BNSF Railway has an identity problem. If you ask, as I did, a dozen strangers on the sidewalks of Washington, D.C., what BNSF Railway means, you will get just quizzical stares. You see, one thing a professional writer learns early on is that words, and...

In early evening you pull your Dodge Durango to a stop in Strong City, Kan., beside the handsome Santa Fe-built brick depot. Sitting in front of it are three BNSF Railway locomotives fronting a double-stack container train that stretches out of sight...

A BN 40-foot boxcar in work train service in Missoula, Mont., in September 2006. Tom Danneman photo . Just for the record, I like watching an entire train go by, from the power to the EOT. We all enjoy seeing locomotives pass, but I also like to see...

CHICAGO - You could describe the 2013 Wheel/Rail Interaction conference here in Chicago by highlighting the bright minds gathered in one room at one time or by the scope of knowledge each presenter offers to the audience. Yet the connections forged...

So much that affects railroads is really out of their control. The energy markets are a case in point today. Coal has historically been a bedrock commodity for railroads, and emergence of Wyoming and Montana coal in the 1980s led to just about every railroad...

It was known by practically everyone, when hedge fund manager Bill Ackman fought to install retired Canadian National CEO Hunter Harrison in the top job at rival Canadian Pacific, that Keith Creel would eventually follow his former boss to be Harrison’s...

When something is important to Tom Hoback, he lets you know. The Indiana Rail Road, of which he is founder, president, and CEO, is one. Railroading, in general, is another and lately, so is the Wheel/Rail Interaction Conference. So important is...

Edited April 23, 2013 By early next year or even sooner, Union Pacific will begin experimenting with locomotives fueled by natural gas. This follows tests that began last year on Canadian National and BNSF Railway’s announcement that it may decide...

Hi Everyone! Most readers are aware that TRAINS magazine just hired a new associate editor. That's me, Steve Sweeney. But since most of you still don't know much about me yet, fellow editors here thought it would be a good idea to blog an introduction...

Natural gas as locomotive fuel. Within six months BNSF Railway will be testing six high-horsepower locomotives, three each from General Electric and Caterpillar’s Electro-Motive, using liquefied natural gas. A switch from diesel fuel would cost...

Few mountain crossings in the eastern United States are as fascinating as Norfolk Southern’s twisting, climbing route between Old Fort and Ridgecrest in the western North Carolina mountains. Its amazing engineering to gain 1,000 feet of elevation...

Some of you may already know that I have an affinity for the Virginian Railway. Something about the railroad has always intrigued me since my love for railroads materialized young in life. The former Virginian was one of the places I first visited as...

For the past few years I’ve been researching railroads of Pittsburgh, Pa. When I moved to my new job at the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library in St. Louis, I found myself with direct access to a collection of materials directly related...

When Jim Wrinn asked whether I would write a twice-weekly blog, I said sure — when I have something to say. I’ve learned, however, that I’m not good at multitasking. And lately I’ve been bearing down on two feature stories for...

Loads east, empties west. Norfolk Southern doing what it does best. -- Burma Shave

Newport (b. 1829), plucky town, knew both boom and bust. Its depot tells you the ending.

I’ve written before about Norfolk Southern’s Funnel of Fun, its busy line into Chicago from Cleveland, Toledo, and Elkhart, Ind. It has always been a minefield of potential problems. Sixty years ago, New York Central ran 48 passenger trains...

Julie, Amtrak’s “automated agent,” is a fixture in my life and possibly in yours. She’s the interactive computer program, humanized since 2001 by the voice of a real woman, Julie Stinneford, that you hear when you dial 800-USA...

My email inbox this week contained a press release from the National Association of Railroad Passengers, denouncing a “partisan political attack” on a proposed high-speed electrified railroad between Victorville, Calif., and Las Vegas. Letters...

I’ve been wrapping my arms around the announcement this week that BNSF Railway will test-fuel locomotives with liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a view toward starting large-scale conversions away from diesel fuel as soon as 2014. This is a game...

Chicago Union Station. Steve Sweeney For a recent business trip to Milwaukee I had to fly to make connections, meet the bosses and get a good night’s sleep before the scheduled all-day meetings. On the way home, however, I consciously chose Amtrak...

Updated March 1, 2013 I am just back from two transcontinental train trips, one after the other, from Chicago to Seattle on Amtrak’s Empire Builder and from Vancouver, B.C., to Toronto on VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian. I enjoyed both experiences...

You enjoy traveling by train in winter. In part it's the comfort of being warm while outside your window it is bitterly cold. Trains aren't crowded this time of year, either, and the introvert in you likes that. Plus, there is a feeling of adventure you...

"Do not be dissuaded by a few detractors," Ray LaHood, the soon-to-be former secretary of transportation, told the U.S. High Speed Rail Association this week. LaHood spoke after learning that Florida Republican congressman John Mica will again try to...

Overview: With Norfolk Southern’s announcement of Norfolk its 20 “heritage fleet” of new diesels in March 2012, I immediately thought, "I have to catch the N&W engine (NS 8103) on former N&W rails and the VGN unit (NS 1069) on...