News Wire Top 10 Stories of 2021: The runners-up

Steam locomotive at speed with freight train while another train waits in the distance.

What has been railroading’s top story in 2021? Today, we begin the process of answering that question, as determined in balloting by the Trains editorial staff, Classic Trains editor Brian Schmidt (who spent most of the year on our staff), and key News Wire contributors. Balloting concluded on Dec. 10. We’ll be recapping stories each […]

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Carload, intermodal trends continue for U.S. railroads

Weekly table of U.S. rail traffic stats by category, plus intermodal figures

WASHINGTON — Carload traffic remains up while intermodal moves continue to lag behind 2020 levels in the latest weekly statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Dec. 18, 2021, U.S. railroads moved 234,704 carloads, an increase of 1.7% over the same week in 2020, while the 269,395 containers and trailers represented […]

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KCS train derails in Mississippi

Kansas City Southern logo

BOVINA, Miss. — Seventeen cars of a Kansas City Southern train derailed Tuesday evening in Bovina, disrupting traffic and leading to concerns about hazardous materials in some of the cars. The derailment blocked Bovina Drive, which could be impassable for an extended period, and knocked out a power line and transformer. No injuries were reported. […]

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CN operations in British Columbia near normal after flood disruptions

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National rail operations in British Columbia have nearly returned to normal after disruptions from Nov. 14 to Dec. 3 caused by flooding and washouts, the railroad reported on Tuesday, even as repairs continue around the clock. A 150-mile stretch on the railroad’s line between Vancouver and Kamloops, B.C., experienced 58 outages from […]

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Indiana Rail Road upgrades transload facility

Drone photo of centerbeam flatcar on siding near warehouse

ODON, Ind. — The Indiana Rail Road has completed an upgrade to its Odon Transload Facility, adding a 10-inch concrete floor, food-grade railcar dock, and two truck docks. The improvements support handling and storage of weather-sensitive products such as particleboard, oriented strand board, plywood, and Southern yellow pine lumber at the facility with 9,600 square […]

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Iowa interurban freight

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Locomotive 182 of the Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern leads a freight train across the Cedar River bridge south of Waterloo, Iowa, in the late 1940s or early ’50s. William D. Middleton photo […]

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STB approves Watco purchase of Wisconsin, Michigan lines from CN

Map of Watco linces purchased from CN

WASHINGTON — After a lengthy delay sparked by filings in opposition to the deal, the Surface Transportation Board has approved Watco’s purchase of about 650 miles of branch lines in Wisconsin and Michigan from Canadian National-owned Wisconsin Central. “After careful consideration of all comments received, the board finds that the issues raised do not demonstrate […]

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Chicago Great Western Railway freight trains

Red diesel locomotives lead freight train on straight track

Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Chicago Great Western Railway all through December 2021. Please enjoy this photo gallery selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Chicago Great Western was an agriculturally oriented Granger road linking Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, and St. Paul. Those cities, […]

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UP train derails in Missouri

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

NAPTON, Mo. — About 40 cars of a Union Pacific manifest train derailed Sunday at the grade crossing with County Road E in Napton, the railroad reports. The accident occurred about 4 a.m.; the train crew was not injured. The cars involved carried a mix of commodities, with at least one carrying wheat. UP crews […]

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