Union Pacific drops Canadian Pacific from EMP intermodal program

Yellow locomotives moving double-stack cars with container crains in background

Union Pacific is booting Canadian Pacific out of the EMP domestic container pool. EMP, which rosters a 44,000-unit fleet of green 53-foot containers, is an interline intermodal partnership between UP and Norfolk Southern. CP, Canadian National, Kansas City Southern, and Florida East Coast also participate in EMP, which allows intermodal marketing companies to book loads […]

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Details emerge of 20-hour meeting that produced labor deal

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — Details of the negotiations that led to a tentative agreement between railroads and unions began emerging Thursday night, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh saying he kept the two sides in his office for more than five hours at the end of 20 straight hours of talks. “The unions were very persistent on what […]

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Machinists reject tentative contract deal and authorize a strike

WASHINGTON – Members of the union representing machinists have rejected the tentative agreement that union leaders had reached with the Class I railroads and have voted to authorize a strike. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 19 said today that its 4,900 members had voted to reject the deal that had […]

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Three great paint schemes on Class Ones today

orange and gray painted locomotive

Three great paint schemes A paint scheme on a locomotive is the visual face of a railroad. It’s what the public sees, and field employees work on and around daily. Some schemes may appeal to some but not others. I’ll run down what I find appealing trackside within the Class I rosters today and explain […]

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Residents speak out against CP-KCS merger at Iowa meeting

Freight train with red locomotives on tracks near river

DAVENPORT, Iowa — The second in a series of comment sessions on the draft environmental report for the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger was held Tuesday evening in Davenport, with Iowa residents questioning whether the report from the Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Assessment accurately reflected the impact on their communities. The Quad […]

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Shippers ratchet up warnings about impact of potential rail strike

Man throwing switch as train with blue and yellow locomotive waits

WASHINGTON – The National Industrial Transportation League, the largest and oldest group of rail shippers, has asked congressional leaders to prevent a railroad strike or lockout that could begin as early as 12:01 a.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, the Class I railroads today reached a tentative agreement with the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU, […]

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KCS, CP launch ‘Monarch Express’ campaign in Ontario

Dark green boxcar with picture of butterfly near one end

WINDSOR, Ontario – Hundreds gathered here in a festive atmosphere for the ceremonial start of the Monarch Express, a joint initiative by Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific to help save the Monarch butterfly. A gleaming new dark green boxcar, with a colorful Monarch painted on one side and the slogan “Save the Monarch, Join […]

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