The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Burlington Northern Santa Fe" ...
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Terror on the Tracks
"Terror on the Tracks" exposes major gaps in freight rail security. We spent months criss-crossing the state gathering undercover video of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains carrying hazardous cargo. We found locomotives idling, unlocked, unmanned, unguarded - with the key, called a reverser, inside. The reverser makes the train move forward or backward on the track. The presence of the reverser would allow any intruder with basic knowledge to steal the train - potentially making them easy targets for terrorists. Our sources - current engineers and conductors working for BNSF with everything to lose by talking to us - say the trains are much more vulnerable than the company or the government is willing to admit. During our investigation we discovered trains had been stolen before - mostly by joy riders - all across the country.
Tags: freight rail security; terrorists; hazardous; cargo; engineers; conductors
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"Derailed - A Star Tribune Speical Report"
The Star Tribune and ProPublica revealed that the nation's "second-largest railroad company," Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), has gone to great lengths to cover up its legal mishaps and wrongdoings. In addition to losing evidence, the company and its lawyers worked to gain "unfair advantage "over opponents in "more than 20 court cases."
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Boxcar Battle: Railroads See Promise In a Freight Revival That Many Towns Fear
The Journal reports that "after a decade of sweeping mergers and hostile takeovers, the railroad industry is on the verge of its largest remapping in history -- a 25,000-mile rejiggering of tracks that will straighten out routes, speed up shipments and make railroads a better competitor against trucks. But the plans also put the industry on a collision course with residential America. Many of these new routes would cut through the heart of hundreds of cities and towns, subjecting them to long, lumbering freight trains."
Tags: business; corporate interests; transportation; Union Pacific; noise pollution; litigation; Burlington Northern Santa Fe