SAL piggyback hotshot

20170821

Three GP30s make 60 mph with TT-23, a fast freight composed of 56 piggyback flatcars, at Manson, N.C., in September 1965. Though a normal service, TT-23 was not in the timetable and so ran as an extra, hence the white flags on GP30 517. Curt Tillotson Jr. photo […]

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SMART-TD president named to STB’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council

Head shot of man with goatee

WASHINGTON — Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), has been named to the Surface Transportation Board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. Ferguson, who joins the RSTAC as an at-large member, has nearly 30 years in the rail industry, having begun his career as a conductor. […]

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Fred Frailey tries something new: a novel

Asked who my main influence has been as a writer, my reflexive answer is always “David P. Morgan.” The great editor’s inspiring use of language is what, in my opinion, made Trains magazine so important to generations of readers. And although I’d never be foolish enough to compare anything I write to that of D.P.M., […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic down 2.7%

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus total intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed another week of mild decline for the week ending Aug. 19. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, the week’s total volume was 478,853 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7% from the same week in 2022. That marks the seventh time in nine weeks the drop has […]

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SMART-TD calls for FRA standards for those training new conductors

Man climbing on front steps of orange locomotive

WASHINGTON — The union representing railroad conductors is calling for the Federal Railroad Administration to set standards for those involved in training of conductor trainees, while also issuing an advisory to its members regarding their duties and responsibilities regarding such training and trainees. The actions from the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and […]

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