Norfolk Southern to increase pay for conductor trainees

Man in orange vest climbing onto black locomotive

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern is increasing conductor trainee pay to $25 per hour, with a minimum of $200 in earnings per shift, the railroad has announced. Trainees will also be eligible for an on-the-job training incentive of $300 per biweekly pay period, provided they make themselves available to work. “We are committed to ensuring our […]

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UP releases schedule for Big Boy trip

BigBoy_Speer_Wrinn

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has released details of its excursion later this month with Big Boy No. 4014. In a message to members of its Steam Club, the Railroad says the 4-8-8-4 will depart Cheyenne for Denver on Thursday, July 28, at 10 a.m., with an intermediate stop in Greeley, Colo. The locomotive will […]

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Operator CIMC 40-foot tarp top intermodal containers from ScaleTrains

orange intermodal container

Operator CIMC 40-foot tarp top containers Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Single container, $10.49 Era: Late 1990s to present Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, 7598 Highway 411, Benton, TN 37307; 844-987-2467; scaletrains.com Operator CIMC 40-foot tarp top containers features: Simulated canvas tarp top 40-foot standard-height (8’-6” tall) container Eight squared vertical nose corrugations 42 angled side wall corrugations Cored-through […]

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MBTA Orange Line train catches fire on bridge

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — An MBTA Orange Line rapid-transit train caught fire on a bridge Thursday morning, reportedly leading passengers to kick out windows to escape and one person to jump into the river below. WCVB-TV reports the incident happened prior to 7 a.m. on a bridge over the Mystic River in Somerville. Images show fire […]

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CSX earnings improve despite crew shortages, operational challenges

Intermodal train with blue and yellow locomotives

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s second-quarter earnings improved despite ongoing crew shortages that have snarled operations and forced the railroad to turn away traffic. At the current pace of hiring and training new conductors, CSX expects to hit the magic number of 7,000 active train and engine crews by the end of September, which will […]

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Metra surveys riders to shape schedule changes

Commuter train passes interlocking tower in golden afternoon light

CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra is giving its passengers a chance to shape its schedules. The agency is asking passengers on all 11 of its rail lines to take a brief survey that will be used in developing future schedule changes and upgrades. It asks about riding habits including points of origin and destination, […]

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Rail traffic remains below 2021 levels

Weekly table shoing U.S. carload traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal statistics

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic remains sluggish, with carloads and intermodal traffic below 2021 levels by weekly and year-to-date measures. For the week ending July 16, statistics from the Association of American Railroads show overall traffic at 498,899 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.8 decrease from the corresponding week in 2021. The total includes 229,809 […]

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