WASHINGTON — As part of their review of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, federal regulators will consider requests for conditions from Canadian National and Norfolk Southern. The Surface Transportation Board on July 1 said that it has accepted the so-called responsive applications from CN and NS. CN has asked the board to force CP […]
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Greenbrier-Gunderson Multi-Max Autorack Scale: N (1:160) Price: $46.99, single car; 6-11 cars, $44.99 each; or 12+ cars, $41.99 each Era: 2014 to present Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, scaletrains.com Greenbrier-Gunderson Multi-Max Autorack features: Multiple road numbers Four body types: early, intermediate, late, and current Factory-applied metal grab irons, coupler cut levers, and trainline hoses ASF low deck swing […]
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Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model, $149.98; with dual-mode ESU sound and Digital Command Control, $209.98. Era: 1984 to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218, walthers.com Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel locomotive features: Upgraded power trucks with HT-C sideframes See-through steps Detailed dynamic brake […]
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WASHINGTON — Three of the Federal Maritime Commission’s five members have urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, saying the deal would hurt U.S. ports. Canadian ports — particularly Vancouver and Prince Rupert in British Columbia — have been gaining market share for containerized traffic that’s ultimately bound […]
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WASHINGTON — A major grain shipper opposes Canadian National’s effort to force Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to divest the KCS line linking Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City. Earlier this year CN asked the Surface Transportation Board to condition approval of the CP-KCS merger on divestiture of KCS’s Springfield Line. CN promises to spend […]
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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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CHICAGO — Higher interest rates may not be significantly pulling back inflationary pressure thus far, but they are cooling down lumber prices, returning them to near pre-pandemic norms in an inadvertent sacrifice of Class I railroad carloads. According to rail carload data, so far this year the country’s seven Class I railroads have hauled approximately […]
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WASHINGTON – The impact of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on Metra commuter operations is even worse than initially thought, the Chicago area commuter railroad has told federal regulators. Changes to CP’s operations in the Chicago area as a result of the merger would cause up to a 1,200% increase in delays to commuter […]
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Overall on-time performance for the big four U.S. Class I railroads has fallen from a pre-pandemic average of 85% to just 67% in the last week of May 2022, as crew shortages continue to plague rail service. The extent of the service decline was revealed in historic on-time performance data that BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, […]
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U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., has urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, arguing that the first Class I combination in two decades would stifle competition. “The proposed merger represents a grave threat to competition in the domestic rail industry, which is already highly consolidated,” Porter wrote in […]
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Electro-Motive Division SD40 diesel locomotive Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current with 21-pin NEM connector, $169.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami 2 sound decoder, $269.99 Era: 1967 to 2007+ (varies depending on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822, 800-338-4639, athearn.com Electro-Motive Division SD40 diesel locomotive features: Directional light-emitting-diode headlights Rubber m.u. hoses Curved […]
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NEW YORK – CSX Transportation has lost traffic and failed to capitalize on strong freight demand due to service problems related to its ongoing train crew shortage, CEO Jim Foote says. “How much business are we missing? Lots. This is not minimal. This is not on the fringes. We’re not doing the job we should […]
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