UP coal traffic has hit bottom, CEO says NEWSWIRE

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A Union Pacific coal train heads east through Glen Ellyn, Ill., on Feb. 23, 2020. The railroad’s coal traffic has hit bottom as low natural gas prices lead to shutdowns of coal-fired power plans, according to CEO Lance Fritz. TRAINS: David Lassen MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Union Pacific’s coal traffic — which is down 30% […]

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News Wire Digest second section for Tuesday, Feb. 25 NEWSWIRE

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Amtrak and real-estate firm Related Companies will pursue funds from the Department of Transportation for the next phase in the development of Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. TRAINS: David Lassen More Tuesday morning rail news: — Related Companies, the real estate firm which led the building of the first part of Manhattan’s Hudson Yards development, has signed […]

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Super C celebration

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Santa Fe’s high-priority Super C freight between Chicago and Los Angeles debuted with much fanfare in 1968. High rates, charged to placate other Santa Fe customers, limited traffic, however. Santa Fe photo […]

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Swift service

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Swift & Co. had a large soybean processing plant on the Nickel Plate Road at Frankfort, Ind. In this 1946 view, beans arrived by boxcar, with outbound soy meal loaded in sacks in boxcars (the boxcar in the background) and soybean oil loaded in tank cars. Nickel Plate Road photo […]

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Two cars to Tidewater

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Eastern Gas & Fuel’s modern Wharton No. 2 mine southwest of Barrett, W.Va., will load 105 hoppers, including subject C&O 134594 and 47859, with coal on June 2, 1955. Trains’ Editor David P. Morgan tracked the cars from mine to ship in the April 1956 issue. W.A. Akin Jr. photo […]

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Main Street of the Northwest

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Mountains and rivers defined the scenic attraction of the Northern Pacific. Here, an A-B-B-A set of F units leads a six-locomotive consist on a freight following the Yakima River near Ellensburg, Wash., in 1964. Tom Gildersleeve photo […]

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Muscatine memory

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Culver Tower in Muscatine, Iowa, guarded the junction of Milwaukee Road and Rock Island main lines on the southwest side of town. From there trains operated on joint Milwaukee-Rock Island trackage to the Quad Cities. The tower, shown in 1950, closed in November 1977. Robert Lawler photo […]

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New Haven novelty

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The New Haven was a pioneer in hauling common-carrier trailers. Here, a solid cut of piggyback cars passes Cos Cob, Conn., en route from Boston to New York City in the late 1950s. Jim Shaughnessy photo […]

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BN’s big muscle

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Four Burlington Northern SD45s, led by No. 6536, power a westbound freight through the shadows of grain elevators at Des Lacs, N.Dak., in November 1973. The railroad rostered 222 such locomotives inherited from Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and St. Louis-San Francisco. John M. Robinson Jr. photo […]

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Gravity assisted railroading

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A Chesapeake & Ohio Mallet starts downgrade for Barrett, W.Va., with loads from Eastern Gas & Fuel’s Wharton No. 2 mine in June 1955. Trains’ Editor David P. Morgan tracked two cars from mine to Tidewater in the April 1956 issue. W.A. Akin Jr. photo […]

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