New York village drops suit over NS crew-change facility

Norfolk Southern logo

VOORHEESVILLE, N.Y. — The village of Voorheesville has dropped the remainder of its lawsuit against Norfolk Southern after a court ruling in December that allowed the railroad to proceed with construction of a crew-change facility. The Altamont Enterprise reports the attorney for the village informed Judge Paul Evangelista in a Dec. 30 letter that Voorheesville […]

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Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern defend completeness of merger application

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today defended their merger application as complete. UP said the Surface Transportation Board should reject the efforts, primarily by “competitors who will experience increased competition as a result of the merger,” to delay and prolong the merger process. BNSF, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian National, and CSX all […]

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Eric Lalonde’s UP Geneva Subdivision in HO scale

Tour the HO scale Union Pacific Geneva Subdivision, Eric Lalonde’s impressive 17 x 25-foot multi-deck modern layout depicting the former Chicago & North Western line between West Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The triple-deck design features a 210-foot mainline connected by a custom 5 x 5-foot helix. The wall-mounted benchwork supports Atlas code 83 and 100 […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic shows small gain to conclude 2025

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

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail volume eked out a small gain over 2024 levels in the final full week of 2025, ending a nine-week string of declines compared to the prior year. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 392,295 carloads and intermodal units — well below the weekly […]

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Reading & Northern again hits 1-million ton mark in coal shipments (updated)

Close view of Reading & Northern hopper car

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern Railroad has shipped more than 1 million tons of anthracite coal for the third straight year, the company announced on Dec. 31. That figure came despite a downturn in export volume, the railroad said in a press release, thanks to the domestic market that mainly supports U.S. steel […]

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Classic Toy Trains new products for January 2026

dark blue model boxcar

Locomotives & rolling stock Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, offers an O gauge Gunderson 60’ Hy-Cube Boxcar as part of the Master series. The boxcar features several roadnames and O-54 operation. Expected delivery in third quarter of 2026. Price: $109.95. Website: shop.atlasrr.com MTH Electric Trains, 7393 Washington Blvd. Ste. […]

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Trains’ top stories of the year, 2018-2025

Black locomotive with train with yellow locomotives in background

As 2026 begins, and with Trains’ top railroading story of 2025 announced on the final day of the just-completed year, we today a look back at the top stories in our previous annual countdowns. This year’s pick, the planned Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, was a rare unanimous choice among our voters. And while it’s impossible to […]

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News photo: Last train on the Central New England Railroad

Green locomotive passes black locomotive at small railroad yard

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — After 30 years of operation on 14 miles of state-owned former New Haven Railroad track, Central New England Railroad operated its last train on the final day of 2025, as Genesee & Wyoming’s Connecticut Southern prepared to take over the line on Jan. 1, 2026. GP9 No. 3760 moved a single […]

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Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern outline yard and terminal expansion projects

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say their yard and terminal capacity expansion plans will help ensure that the combined railroad can handle an anticipated traffic surge within three years of their merger. The transcontinental combination, if approved, will lead to 11% volume growth compared to 2023, the railroads say in their merger […]

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Trains’ top stories of 2025: No. 1, the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger

Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern — an $85 billion deal that would create the first U.S. transcontinental system and potentially lead to additional consolidation among the Class I railroads — is Trains’ top story of 2025. The deal was hardly a surprise when it was announced on July 29. Rumors had been swirling […]

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Derailment to shut down Quebec, North Shore & Labrador for a week or more

TRN_QNSL_map

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has deployed investigators to the scene of a Dec. 28, 2025, derailment on the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway near Sept-Îles, Quebec, the board announced today (Dec. 30). The derailment has halted service on the QNS& which will be shut for seven to 10 […]

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Shelter-in-place order lifted after CSX derailment in Kentucky

Aerial view of train derailment

TRENTON, Ky. — A shelter-in-place order has been lifted following a CSX derailment today (Dec. 30, 2025) near the Kentucky-Tennessee state line that saw a leak of molten sulfur from one car. Thirty-one cars were involved in the derailment about today at about 6:15 a.m., according to CSX. Ash Groves, director of emergency management for […]

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