How Wall Street holds railroads hostage: Analysis

Man climbing on front steps of orange locomotive

The U.S. Class I railroads’ recurring crew shortages, related bouts of service problems, and a lack of meaningful volume growth are intertwined. You can lay the blame for all three problems at just one place: Wall Street. BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are in the midst of the mother of all […]

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Canadian National says operations are normal despite strike

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National says it has “met or exceeded” the demands of striking Canadian signal and communications workers in negotiations, while the chief negotiator for those workers said that claim was technically correct but misleading. Some 750 workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers walked out across Canada on Saturday. The railroad […]

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Signal, communications workers begin strike against CN in Canada

Logo of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which includes lighting bolts held by a fist

MONTREAL — Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have gone on strike against Canadian National Railway in Canada. The 750 signal and communications workers walked out as of 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, a union official confirmed to the CBC. The union had previously given the railroad a 72-hour notification of its […]

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UP coal train derails in Kansas

Aerial view of derailed hoppers and spilled coal

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Cleanup continued through the weekend after more than two dozen cars of a Union Pacific coal train derailed Friday near Lawrence. Initial reports indicated more than 20 cars were involved in the derailment that occurred shortly after 5 p.m., but drone video of the accident from the Lawrence Police Department indicates the […]

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Coal train derails on CN line in British Columbia

Canadian National logo

LYTTON, British Columbia — An estimated 15 cars of a coal train derailed Saturday afternoon on Canadian National tracks near Lytton, the website Castanet reports. No injuries were reported; a minor fire was extinguished. The accident occurred about 10 miles east of Lytton along the Thompson River. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific lines in this […]

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Officials celebrate completion of CREATE Argo Connection project

Six people with red, white, and blue locomotive in background

SUMMIT, Ill. — Some projects in Chicago’s CREATE program, which seeks to address rail congestion, bring dramatic changes to the landscape. The Englewood Flyover, the lengthy bridge which raised Metra’s Rock Island District above the Norfolk Southern main line on the city’s South Side, is the classic example. For others, the impact is far more […]

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Atlas O High Cube boxcars

Atlas O High Cube boxcar at a loading dock

This review of Atlas O High Cube boxcars is by Chris Montagna of the Chris’s Trains and Things channel on YouTube. I have two highly anticipated pieces of rolling stock from Atlas O: the Gunderson 50-foot High Cube Boxcars. Atlas announced these cars in its June 2021 catalog. Trains.com members can see a video review […]

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Atlas O Gunderson High Cube boxcars

Atlas O Gunderson High Cube boxcars

Atlas O Gunderson High-Cube boxcars hit the spot for modern modelers. These 50-footers are a staple of modern railroading. Chris Montagna of the YouTube channel Chris’s Trains and Things has a review of this highly anticipated piece of rolling stock from Atlas O. The manufacturer announced these in its June 2021 catalog. They are Premier […]

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Norfolk Southern to serve new Georgia industrial ‘megasite’

Map with notations on transportation, utilities, other features

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern will serve a new 1,100-acre economic “megasite” for manufacturing announced Thursday by the state of Georgia and the Development Authority of Peach County. The Middle Georgia Megasite, located near the city of Fort Valley and close to the geographic center of the state, is less than 5 hours by train from […]

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