CSX adds more union agreements

Intermodal train navigating switches

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation announced late today (Friday, Aug. 23) it had reached tentative agreements on new contracts with seven additional unions, after agreeing to pacts with five unions the previous two days. The new contracts shortly after Norfolk Southern and BNSF said they had negotiated similar early contracts with a number of their […]

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NS, BNSF announce tentative pacts with unions

A black locomotive under a silver signal bridge

Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway said late today (Friday, Aug. 23) they had, in partnership, reached tentative, five-year collective bargaining agreements with a number of their unions. The pacts come four months before the opening of the next round of bargaining and cover approximately 30% of NS’s unionized workforce and 15% of BNSF workers. They […]

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Teamsters Canada issues 72-hour strike notice against CN; lengthy hearing concludes with no action (latest update)

CN intermodal train stopped in mountain setting

The labor situation involving Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference remains both active and muddy. Earlier today (Friday, Aug. 23), the TCRC served Canadian National with a 72-hour strike notice, announcing its intent to launch a strike against the railroad at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 26. […]

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Rail travel photography yesterday and today

A woman uses a photo to take a photograph from a train window

Rail travel photography Over the course of my half-century of railroad photography I’ve seen technology completely change the ways we make photographs. Even so, when it comes to rail travel photography your eye for images will pay dividends far greater than that provided by the latest and greatest camera. In 1984, two months after graduating […]

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Stewartstown Railroad to celebrate 140th anniversary

STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. — A rural, farm-to-market short line that struggled to survive through floods and legal challenges is getting ready to celebrate its 140th anniversary. Chartered in September 1884 and opened a year later, the 7.4-mile-long Stewartstown Railroad tourist carrier in south-central Pennsylvania is marking one of the longest-lived U.S. rail operations under its original […]

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Lockouts begin on CN, CPKC

Red locomotives of CN and CP in yard

Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are now shut down in Canada after locking out Teamsters Canada Rail Conference operating crews beginning at 12:01 a.m. today (Aug. 22) — the first time both railroads have been hit by a work stoppage at the same time. A lockout of CPKC rail traffic controllers began […]

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A locomotive on fire

man on locomotive that started on fire

A locomotive on fire Since railroading’s very inception, fire has been one of the most frightening things that can occur, and it can happen on any unit from any manufacturer at any time, usually without warning. And thinking about it, why not? You have a constantly vibrating platform with multiple moving parts surrounded by myriad […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic jumps

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

WASHINGTON — Perhaps reflecting the prospects of a Canadian labor stoppage, weekly U.S. rail traffic experienced a significant boost in the seven days ending Aug. 17, 2024. U.S. volume for the week, as reported by the Association of American Railroads, included 516,819 carloads and intermodal units, an 8% gain over the same week in 2023. […]

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