Virginia Short Line to Buy part of Cardinal Route

A Virginia short line railroad that hosts Amtrak’s Chicago-New York Cardinal is seeking to buy track it now leases from CSX.

The Buckingham Branch Railroad wants to buy 164 miles of former Chesapeake & Ohio track in Virginia between Clifton Forge and Doswell.

BBR has leased the track since 2005. It was formed in 1988 and today operates 280 route miles.

In a filing with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, CSX and BBR said they have agreed to convert the lease into an exclusive rail freight operating easement and terminate the existing agreement.

Crossing Gates at Location of Amtrak Special Collision in Virginia May Have Been Malfunctioning, NTSB Says

The grade crossing gates in Virginia where an Amtrak special carrying congressmen to a political retreat struck a garbage truck on Wednesday may have been malfunctioning at the time of the collision, NTSB investigators have said.

The investigators told reporters that several witnesses have come forward to say that there had been “issues” with the gates in the days before the incident.

The collision occurred on the Buckingham Branch Railroad near Crozet, Virginia. One person inside the truck was killed. None of the congressmen, their aides or family members was seriously injured. They were en route to a Republican conference being held at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The NTSB said that the chartered train was traveling at 61 mph at the time of the accident, which is slightly over the 60 mph top speed for that section of track.

The NTSB investigation is expected to take up to two years to complete.

C&O H Unit Reaches Buckingham Branch RR

An SD40 locomotive recently repainted into Chesapeake & Ohio markings and colors has arrived at the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Staunton, Virginia.

The blue and gold locomotive, carrying its original C&O roster number 7534, was repainted in the CSX locomotive shops in Huntington, West Virginia, for the C&O Historical Society.

The locomotive will be stored in Staunton for security reasons, society officials said, noting that it is on railroad property that is not accessible to the public.

Although No. 7534 might be used to pull Buckingham Branch trains, it is not currently operational because it is missing six traction motors.

The C&O group is seeking help in obtaining traction motors for the locomotive, which was CSX 4617 before being retired in 2011.