 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

CHICAGO — FreightCar America reported net income of $7.0 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, for the three months ending June 30 on revenues of $104.3 million. For the second quarter of 2008, the company generated sales of $141.3 million and a net loss of $400,000, or $0.03 per diluted share. These 2009 results are consistent with the preliminary second quarter financial metrics that the company announced on July 28, officials said. The company recently announced that it had identified historical accounting errors in accounts payable that resulted in the understatement of its cumulative net earnings since the fourth quarter of 2007. As a result of the nature and timing

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BNSF

BNSF Burlington Bridge Upgrade Work Begins

September 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas — Work has started to replace BNSF Railway’s 118-year-old swing span over the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa, with a modern lift span that will increase the river channel width from 150 feet to 307 feet 6 inches. The $70 million project is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2011. Construction of the lift span is being financed in part through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and previous year appropriations under the Truman-Hobbs Act, which provides federal funds for the alteration of bridges found to be unreasonably obstructive to navigation. The Truman-Hobbs Bridge Alteration Program is managed by the Department of Homeland Security,

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Canadian National

CN Announces Enhanced Calculator to Estimate Greenhouse Gas-Emissions for Multi-Modal Shipments

September 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

MONTREAL — CN has unveiled an upgraded on-line greenhouse gas-emissions (GHG) calculator that estimates total carbon emissions for shipments across multiple modes of transportation. The new calculator, located at http://www.cn.ca/ghg_calculator, generates carbon-emission estimates for shipments using a combination of vessel, rail and truck – such as containers moving internationally from Asia to North American destinations along CN’s network — or domestic shipments using a combination of rail and truck or a single mode of transportation. “CN is more than a railway – today we offer the marketplace total transportation solutions involving rail, truck, vessel, as well as warehousing and distribution services,” said Normand Pellerin, CN assistant vice-president, Environment. “Our enhanced

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NTSB

NTSB Fills Senior Management Positions

September 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman this week filled two senior management positions at the agency. David L. Mayer was named Managing Director, the senior career position at the Safety Board.  Mayer has been Deputy Managing Director since January 2005. Mayer began his career at the Safety Board in 1991 in the Office of Research and Engineering, where he was responsible for transportation safety databases, and for the design and management of safety studies. In 1996 he moved to the Office of Aviation Safety, where he worked on a number of the Board’s investigations. He was extensively involved in the investigation into the crash of TWA

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Rail Blog

The slow train to Atami

September 23, 2009 Todd DeFeo

The regular commuter train from Tokyo to Japan is slow, to say the least – especially compared to the high-speed bullet trains that speed across the countryside. The local train stops at town after town, and the crowd of people aboard the train as we pulled out of Tokyo thins out more and more with each stop.