REPORT: Youtuber Mr. Beast purchases shortline conglomerate Watco for a video

The well-known YouTube video maker Mr. Beast is at it again.

The internet personality purchased the railroad company Watco for $220 million, Mr Beast (Real name Jimmy) announced on twitter.

The purchase was confirmed by Watco on Friday. Mr. Beast has stated that he is planning on using the company to launch his own freight logistics network, and it will be part of an upcoming video on his channel.

It’s not clear when Mr. Beast will officially unveil his logistics venture, but Railnews reports that the company is already on track to deliver the first cargo.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the youtuber and businessman had recently purchased a fleet of freight rail cars for about $90 million. This fleet will allow for capacity to be increased on the railroad system. In addition to new equipment, track upgrades will take place on Watco mainlines to raise speed limits, a spokesperson stated over email.

As for the company’s actual name, Mr Beast reports that it will be called Beast Logistics Corporation.

Nothing has changed yet, but the company plans to start gradually rebranding the system to Beast Logistics, namely locomotives and structures that bear the logo.

Mr. Beast stated that the company plans to expand their network by buying up other, smaller railroads and connecting their system together over time.

The Mr. Beast brand has managed to gain a significant amount of publicity over the last few years with its videos. His comedic videos frequently show the entertainer doing various challenges, sometimes with just himself or with many people. Mr. Beast has not yet revealed when the video will be released or what else will be contained in it.

REPORT: UP sells E9 set to Ferrosur in order to pay off debt to the cartel

This week it was revealed that Union Pacific railroad has sold their set of vintage E9 locomotives to the mexican railroad Ferrosur, in order to pay off debt UPRR owes to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Union Pacific, and their parent company Union Pacific Corp, have been dealing with financial struggles for quite some time.
As of February they were $3.9 billion in debt. Though they are still on the hook for paying that debt, they tapped into their heritage fleet of vintage equipment for help paying off debt owed to the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico.

Ferrosur announced that it has acquired UP’s 4 vintage E9 locomotives and that they will be used for hauling freight between the cities of Mexico City and Veracruz. In its press release, Ferrosur says that the locomotives are being repainted into Ferrosur’s green livery at the Ferrosur shops in Mexico City.

According to UPRR, while UP had a contract to sell the locomotives to a museum, it didn’t see any potential buyers and decided to sell the locomotives to Ferrosur for “financial reasons.” The locomotives had been used by UPRR on excursion trains and executive special trains since the 1980s.

In 2015, UPRR made the locomotives available to various museums around the USA, with no sale being made. This year, due to debt owed to the Sinaloa Cartel, UPRR abandoned the idea of donating the locomotives and made plans to sell them to Ferrosur, a front for the cartel.

Union Pacific says it’s not sure what the price will be for the locomotives, but that, the more they sell, the less the railroad will have to pay.

Union Pacific says they have received many inquiries about the heritage fleet of historic steam and diesel locomotives lately, especially after the cancellation of this year’s steam locomotive tour in the west. In its press release, the railroad says that it plans on selling most of the fleet to help the company’s financial situation. Some assets, such as the E9s, will be sold to Ferrosur to help with cartel debt. Other equipment will be sold for scrap, the railroad says.

Generally when you see pictures of the Heritage Fleet online, they are taken in the Cheyenne roundhouse where it is stored, and the way the railroad tells it, there are no current plans to put the heritage fleet in service again, and it will gradually be divesting itself of the old locomotives and cars.

The first to go will be the E9s.

Check the Union Pacific website for more details.

REPORT: CoasterFan2105 debuts controversial new “Pedestrian Strikes Galore” video

Famous internet railfan Coasterfan2105 has posted a short trailer for a new series on his YouTube channel – and it’s a scary show.

CF2105 has run a Youtube channel featuring train content for over 10 years. Most of his videos feature cinematic train shots and educational information about the trains, talking about railroad history, or details of trains and locomotives.

