Mystery gondola loads

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MGPX No. 201, part of the first batch of Magnetation iron ore cars built by FreightCar America, arrives in Superior, Wis., in June 2014. David C. Schauer Q I live along the BNSF Railway main line west of Chicago, and I have seen black gondola unit trains with MGPX reporting marks. Even from my second-story […]

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AAR: Oil, wood, grains, minerals, and metal ore carloads increase double-digits in 2019’s first week NEWSWIRE

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Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 5. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 436,103 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.8 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]

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Jim Vena: Union Pacific’s $9 billion-man NEWSWIRE

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Jim Vena, Union Pacific Chief Operating Officer Canadian National OMAHA, Neb. — Jim Vena is Union Pacific’s $9 billion man. No, that’s not how much Vena will earn as the railroad’s new chief operating officer. Under the terms of his contract, he’ll earn a base salary of $600,000 and will be eligible for an annual […]

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BNSF focuses on regulatory challenges with NRC presentation

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MARCO ISLAND, Florida – BNSF Railway’s capital plans for 2019 include a cluster of major bridge projects in Washington state, and pairs of bridges near Quenemo, Kan., and on the Hannibal subdivision in Missouri. Not included is a bridge over the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., and therein lies a tale that serves an an […]

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Norfolk Southern to prune intermodal service offerings NEWSWIRE

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NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern will drop intermodal service in more than two dozen lanes in February, March, and April as the railroad looks to simplify its fast-growing intermodal network. “In an effort to improve service on the overall Norfolk Southern intermodal network, we are making targeted changes to our service offerings,” the railroad said […]

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Animal-feed trains

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A Cargill unit feed train rolls through Shawnee, Kan., in June 2009. The train consists of covered bathtub gondolas pulled from coal service. Zach Pumphery Q While traveling near Atchison, Kan., I noticed a BNSF Railway train with covered bathtub coal gondolas. What were the covers for, and could they be removed should they be […]

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AAR: Crude oil carloads continue double-digit climb NEWSWIRE

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Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads on Wednesday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 8. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 570,225 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the […]

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