Posner, Iowa Interstate honored at short line conference

Three people outside private car

DENVER — The Hall of Fame induction of Iowa Interstate Railroad Chairman Henry Posner III highlighted the railroad’s week at the recent American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association conference in Denver, which also saw Iowa Interstate recognized with two major awards. Posner was inducted into the Short Line Railroad Industry Hall of Fame, along […]

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Autonomous intermodal cars to begin testing this month

LOS ANGELES — Parallel Systems, the company developing battery-electric railcars that operate autonomously, will launch testing this month on two Georgia railroads, Parallel said on Monday (April 14, 2025). The company also announced it had raised an additional $38 million in funding, bringing its total to date to about $100 million. “Federal Railroad Administration approval […]

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Could short lines come to the rescue of Class I railroads?

Louisiana shortline’s first train sits on tracks on startup day.

DENVER — There’s a pachyderm of a quandary haunting the executive conference rooms of Class I railroads, and short lines may be the solution. Carload volumes have been falling since 2008-2009, almost a generation’s worth of declines that began with the global financial crisis and accelerated during the fall of coal and the hollowing out […]

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Reading & Northern No. 2102 set for September excursion

Steam locomotive blowing out steam

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern T-1 4-8-4 No. 2102 will power a Sept. 13, 2025, steam excursion through Lehigh Gorge sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mountain Top, the railroad has announced. Tickets for the excursion from the R&N’s Penobscot (Mountain Top) station to Jim Thorpe, Pa., and return will go on sale […]

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Sierra Northern holds first test for hydrogen-fuel switcher (with video)

Blue, green, and yellow locomotive moving two freight cars

DENVER — Sierra Northern Railway conducted a successful initial test of its first hydrogen locomotive, a four-axle switcher, in late March, the company announced today (April 8) at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association conference. The initial testing took place March 27 in West Sacramento, Calif. “This accomplishment marks another major milestone in […]

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Union Pacific CEO ‘very comfortable’ working through tariffs

Man in suit gesturing while speaking on stage

DENVER — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena says his company will work through tariff shocks gripping the economy the same way it worked through the pandemic. “I can’t control what governments do,” Vena said Monday (April 7) as keynote speaker at the annual conference of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. “It’s noisy, […]

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