Cumberland Yard improvements help CSX reduce train starts

Intermodal train emerging from tunnel

NEW YORK — CSX is moving more tonnage on fewer trains this year as part of a significant reduction in the number of road train crew starts. The 10% decline in coal volume this year has contributed to the reduction, Chief Financial Officer Sean Pelkey told an investor conference today. “But there’s a significant amount […]

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Troubled times

20200225

Rolling through Marengo, Iowa, in May 1979 was this Rock Island freight with GP38-2 No. 4305 leading. This Davenport–Des Moines section of the Omaha main was one of the road’s busiest, but this portion was still train order territory. The railroad’s precarious financial condition is reflected in the depot’s upkeep. R.B. Olson photo […]

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News & Products for the week of March 10th 2025

A blue and white model lcocomotive

News & Products for the week of March 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 March 10th, […]

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CSX Virginia terminal railroad antitrust complaints are a ‘ghost story,’ Norfolk Southern says

WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern has urged the Surface Transportation Board to continue a case of regulatory housekeeping involving control of Virginia terminal railroad Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line. Last month CSX told the STB that the Justice Department was probing its allegations about anticompetitive conduct involving NS and NPBL at a major Norfolk container terminal. […]

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East Troy Industrial Park, Ep. 4 | Installing the backdrop

To make their future construction efforts a bit easier, David and Bryson work to install the backdrop for the East Troy Industrial Park (ETIP) model railroad now! Don’t miss their tips and tricks for keeping this essential, scene-setting hardboard component in place along the back of the entire layout. Be sure to keep up with […]

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Derailed ethanol tank cars strike building in Worcester, Mass.

Logo of Genesee & Wyoming railroad Providence & Worcester

WORCESTER, Mass. — Two tank cars of ethanol struck a building after derailing Sunday, but neither car was breached and the structure did not appear to be damaged, according to a fire department official. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports a total of six cars of a Providence & Worcester train derailed, according to a […]

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BNSF train derails in Iowa (updated)

BNSF Railway logo

TEMPLETON, Iowa — Cleanup continues after a BNSF train derailed Thursday, March 6, in west-central Iowa, WOI and KCWI-TV report. The derailment occurred about 3:24 p.m. near Templeton. Video on the stations’ website shows heavy equipment working in deep snow around three locomotives; no information was available on the number of railcars involved, but BNSF […]

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Justice Department probing antitrust concerns involving Norfolk Southern and Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is investigating Norfolk Southern and Virginia terminal railroad Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line for alleged anticompetitive conduct against CSX at a major Norfolk container terminal. CSX, which says NPBL operates like an alter ego of NS, disclosed the investigation in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board last […]

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STB approves new operator for former Blackwell Northern route

Map of rail line between Wellington, Kan., and Blackwell, Okla.

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted Land Rush Rail Corp., part of Farmrail, permission to lease and operate 37.26 miles of track in Oklahoma and Kansas previously operated by the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad. The route, from Wellington, Kan., to Blackwell, Okla, is owned by the Blackwell Industrial Authority and the Oklahoma Department […]

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