Jim Wrinn and Kevin Keefe, don’t take this personally, but your state is really behaving badly. First, the voters of Wisconsin had the bad judgment to elect to the office of governor Scott Walker, who campaigned that he was going to throw...

Two issues Amtrak confronts today illustrate the problem nicely. Both relate to freight railroad capacity. Once upon a time, an Amtrak train meant incremental revenue to offset high fixed costs. Plus, incentive payments gave railroads extra money...

This week, a supervising air traffic controller, working alone, entered into a deep sleep shortly after midnight at Washington’s Reagan National Airport and could not be roused by radio shouts and telephone calls while jetliners landed without...

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules for limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic metals and acid gases from coal-fired power plants. Any way you look at it, it’s a disaster for eastern coal producers and...

Here is a prediction I would almost bet my life on: When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood redistributes as early as next month the $2.4 billion high speed rail grant that Florida’s governor rejected, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor...

On February 9, I posted a brief essay about my quest to achieve Select Plus status from Amtrak Guest Rewards during 2011. To do so requires 10,000 “rail points,” two rail points being awarded for every $1 spent on Amtrak tickets. Why do...

The Lexington Group is an annual gathering of men and a few women interested in railroad history. The presentations are always detailed and sometimes downright fascinating, so I enjoy going. But gosh, what a bunch of old dolts we are! I keep expecting...

In its 10-K annual report filing Monday, Berkshire Hathaway revealed there are four possible successors to 80-year-old chief executive Warren Buffett. The filing doesn’t name names, but if you read Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders...

I enjoy making predictions. When I’m right, I’ll see that you never forget it. When I’m wrong, nah, I never said that. So to start the month of March, three predictions: 1. Amtrak will have a very, very good year. Thank the...