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Why merge — and why merge now? Those were leadoff questions last week at a virtual salon where four industry veterans dissected the forces behind Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern, the untested regulatory road ahead, and the potential ripple effects for shippers, communities, and competitors. Rick Paterson, an analyst with Loop Capital Markets, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has completed a pair of capacity projects in Texas and Arizona. On the Fort Worth Subdivision, the railroad has wrapped up a multiyear project that added eight miles of second main line between Lake Wanda and Bredenberg, just north of downtown Fort Worth. “Located between our Alliance facilities and […]
Trains magazine editor David P. Morgan pauses on a station platform at Joliet, Ill., to watch trains – in this case a Santa Fe streamliner behind EMD F7 diesels. Photo by Classic Trains collection […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has proposed building a new five-mile branch line to reach a petrochemical plant in Bay City, Texas, that is currently served only by rival BNSF Railway. UP, in a Sept. 24 filing, asked the Surface Transportation Board to exempt the project from regulatory review, as is common for relatively small projects. […]
Rapido N Santa Fe mechanical refrigerator cars Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car, $41.95; four-pack, $167.80 Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St., Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Features on Rapido N Santa Fe mechanical refrigerator cars: Detailed cushion draft gear Detailed underframe including piping and equipment Etched-metal running boards See-through side grills Separate, factory-applied door […]
Trains Turntable: Commentary from Matthew K. Rose Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads have proposed a merger — what could possibly be wrong with a transcontinental railroad? First, there exists no financial crisis in the rail industry, like that which drove the significant consolidation in the freight rail industry over the last 30 years. The […]
ScaleTrains HO Trinity 7500 high-cube boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $54.99 Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, 4901 Old Tasso Road NE Cleveland, TN 37312; 844-987-2467; scaletrains.com ScaleTrains Trinity 7500 high-cube boxcar features: 36” machined metal wheels with .110” wheel tread ASF Motion Control 110-ton trucks with raised foundry data; rotating Timken three-sided bearing caps (blue or black as […]
GRANTSVILLE, Utah — Savage Tooele Railroad held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to celebrate the opening of the 11-mile short line, which revived a dormant Western Pacific branch line southwest of Salt Lake City. “This new railroad is a major step forward for Utah’s economy,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement. “The Savage Tooele […]
Built in 1910 by Baldwin, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe No. 1485 is one of 23 similar locomotives that operated into the 1950s. The railroad had 171 such locomotives built by Baldwin, and one built by the railroad itself. Photo by Harry Hall […]
In August 2025, my wife and I planned a trip to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and friends. While we frequently travel by air and rental car, and have taken shorter train trips in the U.S. and Europe, we’ve never done a long-distance rail experience. So, we decided to take Amtrak’s Empire Builder from […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and COFC Logistics today announced an expansion of COFC’s service into the Eastern U.S. and Mexico. The move allows COFC Logistics, which has a fleet of more than 8,000 containers, to deliver increased container availability to intermodal marketing companies. COFC sells container space and train capacity to intermodal marketing […]
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena and Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George say the interline partnerships that BNSF, CSX, and Canadian National have announced recently are proof that the proposed UP-NS merger will boost railroad competition. “Just the mere idea of having a transcontinental railroad has already enhanced competition … And I […]
