Capitol Lines
Don Phillips is a veteran newspaper reporter and a magazine columnist writing about railroads and transportation policy for more than 40 years. He shares his insight with our readers each month in the pages of Railfan & Railroad.
November 18, 2019
How Bad Are Things in Railroading Right Now?
In the freight railroad business it’s often difficult to determine what’s really going on. For instance, freight business is down all over the country in the last year. But is this something serious or just a temporary blip?
November 13, 2019
There Are Limits to Police Powers
An arrest of a photojournalist by a Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer violated the agency’s own photography policy, and lacked probable cause.
November 13, 2019
News & Notes is Well Worth the Read
There are a lot of specialty magazines in railroading. One of my favorites is News & Notes, which is put out by the RABO Club, which roughly stands for “Retired Administrators of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,” its affiliates, and successors.
September 15, 2019
In Railroading, Anything Can Happen
It’s been difficult to predict what the future of freight traffic holds for America’s railroads. So many factors are involved, including economic, regulatory, and engineering.
July 15, 2019
Can Union-Management Disputes Go Too Far?
Railroad unions play a vital role in keeping rail transportation safe, but unions have many different roles and sometimes those roles can be at odds with each other.
June 19, 2019
Half A World Behind Each Back: 150 Years Later
From time to time, we need to step back and look at just how far we have come in the last 150 years. This was the year to do that. A century and a half ago, the nation was joined coast to coast by a railroad at an isolated location known as Promontory Summit.
May 28, 2019
The World is Full of Heroes and Villians
Let me stress quickly that this isn’t a column about aviation, but it is a column about aviation safety as it relates to railroads. There are huge differences in attitudes about safety between the two modes, but there are also some ways in which attitudes are almost exactly the same.
May 1, 2019
A Wild Ride: From a 1970 Bankruptcy to NS’ Move to Atlanta
When Southern Railway and Norfolk & Western merged, Norfolk was considered neutral territory for a new headquarters. Now that Norfolk Southern has been a reality for more than 30 years, it’s time to move to Atlanta.
March 24, 2019
Morgan Was the Greatest Railroad Writer Ever
Morgan wrote with such grace that he created a whole generation of prolific railfan writers. Ask anyone now at his old magazine; they believe it would have gone out of business decades ago without Morgan’s talent.
February 13, 2019
The Railroad Industry’s Premier Conference
The annual RailTrends conference in New York City is the top railroad industry get-together of the year, and the 2018 version was excellent.