On Friday, however, he released a shocking video. Deviating from his usual family and kid friendly train content, he released a video titled “PREVIEW: Pedestrian strikes galore!”. The video begins with his normal intro, which fades into some normal freight train video clips.
However, the videos quickly begin turning sinister. As the trailer continues, clips of people walking in front of speeding trains play, with the impacts not shown.
In the next scene, event recorder footage from a locomotive cab is shown, displaying somebody walking into a grade crossing, directly in the train’s path, as the horn blares, before the video cuts off to silence and darkness. Finally, white text appears, saying, “You’re next.”

The video caused a negative uproar on Youtube, prompting hundreds of outraged comments, and starting the #CancelCF2105 movement
on twitter.

RailNews interviewed the mother of a child who watches CF2105’s content. She requested for her identity to be withheld, stating fears that the trains will come for her.
“I was mortified when I walked into the room and saw the video. My kid was sobbing. This is seriously out of line, and I think a public apology from CF2105 is in order, not before he removes this heinous video.”

The only communication from CF2105 since the upload of this video has been a YouTube community tab post reading “They know where you are.”

Follow RailNews for updates on the situation!

REPORT: Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad announces conversion of F9 7012A into Weapon of Mass Destruction

Ever since its permanent closure last year, many have mourned the loss of the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad and wondered about the future of the historic line, and its numerous steam locomotives.

Thankfully, this year, ownership of MRSR was transferred to the Western Forest Industries Museum, and they established long term plans for the operation of the railroad. They had another large announcement as well, however.
In the Facebook post where the announcements were made, they also revealed that they had been working since MRSR’s closure on converting their Northern Pacific EMD F9, NP 7012A, into a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

“The top portion of the carbody has been carefully removed and set aside to allow installation of the missile and associated machinery. The EMD 567 diesel engine and the generator have been removed from the body, as the cooling system had to be removed to make way for the Missile mounting and launching equipment. They have been replaced with a powerful electric engine and batteries. Rest assured that the removed section of
7012’s carbody, as well as the diesel engine and other internal components removed for the project, have been handled carefully and set aside so that it may be returned to its original state in the future.”

Many railfans were shocked by this revelation, as no clues were left during the project’s duration. The entire conversion was performed inside the railroad’s shops in Mineral, WA. The equipment was fabricated and assembled behind closed doors at the shops, and the 5 intercontinental ballistic missiles which will be launched from the locomotive were driven via truck, under the cover of darkness.

“The missiles are state of the art technology, and can travel at over 15,000 miles per hour,” they stated. “Our plan is to seek and destroy Iowa Pacific,” MRSR added at the end of the post.
When questioned by Railnews and others, MRSR refused to elaborate on the topic, beyond stating that “They [Iowa Pacific Holdings] must pay for their actions” in a Facebook comment reply.

Follow Railnews for updates!

REPORT: UP 4014 west coast tour postponed due to blinker fluid shortage

In a social media post published on friday, Union Pacific stated that their previously announced excursion trip of the 4014 “Big Boy” To various states in the west and pacific northwest, had been postponed.
“As I’m sure all of you know, the supply chain problems of the last year have been significantly affecting us all,” UP Steam Team director Ed Dickens wrote. “A problem that has been causing a lot of turmoil for us here at the steam team has been shortages of blinker fluid.”

Blinker fluid, most commonly used for turn signal lights in road vehicles, is also used to operate steam locomotive headlights, and various other appliances on the locomotives. Perhaps most importantly, the executives of Union Pacific Railroad use it as bong water.
“I know this is heartbreaking, and I apologize. But after lots of discussion and discourse within the company, we have made the decision to postpone this year’s 4014 trip due to the blinker fluid shortages.”
Anger erupting from this announcement within the railfan community resulted in an organized protest in Portland, one of the stops originally intended to be on the trip, with railfans and the general public rioting on the mainlines of UP’s Brooklyn Subdivision.

