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been identified to send to Topeka to be stripped for parts down to the frame.
New Coal Trains BNSF began moving trains of metal-
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directly to one of our listed news correspondents. BNSF RAILWAY
CSX TRANSPORTATION UNION PACIFIC
JONATHAN QUINLEY
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CANADIAN NATIONAL MICHAEL BERRY
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lurgic coal from a connection with CSX at East St. Louis, Ill., to Eagle Pass, Texas. This traffic was previously with Union Pacific. Originating in West Virginia, these trains run with CSX coal hoppers with loads going to Ciufronte, Mexico. The movement is not a regular train and will run as-needed. BNSF started running a new coal train
in February, as well. The railroad won a contract back from the UP for trains going to Mossville, La., to the Entergy Nelson Power Plant. The first train to run was the C-CDMMON0-01 and was routed out of Cordero Mine, Wyo., to Bill and Guernsey, Wyo., then to Northport, Neb., then on to Brush, Denver, and La Junta, Colo., then Amarillo, and Fort Worth, Texas. From there it goes south on the former Santa Fe to Somerville, then east to Silsbee and south to the UP at Sulphur, La., via Orange, Texas. The final miles of this trip are on UP.
CANADIAN NATIONAL MICHAEL BERRY
Canada TSB Wants Tougher Rules for Oil
Timber Rock is a Watco property. Employees that were affected by the BNSF take-back were offered a chance to transfer to other Watco properties or they could take a buyout.
SD75 Rebuild Program
In addition to BNSF having a program
to rebuild GP30s, GP35s, and GP38s into GP39-3s, the railroad is now going to have a rebuild program for SD75Ms and SD75Is. Up to 50 units are scheduled to be rebuilt and upgraded. Some of them will be done at Mid America Car, Inc., in Kansas City, Mo., while others are to be done at Progress Rail in Mayfield, Ky. There are a few which will be stripped for parts; Nos. 250, 259, and 299 have
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released its report on the derailment of Canadian National loaded oil Train 704 in Gogama, Ont., two years ago. The report placed the blame on track maintenance issues, problems with training railway employees, train speed (though the train in question did not exceed the 40 m.p.h. speed limit on this section of track), and insufficient- ly hardy tank cars. A newly hired track inspector lacked the experience to spot cracks in the joint bars that join rail sections, which failed under the pound- ing of the heavy train in tempertures of -31°C (-25°F) due to insufficient train- ing. The TSB is recommending that Transport Canada look into lowering maximum speeds of oil trains in Canada.
Bitumen Crude by Rail CN filed a patent on February 17 for
CN Considers
a new technology that converts bitumen (a heavy crude produced at the oil sands) into a primarily solid dry good, through use of a polymer. According to CN, in
the event of any kind of accident, the bitumen would not explode, leak, or end up in the water supply. Once the bitumen reaches a refinery, it would be heated up to separate the polymer from the bitumen. Currently, shipping bitumen requires a diluent (a petro- leum additive) so that the thick sludge- like product can be shipped by train or pipeline. This diluent raises the flamma- bility of bitumen.
Taking the Long Way to the West Coast
BNSF detoured a number of trains on
CN in Canada in February due to conges- tion on the Hi Line caused by a number of winter avalanches. Westbound trains crossed the border at Emerson, Man., going up to Winnipeg and then ran all the way to Vancouver, B.C., with the reverse for eastbounds. These detour trains were identified as F305 for westbounds and F306 for eastbounds. While the trains enter Canada with exclusively BNSF power, they have been getting a CN leader out of Winnipeg and run to the west coast that way. This is the first time that BNSF has detoured using this route. Most of the traffic has been unit grain trains.
2017 Capital Investment Canadian National is planning to
spend C$2.5 billion in 2017 according to its announcement on February 9. About $400 million of that will be spent on implementation of Positive Train Control in the U.S. on approximately 3,500 route-miles; by 2020, CN will have spent $1.2 billion on the project. Another $500 million will be spent on equip- ment, expansion projects, and informa- tion technology initiatives to serve CN’s growing business.
CANADIAN PACIFIC DAVID STOWE
Fourth Quarter Financial Report
CP announced its lowest-ever fourth-quarter operating ratio of 56.2 percent and a record-low full-year OR of 58.6 percent as focused cost control helped offset softer than expected volumes.
Fourth-quarter revenues
decreased 3 percent to C$1.64 billion from C$1.69 billion, while diluted earnings per share increased 25 percent to C$2.61 from C$2.08 and adjusted
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