C&IM caboose

20180628

One of the Chicago & Illinois Midland’s distinctive green-and-red cabooses trails 85 empty coal hoppers heading south at Atterbury, Ill., in May 1952. Edward Theisinger photo […]

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CSX grain train derails in Ohio

CSX logo

WEST MANSFIELD, Ohio — Twenty-eight cars of a CSX train carrying grain derailed Saturday afternoon (June 1), the Mercer County Outlook reports, leading to the closure of an adjacent county road. No injuries were reported in the derailment that occurred about 5:15 p.m. The Logan County Sheriff’s Office reported County Road 142 was closed Saturday […]

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TSB to investigate CN derailment in Alberta

Canadian National logo

HINTON, Alberta — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate a Canadian National Railway derailment that occurred today (Saturday, June 1) west of Edmonton, Global News reports. TSB spokesman Liam MacDonald said an estimated 20 cars were involved in the derailment that occurred about 5:30 a.m. in Hinton, 51 miles east of Jasper on […]

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Rail safety experts question conclusions of long-train derailment study

Derailed cars on curve leading onto bridge

Railroad safety experts are questioning the conclusions of a study released this week that found that a 200-car train is 24% more likely to derail than a 50-car train. The study, by researchers from Brigham Young University, Georgetown University, and Virginia Tech, analyzed Federal Railroad Administration rail equipment accident data from 2013 through 2022. The […]

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University of Illinois celebrates opening of National University Rail Center of Excellence

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign officially opened the National University Rail Center of Excellence with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday (May 29). The center is the first academic rail research and education center of excellence to be supported by the Federal Railroad Administration with the help of […]

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Record number of short lines earn Jake Safety Awards

Red and white locomotive brings freight cars over bridge

A record number of short lines qualified for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s Jake Safety Award this year, with 340 railroads earning the “with distinction” honor for having zero reportable injuries for 2023. Overall, 385 railroads qualified for the safety award program, the industry group said yesterday. Nineteen member railroads will be […]

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CN expands firefighting fleet with addition of two improved train sets

MONTREAL — Canadian National has beefed up its ability to battle wildfires with the addition of two new firefighting trains. The Trident and Neptune trains, unveiled yesterday, will join CN’s original firefighting train, Poseidon, in combating fires along the railway’s right of way, particularly in isolated areas. “Our priority is to maintain the integrity of […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic again shows small gain

Weekly table showing U.S. carload traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — Carload traffic remains down while intermodal volume is up, leading to an overall gain in U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 25, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. railroads reported total traffic of 485,232 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2% over the same week in 2023. That […]

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Norfolk Southern short line project leads to carload volume growth

Train with two black locomotives on spur

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and 40 of its shortline connections have produced outsized growth in carload traffic this year through a program that aims to improve interchange consistency and reliability. The Short Line Performance Project, which began as a pilot with a handful of railroads last July, has seen interchange volume grow 9% since March […]

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