SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Notes from the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers’ Winter Meeting, which concluded today (Jan. 16, 2025): The Iowa Northern decision The MARS meeting opened the day after the Surface Transportation Board issued its long-awaited decision approving Canadian National’s purchase of Iowa Northern Railway, a deal effective Feb. 13 [see “STB greenlights Canadian […]
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SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Approaching the likely end of his tenure as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, Robert Primus made it clear: the hearing the board held last fall on growth in the rail industry did not ease his concerns about Class I efforts to increase volume. In a rare address today (Jan. 16, 2025) […]
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Normally the addition of a 3.5-mile stretch of second main line isn’t a cause for celebration. But when those 3.5 miles happen to be the final section of regular double track added to BNSF Railway’s 2,200-mile Southern Transcon, well, then it’s a major milestone. BNSF cut over the new trackage between Rose Hill and Mulvane, […]
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The Lionel 2025 Volume 1 catalog was recently published on the manufacturer’s website. Highlights include Lionel Lines Vision Hudson prewar sets, Vision Commodore Vanderbilt locomotives, a 20th Century Limited set, a 125th anniversary Lighted Station Platform, an expanded “battery O” line, exclusive anniversary products, and much more. View the catalog at lionel.com. […]
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The Atlas Winter 2025 catalog was recently published on the manufacturer’s website. Highlights include a U30C diesel locomotive, a hot metal car, new GP40 paint schemes, new paint schemes for their 40-foot tank car, an upgraded Dash 8-40CW with Proto-Sound 3.0, and much more. View the catalog at shop.atlasrr.com Read more news in our news […]
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CALGARY — Members of Canadian union Unifor have voted to authorize a strike against Canadian Pacific Kansas City if the railroad and union do not reach a new deal by Jan. 29, 2025. The union said the vote was 99% in favor of authorization by members of Local 101R, which represents more than 1,200 CPKC […]
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SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The question of the day, on the first day of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting, is probably one being asked in one form or another at every business in the United States — or that does business with the U.S. What about tariffs? The consensus during today’s first day […]
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WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board today issued a decision partially granting complaints filed by the North America Freight Car Association and several other associations and individual shippers regarding Union Pacific’s charges for the movement of empty, privately owned tank cars to repair facilities. The decision clarifies UP’s obligations regarding charges moving forward and directs […]
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SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The power of data, or more accurately, of well-used data, may not have explicitly been the topic of BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer’s presentation at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers’ Winter Meeting. But it was a recurring theme with several subjects she touched on as part of her morning keynote address […]
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WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has approved Canadian National’s acquisition of 218-mile regional Iowa Northern Railway. The board’s decision today (Jan. 15, 2025) also imposed several conditions to offset potential anticompetitive aspects of the $230 million deal. Among them: The development of a scheduled local service plan, keeping gateways open on commercially reasonable terms, […]
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BARSTOW, Calif. — The federal Bureau of Land Management has approved sale of almost 30 acres of public land to BNSF Railway for its planned Barstow International Gateway intermodal and logistics facility. The Victorville Daily Press reports the land, valued at $98,000, was ruled to be suitable for private sale. The propery is isolated, surrounded […]
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The first word in the Association of American Railroad’s annual Rail Industry Outlook is “uncertainty,” as a slew of economic and policy issues weigh on the business in 2025. To further temper optimism, the report says that uncertainty is more pronounced amid cyclical factors and expectations for policy changes in the year ahead. “Potential shifts […]
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