Union Pacific floats transcon merger trial balloons: Analysis

Union Pacific appears to be using a familiar playbook that large, publicly traded companies trot out when considering mergers and acquisitions: Send up trial balloons and see how they fly. These trial balloons let management gauge market reaction, political sentiment, and how the media might spin the story, all without committing to a deal. They […]

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Trailer On Train Express

Trailer On Train Express

Louisville & Nashville converted these 43-foot flatcars for trailer-on-flatcar service in 1955 by adding rub rails and jack connections. L&N marketed its service as “TOTE,” Trailer On Train Express.The trailers are an exterior-post, 32-foot type. Louisville & Nashville photo […]

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Walthers HO ACF 5250 review

Color photo of HO scale covered hopper painted gray with red and black graphics on white background

A newly tooled American Car & Foundry 5,250-cubic-foot capacity four-bay Center Flow covered hopper has joined the WalthersMainline product range. The injection-molded plastic HO scale model features prototype-specific hatches and outlet gates, 36″ metal wheels on plastic axles, and body-mounted Proto-Max couplers. Prototype history American Car & Foundry introduced the 5250 Center Flow in 1964. […]

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CPKC reports merger-related growth figures

Train with two CPKC locomotives crossing bridge

WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s merger-related traffic grew 18.8% during the six-month period covered in its latest report to federal regulators. The July 15 report, which is required as part of the STB’s ongoing monitoring of the merger, covers the period from Nov. 1, 2024, through April 30 and compares traffic levels to the […]

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Report: Investment firm advising Union Pacific on potential merger

Freight train with yellow locomotive

Union Pacific is working with Morgan Stanley investment bankers to provide guidance on the potential acquisition of another Class I railroad, the online publication Semafor reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. UP and Morgan Stanley declined to comment to the media outlet. CSX and Norfolk Southern stock prices surged on the news, […]

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Few rail projects included in latest BUILD grant awards

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday (July 15) announced some $488 million in grants under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD, grant program. While 77% of the funding is for road and bridge projects, two projects totaling $3.2 million are designated as rail projects and at least two others […]

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House committee questions Duffy over grant delays, USDOT policy: Analysis

Man in suit speaking from table

WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy faced bipartisan grilling Wednesday questioning the slow pace of his department’s release of funding for already-approved infrastructure grants, as well as the reduction of Department of Transportation personnel to approve them. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, “Oversight of the Department of Transportation’s Policies and Programs and […]

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NTSB issues preliminary report on rail death at Alabama steel plant

Aerial view of rail yard with overlaid graphics showing details of fatal accident

WASHINGTON — A Fairfield Southern Co. employee involved in remote-control switching died from injuries suffered when he struck a railcar on an adjacent track, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the June 16, 2025, accident issued today (July 16, 2025). During switching work at the U.S. Steel Flintridge Yard in […]

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