Norfolk Southern touts service improvements as volume, revenue, and profits fall NEWSWIRE

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NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern’s profits and revenue fell in the fourth quarter amid broad traffic declines led by a 21% drop in coal volume, the railroad reported today. For the quarter, the railroad’s operating income declined 11%, to $962 million, as revenue fell 7%, to $2.9 billion. Earnings per share slumped 1%, to $2.55. […]

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Union Pacific to resume interline service in some domestic intermodal lanes NEWSWIRE

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OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific next month will resume intermodal service in nearly 60 interline lanes it dropped last year under its shift to a Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model and its emphasis on a simplified network. Since late 2018 UP has scrapped service between hundreds of intermodal points it jointly served with CSX Transportation […]

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AAR: All train traffic declined 8% for the week of Jan. 18 NEWSWIRE

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Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 18, 2020, this week. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 499,732 carloads and intermodal units, down 8% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 18 […]

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Union Pacific idles Fort Worth yard hump; railroad executives say more changes are likely NEWSWIRE

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Union Pacific’s yard hump at Davidson Yard in Fort Worth, Texas. Lance Lassen OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific confirmed today that it has shut down the hump at Davidson Yard in Fort Worth, Texas, and said more yard changes are likely as the railroad continues to reduce car handlings across its system. UP has shifted some […]

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Union Pacific profits sag under the weight of broad quarterly traffic declines NEWSWIRE

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OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific on Thursday reported lower revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter as traffic declined 11%, led by steep drops in coal and intermodal volume. For the quarter, operating income fell 5%, to $2.1 billion, as revenue decreased 9%, to $5.2 billion. Earnings per share slumped 5%, to $2.02, missing Wall […]

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Kansas City Southern Railroad official says a version of automated railroading is on its way to North America NEWSWIRE

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The potential arrival of autonomous trucks will not wipe out the railroad industry, Kansas City Southern’s chief innovation officer says. “You have to assume railroads are not going to sit still,” KCS Executive Vice President Brian Hancock told an investor conference earlier this month. The path to automation is far easier for railroads than trucks, […]

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Dependability and transparency keys to merchandise traffic growth, CSX says NEWSWIRE

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s merchandise network will gradually regain market share from trucks as shippers begin to trust the railroad’s increasingly reliable service, CEO Jim Foote says. CSX has lost nearly a quarter of its merchandise traffic over the past two decades but has seen its carload traffic hold steady over the past three […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 49

David stands at a counter in the Model Railroader workshop and introduces a video.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Host David Popp is back for more Q&A in 2020. In this episode of Ask MRVP, he addresses model railroading topics ranging from trackwork to painting to freight/passenger car modeling to prototype railroading practices …and so much more! […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 49

David stands at a counter in the Model Railroader workshop and introduces a video.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Host David Popp is back for more Q&A in 2020. In this episode of Ask MRVP, he addresses model railroading topics ranging from trackwork to painting to freight/passenger car modeling to prototype railroading practices …and so much more! […]

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CSX Transportation reports lower quarterly profit and revenue NEWSWIRE

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Mark Wallace, CSX executive vice president of sales and marketing TRAINS: David Lassen JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation’s fourth quarter profits fell amid a decline in traffic and revenue, but the railroad set a new operating ratio record. For the fourth quarter, CSX’s operating income fell 8%, to $1.1 billion, on revenue of $2.9 billion, […]

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Kansas City Southern earnings improve thanks to PSR implementation NEWSWIRE

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Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern CEO TRAINS: David Lassen KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern reported improved earnings for the fourth quarter as revenue grew despite a slight decline in traffic volume. Much of the financial improvement was due to the railroad’s shift to an operating plan based on Precision Scheduled Railroading, which […]

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Forecasters don’t see rail volumes improving this year NEWSWIRE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Rail traffic is expected to remain in the doldrums for at least the first half of this year as manufacturing slows, retail inventories remain high, and there are plenty of trucks competing for freight. That’s the outlook of the forecasters at FTR Transportation Intelligence, which last week held a State of Freight […]

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