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ATLANTA — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today cleared their first merger hurdle as shareholders overwhelmingly backed their deal to create the first transcontinental railroad. In separate votes, nearly 99% of NS shareholders and 99.5% of UP shareholders approved UP’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of NS. “The approval of our shareholders marks a key milestone […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reached a tentative five-year agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for engineers on the former Soo Line in the United States. The agreement announced Thursday, Nov. 13, would cover approximately 300 engineers on the former Soo Line in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and […]
CHICAGO — Big railroad mergers have often been plagued by problematic computer cutovers that lead to service meltdowns, most recently this spring when CPKC extended its system to the legacy Kansas City Southern network in the U.S. Union Pacific pledges to avoid the same fate if its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic continued its downward trend during the week ending Nov. 8, 2025, with total volume down 4.9% compared to the same week a year ago. According to figures from the Association of American Railroads, the week’s traffic was 493,493 carloads and intermodal units. That includes 224,651 carloads, up 0.1% from […]
A Union Pacific intermodal train heads east through Lombard, Ill., on Oct. 11, 2025. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena this week responded to a BNSF claim that a UP-Norfolk Southern merger would lead to the elimination of 300 intermodal lanes. David Lassen A back-and-forth exchange this week between the CEOs of Union Pacific and BNSF […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has reached agreement on a five-year contract with members of the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen, the railroad announced today (Nov. 11, 2025). The agreement, covering nearly 970 members of the union, includes an 18.8% compounded wage increase over the life of the contract, along with accelerated vacation earning and improvements to […]
Trains Turntable: Commentary from Martin J. Oberman The proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger continues to dominate the news as well as conversation at all gatherings — formal and informal — in the railroad universe. Unfortunately, because of a few unrelated actions in the political world, along with repeated spin by self-interested parties, there is a […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has announced an agreement with the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers to ensure job security for members of the union if UP’s proposed merger with Norfolk Southern is approved. The agreement announced today (Nov. 10, 2025) commits that hundreds of NCFO members employed at the time of the merger […]
News & Products for the week of November 10th 2025 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 November 10th, […]
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — All railcars have been removed from the water and just one remains on the site as cleanup continues from the CPKC derailment on Nov. 1 that led to spill of aviation fuel on the shore of Kamloops Lake, raising concerns about some water systems supplied by the lake. In a Nov. […]
PUEBLO, Colo. — MxV Rail’s Security and Emergency Response Training Center has announced its lineup of 2026 specialist-level and advanced courses to train first responders in dealing with surface transportation hazards. SERTC offers resident courses of 40 to 80 hours at its Pueblo training center, featuring full-scale props and live drills; remote courses of four […]
DENVER – Shortline holding company OmniTRAX has named Nathan Brown its chief strategy officer. In this new role reporting directly to the CEO, Brown will lead development and execution of the enterprise-wide OmniTRAX corporate strategy and strategic planning process. “OmniTRAX has experienced an unparalleled growth rate of 50% in the past five years, and network […]
