Category: Uncategorized
SMART TD’S Risch: Longer Freight Trains Carry Safety Concerns
As freight trains grow longer, so do safety concerns. According to an article posted by the Omaha World-Herald on July 2, carriers are looking to increase their bottom line by running as many as 142 cars on one freight train—but at what risk? The article noted that in just t [...]
RRB issues Certificate of Service Months and Compensation form
Each year, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) prepares a Certificate of Service Months and Compensation (Form BA-6) for every railroad employee who had creditable railroad compensation in the previous calendar year. The RRB will mail the forms to employees during the fi [...]
Opening Hearts and Minds In CT
Sheet Metal Workers Local 40 in Connecticut has made a point about being a partner in local communities. On a Saturday in April, Local 40 volunteers helped spruce up the West Haven Little League baseball & softball fields at Morse Park. Local 40 helped clean, power [...]A solution to get our nation back on track: electric trains
In an article published June 5 on Resilience.org, activist Bill Moyer outlined his case for investment in high speed electric rail, and is leading an effort in his home state of Washington to lobby for this mode of transportation that has existed in Europe and Asia for decad [...]
True grit: trailblazer Edwina Justus, UP’s first black woman train engineer
In a June 1, 2017 article written by Rosemary Eng for North Star News Today, Edwina Justus offers a personal account of what it was like for a black woman to begin work on the American railroad during the 1970’s, when the railroad industry, like most industries in Ameri [...]The mile-long circus train rolled into town for the last time
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolled across the U.S. for the last time, holding their final show on May 22, 2017, at Long Island’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The iconic traveling circus that crisscrossed America on the Red and Blue trains for 14 [...]
Patrick W. Simmons passes away, former SLD, Ill.
The following statement was issued June 1 by current SMART TD Illinois State Legislative Director Robert W. Guy: It is with great sadness to announce the passing of former UTU Illinois State Director and longtime UTU member Patrick W. Simmons, who passed away this past Monday [...]
Former UTU VP Bruce Wigent dies
Bruce Robert Wigent, 73, of Prescott, Wis., died Wednesday, May 25 at United Hospital. A member of Local 1709 in Pontiac, Mich., Wigent hired out as a switchman on the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in December 1964. He was first elected as a local officer in 1970 and then serv [...]