65 year old railfan and trainorders user George Stevenson was interviewed by Railnews about the news. “I was furious, immediately just furious. When I read the thread about it on trainorders, posted 3 days after the actual announcement, I just started screaming and I threw a chair at my wife. I just didn’t know what else to do. It’s completely out of line for UP to do this. This would never happen under Steve Lee. They ought to fire that unpatriotic femboy Ed Dickens who keeps ruining the steam team. First he retires 3985
and now this. It’s just uncalled for.”

A Railnews correspondent reached out to steam team director Ed Dickens via email, requesting info about what led them to make the decision. Dickens responded to us with “Steamcels be coping over blinkerchads, lmao.”

Railnews will update on the situation as it continues, or as new dates are announced for the postponed trip.

Report: RTA/Metra approves construction of Nether Portal in downtown Chicago

Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority has received a $78 billion grant to construct a large Nether Portal in downtown Chicago. What is this? We had the chance to speak with RTA Chief Executive Leanne P. Redden about the groundbreaking new project.

What is the Nether Portal and how is it going to work?

It’s an enormous solid obsidian portal that leads from downtown Chicago straight to Hell. That’s what the Nether Portal is. It’ll allow a few hundred thousand souls, the demons of the Nether realm, to return to Chicago, and if Chicago is a gateway between our world and Hell, why shouldn’t we be able to use it?

In order to accommodate the large amount of souls travelling to and from the city, a large number of new tracks, bridges and tunnels will need to be constructed for trains to reach the station. Additionally, connections to a Bus Rapid Transit line, Amtrak’s numerous regional and long distance services and O’Hare International Airport are also part of the agency’s vision for the new transportation hub for the city. According to Redden “It’s actually a continuation of the RTA’s vision: We don’t only plan to build a bus rapid transit system, we also plan to increase the number of hell-bound demons in the city.”

When will construction of the Nether Portal begin?

An exact date has not yet been set for construction; however, the agency hopes to begin the project before the middle of the decade. Construction is expected to take at least eight years to complete, with testing of the portal and crew training for the new track and equipment lasting for another two years.

While there are many unanswered questions regarding the Nether Portal, one thing is for certain: we can all rest easy, knowing that the city will continue to suffer in the Nether… at least until we get a chance to get out of town.

For more information about the Nether Portal, visit the RTA website at http://www.rtachicago.org

REPORT: CARB to implement checkpoints along California mainlines for drilling locomotives

At a public media event on thursday, the California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB, announced plans to build a series of “checkpoints” along railroad mainlines in the state, to facilitate destruction of older locomotives.
“Since 1998, our Carl Moyer program has been effectively reducing vehicle emissions in the state. A large part of our program involving rail transport is the replacement of older, polluting locomotives, and destruction of those locomotives to ensure they’re not used elsewhere,” a CARB spokesperson said at the event.
“Our next step forward in the development of this program is our Locomotive Drilling Checkpoint System.”

“These manned checkpoints will be placed periodically along all mainline rail routes throughout the state. Passing trains will be forced to stop at checkpoints and inspected for locomotives built prior to the year 2000. Any locomotives older than this date found will have their engines drilled, to ensure that their operation doesn’t continue. Even if the locomotive is dead in transit or not owned by the host railroad, it will be drilled. This will be done in order to spread our air quality blessings with all states.”

Later in the conference, the spokesperson went on to say, “After the denial of our plans to ban all forms of transportation in the state of CA, we were deeply upset. In response to this microaggression directed towards us, we are moving forward with this project as a compromise. Although we recognize the eco-friendly and highly efficient properties of rail freight transport, it still produces emissions and therefore cannot be tolerated.”

The surface transportation board could not be reached for comment. However, RailNews conducted an interview with a spokesperson of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA.)
The FRA spokesperson stated, “CARB does not have authorization to start this project. It was planned behind closed doors and is not permitted. The unauthorized destruction of locomotives is highly illegal, and CARB has not contacted any of the Class 1 railroads in the state of California concerning this matter.”
Union Pacific, a Class 1 freight railroad which operates in many areas of California, released a response to the announcement, stating “CARB does not have permission from us to construct checkpoints on our property, or to engage in unauthorized destruction of our locomotives. If they move forward with either of these activities, we will defend our company property from CARB with our newly-built Death Laser, which has
long-range firing capabilities.”
CARB released on their website that the first checkpoint will be constructed in Bakersfield, CA, with the construction timeline beginning as early as April.

