Miscellaneous – Page 29 – Railfanning.org

Freight Rail’s New Carbon Calculator Touts ‘Green’ Advantage

April 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Shipping freight by rail instead over road not only eases traffic congestion, but drastically reduces CO2 emissions, as evidenced by the Association of American Railroads’ new interactive carbon calculator. For all shipments measured, the CO2 footprint was significantly smaller when moved by rail rather than by truck. One calculation reports that 1,088 tons of CO2 would be eliminated by moving 100 cars of fresh and frozen food from Washington, DC to Portland, OR by train instead of by truck. The calculator estimates that it would take 25,323 tree seedlings 10 years to remove the same amount of carbon

Man Killed by Train in Tennessee

April 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

HARRIMAN, Tenn. — A 42-year-old man was killed after he was struck by a freight train, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Weather, Slow Economy Produce Rail Freight Traffic Decline

April 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Bad weather in Wyoming and the Upper Midwest combined with the slow economy to produce another down week for U.S. rail freight traffic during the first week of April, the Association of American Railroads reported today. U.S. railroads reported originating 262,624 cars during the week, down 20.5 percent from the comparison week in 2008, with loadings down 19.4 percent in the West and 22.0 percent in the East. Intermodal volume of 184,845 trailers or containers was off 14.7 percent from last year, with container volume falling 9.0 percent and trailer volume dropping 34.0 percent. Total volume was estimated

STB Vice Chair, Rail Marketing Chiefs are 2009 NARS Meeting Attractions

April 7, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

CHICAGO — Surface Transportation Board vice Chairman Charles D. Nottingham and a panel of railroad marketing chiefs will highlight the 2009 North American Rail Shippers meeting. The meeting will be held May 26-28 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Chicago. James R. Young, chairman of the Association of American Railroads and chairman, president and CEO of the Union Pacific, will offer his perspectives about the railroad industry. “The annual NARS meeting — ‘On Track for the Future’ — is an excellent opportunity to hear the top marketing officers from all eight major North American railroads,” said NARS Executive Director Leo

Wabtec Forms Joint Venture to Manufacture Brake Equipment for Chinese Rail Market

April 7, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Corp. has formed a 50-50 joint venture in China to manufacture brake equipment for the Chinese rail market. The joint venture is owned by Wabtec and Shenyang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Railways Brakes Co. Ltd., the largest manufacturer of locomotive and freight car brake equipment in China. “This investment builds on our existing presence in China, the largest rail market outside of North America,” said Albert J. Neupaver, Wabtec’s president and chief executive officer. “Our capabilities and technology will be valuable assets in this rapidly growing market.” The joint venture company, Shenyang CNR Wabtec Railway Brake

AAR: Rail Freight Traffic Down in March

April 6, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down again during March, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported April 2. U.S. railroads originated 1,082,514 carloads of freight in March 2009, down 17.3 percent (226,279 carloads) from March 2008. U.S. intermodal rail traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, totaled 729,033 units in March 2009, down 14.9 percent (127,371 trailers and containers) compared to March 2008. For the first three months of 2009, total U.S. rail carloadings were down 16.3 percent (636,192 carloads) to 3,259,097 carloads, while intermodal traffic was

Train Show Features Models, Memorabilia and More

April 4, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NORCROSS, Ga. – The Great Train Expo hit town this weekend, offering everyone from avid railfans to first-timers the chance to peruse an assortment of railroad memorabilia, model trains and everything in between. Atlanta resident Ruth Mitcham attended her first train show. She enjoyed the show’s atmosphere, especially the model train layouts. “It’s just interesting to see this many people doing what they love,” she said as she watched a Florida East Coast locomotive pulling a mixed freight train on the Georgia Division of the Atlantic Coast S Gaugers’ layout. “Everybody seems to take such joy in it.” The Great

10.7 Billion Trips Taken on U.S. Public Transportation in 2008

March 27, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

Despite falling gas prices and an economic recession, increasing numbers of Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, the highest level of ridership in 52 years and a modern ridership record, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This represents a 4 percent increase over the number of trips taken in 2007 on public transportation, while at the same time, vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the nation’s roads declined by 3.6 percent in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. “Even as gas prices fell for the second half of

AAR: Rail Freight Traffic Continues to Reflect Slow Economy

March 27, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads continued to reflect the nation’s economic slowdown during the week ended March 21, the Association of American Railroads reported today. U.S. railroads reported originating 276,030 cars during the week, down 14.7 percent from the comparison week in 2008, with loadings down 13.0 percent in the West and 17.0 percent in the East. Intermodal volume of 183,795 trailers or containers was off 12.9 percent from last year, with container volume falling 7.7 percent and trailer volume dropping 30.9 percent. Total volume was estimated at 29.3 billion ton-miles, off 13.6 percent from 2008. Eighteen of

New Locomotives for Staten Island Railway

March 25, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — MTA New York City Transit’s Staten Island Railway has taken delivery of four new diesel locomotives manufactured by the Brookville Equipment Corporation of Brookville, Penn. The locomotives traveled by rail to Port Newark and then by barge to the Stapleton Home Port. The cars were lifted by crane and trucked to the Clifton shop, where they were again lifted by crane and placed onto the tracks. They will undergo testing for about a month before entering service. These new locomotives will replace four old second-hand locomotives: two that date from 1968 and two that date from 1940s.