Fiery CPKC train rolls through London, Ontario

Night fire scene along railroad tracks. Fiery CPKC train rolls through London, Ontario

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board is investigating a bizarre fire aboard a Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway freight train in a London, Ontario residential neighborhood around 10:49 p.m., April 21, according to reports from numerous news agencies and the London Fire Department. Witnesses reported seeing the CPKC train moving through the city as flames shot […]

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News & Products for the week of April 22nd 2024

A model tank car in a white paint scheme with black lettering

News & Products for the week of April 22nd 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 22nd […]

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Class I railroads tout their green cred in honor of Earth Day

CSX today announced the winners of its third annual CSX Customer Environmental Excellence Awards, which salute shippers who convert a portion of their freight from truck to rail. “Sustainability is a shared priority between CSX and our customers. Helping them reduce emissions by converting from trucks to rail is an important part of our strategy,” […]

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Norfolk Southern questions operational data behind activist investor plan

Norfolk Southern says that activist investor Ancora Holdings’ detailed plan for the railroad, released last week in a 193-page presentation, contains misleading operational data and vastly overstated cost-savings projections. Ancora says its proposed management team would reduce costs by $800 million through a full-blown implementation of the low-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model at NS. […]

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Atlas N scale Thrall covered hopper

Color photo of N scale covered hopper painted red and white.

Price: $24.95 (undecorated, $17.95) Manufacturer Atlas Model Railroad Co. 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 shop.atlasrr.com Road names: New paint schemes — Transportation Corp. of America; Burlington Northern (with FRA-224 stripes); CATX; David J. Joseph Transportation; Midwest Railcar; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; and Rail Logistics. New road numbers — Canadian National and Peavey. Three numbers […]

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CN’s Lalonde to become chief commercial officer as of April 24

MONTREAL —Remi G. Lalonde will become Canadian National’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer effective April 24, succeeding Doug MacDonald, who will retire after almost 35 years. Lalonde had joined CN in January, becoming executive vice president and special advisor to the CEO while transitioning to the role he’ll assume on the 24th. He previously […]

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Wabtec to work with Australia’s ARTC on interoperability

Map of Australia highlighting selected rail lines

PITTSBURGH — Wabtec will work with the Australian Rail Track Corp. to help develop interoperability of the country’s rail system, the two companies have announced. Wabtec will work to develop the interoperability standard between ARTC’s Advanced Train Management System and European Rail Traffic Management System 2, also used in Australia. “ARTC recognizes the complex challenge […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic remains above 2023 levels

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

WASHINGTON — Carloads remained down but intermodal traffic continued strong, allowing weekly U.S. rail volume to remain above 2023 levels for the 12th straight week, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending April 13, total U.S. traffic was 466,463 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 1.5% over the […]

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CSX earnings decline despite higher quarterly volume

Train on bridge along river

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX reported weaker first-quarter profits today as revenue fell despite higher freight volumes. “Working together, the ONE CSX team delivered a good start to the year that was in line with our expectations,” CEO Joe Hinrichs said in a statement. “We were pleased to see our consistent customer service performance lead to […]

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Regulators end probe of Union Pacific’s use of embargoes, but slam railroad’s ‘delay and obfuscation’

Local switches factory while locomotive moves commuter railcars on overpass

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today closed the book on its investigation of Union Pacific’s record use of congestion-related embargoes in 2022 – but not before scolding the railroad for failing to comply with board orders and requests for information. “UP’s conduct in this regard bordered on the contumacious and cannot be viewed as […]

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Great Railfan Roads | U.S. Route 30 in Nebraska

The Union Pacific main through Nebraska is one of the best train-watching spots in America, with a plethora of trains operating over double track and sometimes triple track mainline.  U.S. Route 30 closely parallels the railroad, making this stretch of the Union Pacific a great place to see trains.  Let’s follow the route from Cheyenne, […]

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