Former McCain operative nominated to STB

WASHINGTON — A former John McCain operative has been nominated by President Obama to fill a Republican seat on the Surface Transportation Board. The nomination requires Senate confirmation. It is not clear whether there is sufficient time for the lame-duck Congress to a [...]

KCS engineer, conductor shot in Louisiana

DESOTO PARISH, La. — Two KCS workers, including UTU member Timothy Council, were wounded when a gunshot came through their locomotive window here Dec. 20, according to the Shreveport Times. The engineer, Paul Griffin, 44, was inside the cab of his locomotive when a bull [...]

High-speed rail: ‘Our generation’s legacy’

By Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood It is difficult to imagine what America would be like without its Interstate highway system. For decades, our state-of-the-art roadways have been the world’s envy — and rightfully so. They deliver products of agriculture and [...]

Duck. It’s another track fastener

Rails know them as Pandrol clips — the bent three-quarter-inch steel clips that fasten rail to concrete ties along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and some other locations. In North Kingstown, R.I., reports the Providence Journal, some of the clips — each weighi [...]

Mexico to Chicago by rail: 22 tons of pot

When Union Pacific took possession of six freight cars interchanged from a Mexican railroad at Eagle Pass, Texas, the manifest showed titanium ore as the contents, and a Chicago warehouse as the destination. Customs agents were suspicious, and discovered, instead, almost 22,0 [...]