Union Pacific: Uncertainty clouds freight outlook for the year

Freight train with two yellow locomotives with small town in distance

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific expects muted traffic volume this year due to a combination of a slow economy, lower demand for coal, and the loss of an international intermodal contract to BNSF Railway. UP executives discussed their outlook for the year while releasing fourth-quarter financial results this morning. “The Union Pacific team is executing […]

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Downeaster’s Rockland branch experiment encounters equipment snag, Amtrak involvement delays (updated)

RDCs parked next to building

BRUNSWICK, Maine — A proposal to use a Rail Diesel Car to offer year-round connections on a former Maine Central branch line from Rockland, Maine to a rendezvous with Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority’s Amtrak-operated Downeaster at Brunswick, Maine, is being re-evaluated after the RDC suffered a debilitating breakdown last fall. Midcoast Railservice, the carrier with […]

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Southern Railway archives now available at Atlanta History Center

Two black-and-white magazine ads for Southern Railway

ATLANTA — The archives of the Southern Railway are now open to the public by appointment, the Atlanta History Center has announced, and a collection of more than 11,000 photos from the images are beginning to be made available online. The archives were donated by Norfolk Southern Railway in 2021 [see “Norfolk Southern to donate […]

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NJ Transit proposes 15% fare increases, sets hearings

NJTransit_PrincetonJct_Lassen

NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit is proposing fare increases of 15% for fiscal 2025 to address a projected $106.6 million budget deficit, the agency announced Wednesday, and will hold a series of 10 hearings on the proposal beginning March 4. The fare increase would take effect July 1, 2024. The proposal also includes annual 3% […]

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Short line to be launched at Port of West Virginia

Logo of short line Empire River Rail

FOLLANSBEE, W.Va — Empire Diversified Energy, a holding company involved in sustainable energy and logistics, will establish a short line railroad to serve the Port of West Virginia, the company announced Wednesday. Empire River Rail intends to be a clean-energy system and is part of the effort to make the port in Follansbee, on the […]

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Locomotive prime movers used today

Locomotive prime movers: A multicolored prime mover in a locomotive body in a cavernous shop without the locomotive's exterior body work or shell.

Locomotive prime movers are the engines inside all diesel-electric locomotives and are the heart of the entire locomotive. Prime movers provide enough power to pull both the locomotive and any freight cars attached to it, while also producing enough extra output to support the power needs of the various systems on the locomotive such as […]

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