Record number of short lines earn Jake Safety Awards

Red and white locomotive brings freight cars over bridge

A record number of short lines qualified for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s Jake Safety Award this year, with 340 railroads earning the “with distinction” honor for having zero reportable injuries for 2023. Overall, 385 railroads qualified for the safety award program, the industry group said yesterday. Nineteen member railroads will be […]

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CN expands firefighting fleet with addition of two improved train sets

MONTREAL — Canadian National has beefed up its ability to battle wildfires with the addition of two new firefighting trains. The Trident and Neptune trains, unveiled yesterday, will join CN’s original firefighting train, Poseidon, in combating fires along the railway’s right of way, particularly in isolated areas. “Our priority is to maintain the integrity of […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic again shows small gain

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

WASHINGTON — Carload traffic remains down while intermodal volume is up, leading to an overall gain in U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 25, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. railroads reported total traffic of 485,232 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.2% over the same week in 2023. That […]

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Norfolk Southern short line project leads to carload volume growth

Train with two black locomotives on spur

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and 40 of its shortline connections have produced outsized growth in carload traffic this year through a program that aims to improve interchange consistency and reliability. The Short Line Performance Project, which began as a pilot with a handful of railroads last July, has seen interchange volume grow 9% since March […]

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Study: Derailment risk rises with the number of cars in a freight train

The risk of derailment increases with freight train length, according to an academic study published today, which found that a 200-car train is 24% more likely to derail than a 50-car train. The study — by researchers from Brigham Young University, Georgetown University, and Virginia Tech — analyzed Federal Railroad Administration rail equipment accident data […]

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News & Products for the week of May 27th 2024

A model passenger car in a yellow and gray paint scheme

News & Products for the week of May 27th 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 May 27th […]

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Mongeau to chair Norfolk Southern’s board of directors

MongeauClaude

ATLANTA – Former Canadian National CEO Claude Mongeau has been appointed chair of Norfolk Southern’s board of directors, the railroad announced today. The board unanimously chose Mongeau to lead the board, which has five new members — including three who were nominated by activist investor Ancora Holdings as part of its proxy battle with the […]

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Jack Routledge’s HO scale Alberta Pacific Ry.

Color image of a steam locomotive and tank cars in a town scene.

As part of our 90th anniversary celebration, we’re featuring never-before-published articles from our archives on Trains.com. This story is from 1994. Products mentioned in the article may no longer be available. I’ve had an active interest in model railroading for more than 45 years. My ultimate goal was to build a layout of my own […]

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Bridge issue leads to CSX derailment in Tennessee

CSX logo

LaFOLLETTE, Tenn. — Cleanup continues after about 15 cars of a CSX Transportation freight train derailed Saturday after part of a bridge gave way, according to the city’s police chief. WATE-TV reports that LaFollette Police Chief Steve Wallen said the metal frame supporting the bridge had broken, leading to a derailment that destroyed about a […]

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