News & Products for the week of September 30th 2024 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of September 30th […]
Type of Train: Freight
BNSF tells regulators it’s set to handle ongoing surge in West Coast container volume
WASHINGTON — With an East Coast port strike set to begin tomorrow, BNSF Railway says it’s ready to handle additional container volume from West Coast ports, citing the record volumes it has already moved this year while maintaining service levels. “Although no work stoppages have occurred yet, volume shifts to the west coast have already […]
Norfolk Southern lines from Georgia to West Virginia still out of service after Hurricane Heline
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern crews are out across the network tending to widespread damages caused by Hurricane Helene on Friday. Rail service is still suspended across many lines from Georgia to West Virginia. Railroad crews are spending today (Monday, Sept. 30) clearing trees across a 70-mile section of its Brunswick District between Macon, Ga., and […]
InnoTrans show wraps up in Berlin with record numbers
BERLIN — The global InnoTrans trade fair closed Friday evening, and the organizers have reported record numbers of visitors: at least 170,000 from 133 countries, according to provisional figures, visiting the 2940 exhibitors from 59 countries. Organizers report that about 600 new exhibitors took part – some representing countries never previously never represented, such as […]
Union requests conciliation in negotiations with Canadian National
MONTREAL — Unifor, the union representing about 3,600 Canadian National Railway mechanical, clerical, and intermodal employees in Canada, has filed a Notice of Dispute with the Canadian government regarding its negotiations with the railroad, CN has announced. The move on Friday, Sept. 27, came just three days after Unifor — Canada’s largest private-sector union, with […]
New feed mill opens on Pennsylvania’s North Shore Railroad
NEW COLUMBIA, Pa. — A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 27, marked the completion of a new feed mill to be served by the North Shore Railroad’s Union County Industrial Railroad. The $47 million mill for Country View Family Farms, a division of Clemens Food Group LLC, was completed following two years of construction. The […]
CSX’s former Clinchfield largely unrecognizable after historic flood
ERWIN, Tenn. — CSX Transportation’s ex-Clinchfield Railroad mainline has seen devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene’s once-in-a-generation flood. It is still too early to determine the full extent of damages, but photos along the famed Clinchfield route are revealing extensive damage exacerbated by the region’s remoteness. High waters are prohibiting emergency responders and railroad officials from […]
You can only predict for so much: Seminole Gulf reflects on Hurricane Ian two years later
FORT MYERS, Fla. — It has been two years since Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, but for rail shippers in far southwestern Florida, railcars only started moving again a few months ago. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, with a record-setting storm surge, unprecedented inland […]
Once-in-a-generation floods hit North Carolina mountain railroads (additional update)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Communities along the former Southern Railway and Clinchfield Railroad in western North Carolina have seen record-setting rainfalls in the days prior to Hurricane Helene. Now, tropical weather is pouring additional rainfall into the area, creating what local meteorologists are calling a once-in-a-generation storm. Places along NS’ former Southern S-Line on the French […]
Brian Barr named chief mechanical officer at Norfolk Southern
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern yesterday named Brian Barr as its chief mechanical officer. Barr joins Norfolk Southern from Union Pacific, where he held the positions of general manager Great Lakes Services and senior vice president transportation. Barr started his career as a craft dispatcher in 1998 working at Conrail and, later, CSX. During his 26-year […]
CSX to detour traffic over Norfolk Southern during Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore (updated)
WASHINGTON – CSX has reached a trackage rights agreement with Norfolk Southern that will allow its trains to detour over NS while the Howard Street Tunnel clearance project is under way in Baltimore. CSX had previously planned on operating through the 1.7-mile tunnel during short work windows, a complex process that would have required construction […]
Norfolk Southern offers alternative origins for West Coast intermodal ahead of coastal port strike
ATLANTA — With longshoremen and port operators still unable to come to terms for a new labor agreement at East Coast ports, Norfolk Southern is recommending alternative origins for West Coast-destined international intermodal that normally flows into the eastern seaboard. NS outlined its recommended service Thursday, making use of its inland intermodal terminals to originate […]