Coal dust hearing at STB set July 29
Can a railroad deny service to coal shippers who fail to follow the carrier’s rules on coal dust dispersal? A public hearing scheduled by the Surface Transportation Board for July 29 will
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KCS: Damage delays service resumption
Kansas City Southern announced late Tuesday that restoration of cross-border service on Kansas City Southern de Mexico’s Nuevo Laredo-Monterrey Mainline will be delayed by severe damage to a key bridge caused by flood waters spawned
Brazil opens bidding for high speed rail line
Brazil opened the bidding process Tuesday for a 329-mile high speed rail line connecting Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and costing an estimated $19 billion. Nov. 29 as the deadline for bids, and
Montreal reissues bid call for subway cars
Montreal Transit Corp. (Société de Transport de Montréal, or STM) said Tuesday it will issue an international call for bids on its pending subway car order. The move was seen by some
Mineta Institute taps AAR’s Hamberger
Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, has been named a member of the Mineta Transportation Institute’s Board of Trustees, AAR said Tuesday. “I am honored to
North Carolina gets its first HSR funds
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Monday that DOT is awarding North Carolina the first installment, $20.3 million, of the $545 million that President Obama granted the state in January for high speed rail corridor
CSX: “A positive tone for rail earnings”
CSX late Monday announced second-quarter earnings of $414 million, or $1.07 per share, compared with $305 million, or 77 cents per share, in the comparable quarter of 2009. CSX said higher traffic
West Sacramento still pursues streetcar
West Sacramento, Calif., surprised many political analysts on Election Day 2008 by voting to tax itself in order to establish a 1.2-mile streetcar line, designed in part to link to larger neighbor
New gensets roll on the Buffalo & Pittsburgh
In classic automobile parlance, it’s known as a “resto mod”: taking a battered, rusting hulk and restoring it to better-than-new condition while making major modifications that improve performance and reliability (and alter the car’s appearance).
That’s exactly what Genesee & Wyoming’s Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad is doing with two 1950-vintage EMD SW9 switchers. The two ancient units, which were originally destined for the cutter’s torch, were rescued from the scrap heap and, under the direction of G&W Vice President Motive Power David L. Powell, are being transformed into twin-engine, 1,400-hp ultra-low-emission genset locomotives. No. 1401, formerly Georgia Central no. 952, was unveiled during a July 12 ceremony at B&P’s Butler, Pa., Locomotive Shop. Sister no. 1400, formerly Galveston Port Terminal Railway RSS 771, is nearing completion and is expected to be placed into service in September. Both units have been assigned to B&P’s Butler Yard, where they will service customer A.K. Steel as well as classify 
inbound trains and build outbound trains.
Painted in G&W’s bright orange and black livery and sporting new “Green Locomotive” logos, the “recycled locomotives” (as Powell likes to call them) are equipped with twin modular gensets, each with a 700-hp Cummins QSK19 diesel engine, from Brookville Equipment Corp. The control system is Brookville’s proprietary TMV (Traction Motor Vehicle) microprocessor technology. The gensets are EPA-certified to Tier II Rail and Tier III Off-Road emissions standards. They are projected to reduce NOx, HC, CO, and PM emissions by, respectively, 58%, 94%, 37%, and 80%, compared to a conventional yard locomotive, and reduce fuel consumption by 20.7%.
Brookville supplied the genset assemblies in kit form; B&P’s locomotive shop forces managed all design and construction work and performed the overall rebuild. Thus, 1400 and 1401 are the first genset locomotives built by a regional or short line railroad.
The 123-ton locomotives, primarily funded through a federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant administered by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, are the culmination of a public-private partnership effort that began more than two years ago. The project, which also involved the Pennsylvania DOT, was programmed into the SWP’s 2009 Transportation Improvement Project plan. Butler County, Pa., is classified as an EPA non-attainment area for 
eight-hour ozone and fine PM, meaning that the ozone and PM2.5 levels in the region constantly exceed National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The Federal Railroad Administration provided project oversight. B&P was required to compete the project by year-end 2011.
Total project cost is $1.69 million: 80% CMAQ funding of $1.24 million, a 20% B&P match of $309,000, and transportation costs to move the original locomotives from Georgia and Texas of $140,950. RJ Corman and Hulcher transported the original “cores” via flatcar to Pennsylvania.
Powell initially put the program out for bid; five companies expressed interest but only one—Brookville—was able to meet the specifications. “Our specs were rather challenging,” Powell said to Railway Age at the launch of 1401. “We wanted the genset supplier to be able to fit two assemblies into an older locomotive frame that was considerably shorter than a more-modern MP1500 or similar unit. We wanted an electric air compressor and IGBT controls, an event recorder, a waste oil tank, Tier II certification—and of course, a good price.”
—William C. Vantuono, Editor, Railway Age
Cummins expands high-horsepower capability
Cummins, Inc., a major supplier of diesel powerplants for industrial and transportation applications including rail, is expanding its High-Horsepower Technical Center and high-horsepower engine product line at its manufacturing facility in Seymour,
Part of flooded KCSM main line remains closed
February 14, 2001 Kansas City Southern issued a service advisory Sunday reporting that while Kansas City Southern de Mexico resumed most operations over the weekend, its main line between Laredo and Monterrey
InnoTrans notes exhibitors from India, Near & Middle East
This year, InnoTrans willsee a significant increase in the numbers of exhibitors from North and SouthAmerica in particular, as well as from Asia. More countries are making theirdebut each time this event is held. The United Arab Emirates, which will beattending in Berlin for the first time, plans to invest several billion U.S.dollars in transport projects over the next few years.
KCSM appoints Chavez AVP Human Resources
Kansas City Southern deMexico, S.A. de C.V. appointed Eugenio Vargas Chavez as assistant vicepresident human resources.
NS shares rise on J.P. Morgan upgrade
Norfolk Southern shares were up 3.52% to $53.79 in late afternoon trading Friday following an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” by J. P. Morgan analyst Thomas Wadewitz. At the same time, Wadewitz downgraded Canadian
Crossing accidents push rail fatalities up
The number of fatalities on U.S. railroads reached 217 in the first four months of this year, up 10.2% over the same period in 2009, according to preliminary statistics for January-April posted
KCS: Counting the cost of Hurricane Alex
Kansas City Southern said Thursday that a week after Hurricane Alex made landfall in Mexico, it was still “too early in the recovery process to estimate the financial impact of the repairs
Deutsche Bahn moves on bribery allegations
Germany’s Deutsche Bahn said Thursday it has dismissed several midlevel executives for paying bribes in Greece and at least two African nations, Algeria and Rwanda. Allegations of the bribes were first reported
U.S. freight traffic beats 2009, 2008 marks
U.S. freight carload traffic for the week ending July 3 scored another advance over traffic from the comparable week one year ago—up 18.8%–but also edged up 0.4% from the comparable week in
DOT sets $293 million for bus, rail transit
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Thursday announced $293 million in federal funds to “coordinate transportation, housing, and commercial development investments” in numerous U.S. cities. The funds will flow through two grant programs, the
In Cleveland, BRT’s performance promise falters
Officials from Cleveland’s Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) in recent years have urged passenger rail advocates to consider the virtues of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), in the process chiding those who questioned the