Railhead Corp., manufacturer of safety lighting, tools, mobile video surveillance and locomotive data recorders has teamed up with Volant Unmanned Aerial Solutions (UAS) to bring the Lockheed Martin-made Digital Indago™ LE vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone to the rail industry.
The International Association of Railway Operating Officers, Inc. (IAROO) and the Air Brake Association (ABA) held a joint session on Oct. 5, 2015 at Railway Interchange 2015 in Minneapolis, Minn., to discuss the BNSF 90 CFM pilot test waiver.
Appalachian Railcar Services, Inc. (ARS) announced Sept. 30, 2015 that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ARS Nebraska, LLC, has acquired all of FreightCar America, Inc.’s railcar repair and maintenance services business.
2015 is adding up to be a year of innovation, and a few surprises, in the North American locomotive market.
Aside from unconfirmed reports of isolated tie damage to one Idaho short line, and moments of suspended service on both short lines and Class Is, the dozens of wildfires raging throughout the Northwest have, so far, caused no widespread damage to railway property. That’s remarkable considering the fact that one of the fires, the more than 280,000-acre Okanogan Complex in north central Washington, has been deemed that state’s largest wildfire in recorded history and is currently considered the number one fire priority in the nation. More than 1,200 firefighters are tackling that blaze alone, coming from as far away as Arizona, the East Coast, Australia, and New Zealand.
BNSF Railway has honored Pasco, Wash. with the inaugural BNSF Railway Heritage Award, which recognizes towns that embrace their past, present and future ties to freight rail.
The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a notice extending the deadline—for a second time—for filing comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Tongue River Railroad Co.’s (TRRC) planned construction and operation of nearly 42 miles of new common carrier line, between Colstrip, Mont., and the state’s Ashland/Otter Creek areas, to September 23, 2015.
Could emergency service that’s been used worldwide be applied on a massive scale for California?
Three key rail infrastructure and economic development projects in the Columbia Basin—the Port of Moses Lake’s Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, the Port of Warden’s Rail Infrastructure Expansion Project and the Connell Rail Interchange Improvement Project—have all received funding in the 2015-17 Transportation Revenue Package that was recently passed/approved by the Washington State Legislature.
Tools and techniques both new and old help railroads cope with weather extremes.
