WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic showed a big gain in the first full week of 2026. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, weekly traffic for the period ending Jan. 10 was 510,457 carloads and intermodal units, a 9.7% gain over the same week in 2025. That included 232,803 carloads, up 16.7% compared […]
Athearn HO FMC 5283 double-door boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $29.99 Era: 1974+ to 2000s+ (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Athearn HO FMC 5283 double-door boxcar features: Body-mounted McHenry scale couplers Freestanding air reservoir, brake cylinder, and control valve Hydra-Cushion underframe with center sill, […]
Railroads proposing mergers inevitably make ambitious promises and projections, particularly about faster service and more competition. Not all of them become reality, despite the best intentions of railroaders who work at a feverish pace to develop the operating plans submitted to federal regulators. A case in point: CSX, as part of its 1999 acquisition of […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer still doesn’t see further rail industry consolidation as inevitable if a Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is approved. Just the fact that the topic keeps being discussed could be taken as an argument against the merger, Farmer said in a conversation with Trains prior to her appearance today […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The CEOs of Canadian Pacific Kansas City and BNSF Railway took aim at the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger during the first day of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers winter meeting — and urged the rail customers in attendance to voice any concerns they may have to federal regulators. CPKC CEO […]
BALTIMORE — Following the completion of a year-long cosmetic restoration, American Freedom Train locomotive No. 1 was unveiled to the public in a special ceremony at the B&O Railroad Museum on Jan. 12. The engine pulled the American Freedom Train in the Northeast during its 1975-76 tour commemorating the Declaration of Independence and celebrating the nation’s […]
AYER, Mass. — Norfolk Southern marked a milestone on Tuesday morning when its first New England double-stack train arrived in Ayer, Mass., behind its Conrail and Delaware & Hudson heritage units. With NS engineer Matt Bushart at the throttle and conductor Adam Feeley in the left-hand seat, Chicago-Ayer intermodal train 264 made its inaugural run […]
MIAMI — Nicolas Petrovic has been named CEO of Brightline Holdings’ Florida operation, effective today (Wednesday, Jan. 14). Petrovic was CEO of Eurostar from 2010 through 2018 after a four-year stint when he was responsible for all aspects of train operations, safety, and service delivery on the high-speed European network linking London, Paris, Brussels, and […]
ORANGE, Calif. — Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner will add a 13th daily Los Angeles-San Diego round trip on Jan. 26, restoring operation to pre-pandemic levels, the LOSSAN Corridor Agency announced today (Jan. 13, 2026). Added will be a 7:01 a.m. departure from San Diego, arriving at LA Union Station at 9:57 a.m., and a 7:10 p.m. […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two Alco FPA4 locomotives at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will be converted to electric power in a $3.5 million project announced Monday by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The partnership between the railroad and Ohio EPA will see the state agency provide $2.1 million in federal funding allocated to the state […]
GAVIOTA, Calif. — Train service has resumed on Union Pacific’s Coast Line north of Santa Barbara following a week-long closure because of a washout. Southbound Pacific Surfliner No. 774 left San Luis Obispo as scheduled at 6:11 a.m. local time today (Jan. 13), the first of two daily Surfliner round trips between San Luis Obispo and […]
SAN DIEGO — Two San Diego-area 18-year-olds have been arrested after allegedly “train surfing” on the top of a Coaster commuter train last week. KNSD-TV reports the San Diego Sheriff’s Office said on Monday, Jan. 12, that it had arrested Joseph Medina-Rivera of El Cajon and Brad Ellgen of Oceanside after numerous reports from the […]