Follow Railnews for updates on the CARB Crusade!

Report: G&W Announces militarized takeover of RZD

Genesee & Wyoming CEO John C. Hellman stated in a televised address on Friday that the shortline railroad conglomerate had broken their neutrality on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He revealed plans that G&W would be mobilizing their military to Russia and beginning a militarized takeover of RZD, the Russian state railway system.
The company, which owns shortline and regional railroads across North America, as well as in Europe and Australia, has been accumulating used military equipment purchased from Larry’s Truck & Electric for the past several years. Their fleet includes 10 B-52 bombers, 30 F-16 fighters, and 30 UH-60 “Black Hawk” helicopters, as well as a wide variety of tanks and other ground vehicles.
“We have begun a bombing campaign of strategic infrastructure locations. Our plan is to weaken the rail system by air over time while capturing various locations using troops and ground vehicles. Gradually the G&W branding will be introduced to the system,” said Hellman at G&W’s address to stockholders and the public.
Reportedly, several railyards have been hit so far in the bombing campaigns, although civilian casualties have not been reported yet.

The Russian Armed Forces deployed troops to the ground to attempt to combat the imperialistic takeover of the rail network, however the troops all got lost, hindering their plans significantly.
Representatives from RZD and the Russian Armed Forces refused to comment on the matter.
“The expansion of our company to Russia has been much anticipated, and with the current military conflicts going on in the area, we jumped at the opportunity,” stated Matthew Walsh, Executive VP of Global Corporate Development at G&W.

“Russian Rail will be a significant addition to our shortline conglomerate, and we’re
proud to be taking over. We thank our partners at LTE Rail for helping us with this venture by supplying equipment. Glory to G&W.”

Follow Railnews on WordPress and Instagram for updates on the takeover!

REPORT: Kalmbach social media intern mistakes Facebook for Ebay

In a shocking, yet totally unsurprising, turn of events, Kalmbach Media’s social media intern, Carl, made a massive error over the weekend. He decided to begin acquiring supplies for his new model railroad and began browsing eBay.

However, he failed to realize he was actually typing his search terms into the Model Railroader Facebook page, and posting them. At this time he has not yet realized his mistake, and even has posted “What time does Waukesha Arby’s close?”

While his career at Model Railroader may be over, it is likely that he will be promoted to editor at Trains Magazine since he is the only staff member capable of using a keyboard.

Follow Railnews on WordPress and Instagram for updates on the situation.

REPORT: Mid-America Car applies ATSF Bicentennial paint to GECX Dash 9 instead of SD45-2

KANSAS CITY, MO – Railnews has received preliminary reports from a Southern California Railroad Museum spokesperson that the contractor employed by BNSF and the museum to restore ATSF 5704 into Bicentennial colors has given the treatment to a retired GE road locomotive and scrapped the freshly-overhauled 5704 unit sometime in the past week.

The 5704 project, to restore a former Santa Fe SD45-2 into 1976 bicentennial
garb, seems to have come to a screeching halt after Mid-America Car forwarded a photo of a GECX owned Dash 9 decked out in the striking red, while and blue to the SCRM. The locomotive appears to be a recently returned long term lease unit from the BNSF railway, now showing no signs of its previous life covered in meticulous Ol’ Glory-reminiscent paint work and handrail-mounted presidential seals.
According to the spokesperson, the background of the photo showed a grey primed chassis with an SD45-2 radiator section sitting on a backtrack, prime mover and cab nowhere to be found.

“We’re not sure how something as catastrophic as this could occur after months of planning and coordination with MAC,” said the SCRM spokesperson.

Preliminary drug testing results of MAC employees indicate significant amounts of
hallucinogenic mushroom spores present in all shift workers who have reported for duty over the last week.
Mid America Car could not be reached for comment.

Follow Railnews for more updates on this developing tragedy for the preservation world.