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• Yesterday, GE Transportation announced that Mongolian Railways had taken delivery and completed testing of its first Evolution® Series locomotive produced at GE Transportation’s Erie, Pa., plant. Mongolian Railways will lease the Evolution Series unit to Ulaanbaatar Railway, which connects landlocked Mongolia with Europe, East Asia and South East Asia. The main railway route stretches from north to south connecting Moscow and Beijing.

• Parsons appointed Thomas Barron president of Parsons Corp.’s Parsons Transportation Group Inc. (PTG), effective Oct. 1. In his new role, Barron will be responsible for the business unit’s worldwide operations. He joined Parsons in 1976 and since has held a succession of project management and business development positions corporation-wide. He most recently served as PTG’s executive vice president and global business development manager. His assignments have included “virtually all transportation modes and a variety of economic and industrial developments,” according to a prepared statement.

• Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens awarded French consortium Vossloh Cogifer – Thales a $29.3 million contract to supply an electronic interlocking system —Thales’ LockTrac 6171 PIPC — for 14 stations on Tunisia’s mainline freight and passenger operations. On a turnkey basis, the consortium will provide the design, deliveries, installation, testing and commissioning.

• Bourque Data Systems (BDS) has certified IONX L.L.C.’s Edge™ rail-car asset monitoring system for use with BDS’ RAILTRAC® system. The IONX system delivers location and condition status reports via satellite or cellular connections to help shippers and others improve shipment safety, security, turn cycles and fleet utilization, according to a prepared statement.

• Longtime railroader James Lewis Pearsall Jr. died Sept. 9. He was 66. His career included stints as assistant director of heavy-duty flat cars for the Association of American Railroads and, most recently, as a vice president at Kasgro Rail Car, where he controlled heavy-duty flat cars in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Known in rail circles as “The Guru,” Pearsall “cared about every individual and looked for the best in everyone,” as the obituary card that was handed out to attendees of a Sept. 19 memorial reads. “He touched many lives and inspired all to be the best.”