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On June 1, at 3:30 pm, I left the Morristown & Erie.(Right now, some of you are saying, “come on, Friedland, you have done that more than 4000 times before, what’s special about that?”)On June 1, at 3:30 pm, I left the Morristown & Erie after almost 21 ½ years full time, and a total time of over 33 years on the property, for the last time as an employee.Ok, now that I have your attention, let me explain.Eight months after my 30

Everyone has a voice. Some of us sing with it, some of us yell with it, others use the written word to be heard. Our country was founded on the principle that everyone has a voice, and you can use that voice to communicate with the people we have chosen to run it. Right now people is the time for you to use your voice to be heard in Washington.There are two axioms that describe where the railroad industry is right now in Washington, D.C., and they are “Money Talks”, and “Knowledge is Power”.

The final rule came out last week on tanks cars and trains carrying crude oil and ethanol. For the most part, the rule was pretty reasonable, but in one area, we are all left scratching our heads and going “what?”The new tank car specification, 117, will definitely result in a safer car. It is stronger, less likely to leak when in a derailment due to valves sheared off, and if in a fire will survive intact longer due to enhanced thermal protection.

Kathy Keeney wrote a wonderful remembrance of Reilly McCarren in her blog, and I thought I would toss in a couple of personal notes of my own.

Early on in my career as a railroad journalist I was very fortunate to interview and get to know some of the short line industry’s best and brightest. Reilly McCarren, chairman and majority owner of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, was near the top of that list.I was saddened to hear of Reilly’s passing this week after a battle with cancer. I first met Reilly about 25 years ago, soon after he joined the short line ranks from Conrail.

Most of us have had the thrill of getting a toy train as a kid, and for many of us that is what sparked our interest that led to us working in this industry.  In my case, things were a little different.  You see, my father was a true rail fan, and any trains that I received were done mainly to keep me from playing with his trains.  I got an N-scale layout on a board to play with so that I wouldn’t mess with my father’s O-scale trolley layout, complete with overhead wires.  As I got older, my father’s model train tastes moved towards live steam, and he built (with a li

Tomorrow Holly and I head off to Orlando to start the wind up to the ASLRRA 2015 Connections convention.  This will be (I think) the fifteenth time I have attended the convention, and in that time a lot has changed.  When I first attended in 1998, I was a 30-something railroader that really did not know much beyond the confines of the railroads in New Jersey, and was just starting to learn about how railroads relate to their Class 1 partners.  By 2002 (I didn’t attend the meeting in 2000, and the 2001

Ok folks, tighten your belts and hold on tight, this one is going to be a full on rant.This has to stop.  What, you ask?  People believing that if they stop their vehicle on a grade crossing that a magical bubble of protection will lower around them and keep them from harm.  Get over it people, that won’t happen, and in fact, you and your vehicle will probably be turned from a three-dimensional object into a quite flat two -dimensional one.  You will also put the crew (and passengers if it is a passenger train) at risk of injury or death.Bottom line:  if it is a grade

As I write this, I am sitting in my office at the M&E wearing long johns and heavy socks, in addition to my usual attire.  It is in the single digits outside, and the heater for my office trailer is doing what it can to get the temperature up to 65 degrees.

We all go to work when we are tired. We might need an extra cup of coffee or tea on those days (or a Red Bull, I suppose) but we can get our work done, albeit a bit more slowly or less efficiently.

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