BNSF has lots of tools at its disposal to keep trains moving when the snow starts to pile up. If trains can't travel, that means not only are raw materials blocked from reaching their destinations, but also Christmas gifts. 

Five years after a wildfire ravaged their Fish Lake property, a family received a $425,000 settlement. The money did not ease their anger over what they argue was a bungled investigation by state DNR fire investigators that failed to pin the blame on BNSF Railroad.

An unoccupied car was hit by an Amtrak train in southwest Spokane early Tuesday morning.

Residents around the shut-down Euclid Road Bridge are growing increasingly frustrated by the detour, but the bridge may not be replaced until 2021.

Gus Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF Railway Co., said the rock slide measured about 50 feet wide and 10 feet deep and fell onto the track from a 150-foot embankment. He said geotechnical engineers were at the scene Friday morning, assessing the stability of the slope.

Emergency crews have rescued two train operators trapped in a BNSF engine that derailed into the Kootenai River 10 miles east of Bonners Ferry on Wednesday.

Folks might consider early retirement if they had a nickel for each time a tall truck has collided with the not-so-tall Stevens Street railroad viaduct in downtown Spokane.

Spokane County closed the Euclid Road bridge in Airway Heights because of a critical failure in its supporting structure.

Billy loves Lisa no more. The 81-year-old grain elevators on Napa Street just south of Trent Avenue are being demolished, taking with them not only the last vestige of the North Pacific Grain Growers Co. cooperative but the shoddy, if beloved, red graffiti scrawl describing Billy’s feelings toward Lisa.

The man was wearing headphones and seemed oblivious to the approaching train, a witness said.

The Washington Supreme Court has sided with BNSF Railway, ruling the Pierce County medical examiner has no right to a copy of a video showing a man being struck by a train

Avista Corp. and the BNSF Railway Co. on Friday joined the list of organizations requesting refunds from state Rep. Matt Shea’s re-election campaign. Both companies this year donated $2,000 to Shea’s campaign, the maximum allowed under state law. They want that money back now that the Spokane Valley Republican is under fire for distributing a document titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which spells out how a “Holy Army” should punish those who flout “biblical law.”

The political arm of the Northwest Credit Union Association, which represents 180 credit unions in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, gave $1,000 to Shea’s campaign this year but recently asked the campaign to return the money. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman told Spokane Public Radio the association had reviewed Shea’s social media activity and determined “his beliefs do not reflect the views and values of our organization, member credit unions or customers.”

Paul D. LaMarche, 67, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and theft of government property in March, acknowledging that he took nearly $180,000 in disability benefits from BNSF Railway over 23 years. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Monday to nine months in prison and ordered to repay the money, along with a civil penalty of the same amount.

An environmental group is appealing an Idaho Department of Lands encroachment permit granted for a BNSF Railway Co. bridge.

Degraded infrastructure, unsteady political support for financing transportation projects and regulatory differences between American states and Canadian provinces dominated discussion Monday during the transportation sessions at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s annual summit being held in Spokane.