
Railfanning.org News Wire


2006: Another Record Year
Click here to read the January 2007 edition of The Cross-Tie WASHINGTON — For the ninth consecutive year, total freight volume on U.S. railroads as measured in ton-miles has set an annual record, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported. Meanwhile, for the fifth consecutive year — and the 18th time in the past 20 years — intermodal freight on U.S. railroads has set an annual record, according to the AAR. Total freight volume for the first 51 weeks of 2006 reached 1.712 trillion ton-miles during the week ended December 23, breaking the 52-week record of 1.696 trillion set during

L.A. Metro Finishes Boring Tunnels for Line Extension


Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway traces its origins to December 1845 when the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was chartered. The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was Tennessee’s first railroad. Following the Civil War, the railroad began to acquire other lines, and in 1873, the company’s name changed to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. However, the railroad never reached St. Louis. The line’s major competition was from the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. In 1880, the Louisville & Nashville gained a controlling interest in the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, but the two lines remained



24 Dead After Mexican Train Wreck
MEXICO CITY – Nearly two dozen people were killed when a freight train crashed into a bus in a suburb of the Mexican capital city. More than a dozen other people were injured in the wreck at a grade crossing in Cuautitlan, located north of Mexico City. The exact cause of the wreck remained under investigation. There was some indication the driver of the bus tried to beat the train, The Associated Press reported. According to another account, the bus stalled on the grade crossing and in the path on an on-coming train. At the time of the crash, the

Appeals Court Upholds STB’s DM&E Decision
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board’s decision granting final approval to Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to construct a 280-mile rail line into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) is seeking the largest federal loan to a private company in American history — a $2.3 billion in tax money from to finance a major rail expansion project through the Midwest. The loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would allow the DM&E to expand and improve a rail line that