For Norfolk Southern, 2024 was the second turbulent year in a row that the railroad probably would like to forget. As the year began, NS executives held private meetings with a Cleveland-based activist investor that sought seats on the company’s board and wanted the railroad to improve its lagging financial performance in the wake of […]
CUBA, N.D. — No injuries were reported when 17 cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed Monday (Dec. 30, 2024) near the town of Cuba. The derailment occurred just before noon. Barnes County Emergency Manager Jessica Jenrich told KFGO Radio that the cars involved were either empty or carrying sand. Cuba is about […]
News & Products for the week of December 30th 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 December 30th […]
For the second straight year, federal infrastructure spending lands on our review of the year’s top stories (last year, it was tied for No. 6). Some of the dollars awarded in 2023 are part of the 2024 story, as big-ticket projects began moving forward after long waits for financial support, with impacts that will […]
CHANNAHON, Ill. — Canadian National has scheduled an open house for Jan. 14 at Minooka High School South Campus in Channahon to discuss its proposed Chicago Logistics Hub intermodal facility, an approximately 900-acre facility in Channahon and unincorporated land adjacent to Minooka. CN describes the event, from 4-7 p.m. as an open forum, with no […]
THOMPSONVILLE, Ill. — Nineteen cars of a Canadian National coal train derailed Friday near Thompsonville in Southern Illinois, WPSD-TV reports. No injuries were reported. Brian Burgess, director of the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency, told the station that the derailment occurred in a remote area of the county. “It’s just a slip off the track […]
WASHINGTON – Union Pacific has resolved the broader service problems that prompted Amtrak’s complaint about the tardy performance of the Sunset Limited in the 12 months ending on Sept. 30, 2022, the freight railroad told federal regulators this week. UP, which hosts the Sunset Limited for 1,770 miles of its 1,994-mile route between New Orleans […]
WASHINGTON — Class I railroads this week disagreed with Amtrak’s contention that its passenger trains should enjoy absolute and unlimited priority over freight trains. Amtrak, as part of its complaint over Union Pacific’s handling of the Sunset Limited, told the Surface Transportation Board earlier this year that every individual dispatching decision must result in the […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic remains ahead of 2023 levels for the week ending Dec. 21, 2024. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, overall traffic for the week was 523,912 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.8% from the same week a year ago. That includes 230,857 carloads, up 0.3%, and 293,055 […]
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma state legislator has announced plans for a bill to limit train lengths within the state. State Rep. Ty Burns (R-Pawnee) says the legislation, to be introduced at the start of the upcoming legislative session in February, will seek to cap train length at 8,500 feet, KOKI-TV reports. “The infrastructure that […]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Railroads on the Gulf Coast and in the East are familiar with hurricane preparedness and plan accordingly for wind, storm surge, and flooding. But they cannot prepare for a hurricane causing an unprecedented, once-in-a-thousand-years event. That’s what happened about 24 hours after Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 2024, as a […]
ATLANTA, Ga. — Norfolk Southern has supported more than 5,500 first responders with specialized training and resources this year through its Operation & Awareness Response (OAR) program, which included hands-on events across 20 cities with the railroad’s Safety Train. The OAR program is designed to educate and train first responders on responding to rail-related incidents. […]
