SMART-TD ratifies new five-year agreement with Union Pacific

Logo of SMART-TD union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division have ratified their tentative agreement with Union Pacific, the union announced Friday (Nov. 28). More than 80% of SMART-TD members voted in favor of the five-year agreement, which includes a compounded wage increase of 18.77% over the life […]

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CPKC train derails in Alberta

CPKC logo

Emergency responders on scene of a train derailment in southern Albertahttps://t.co/PhPQ2GVhHW — Global Calgary (@GlobalCalgary) November 27, 2025 CHAMPION, Alberta — Thirty-four cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed Thursday, Nov. 27,  north of the village of Champion, Global News reports. The derailment occurred about noon. No injuries were reported, and no hazardous […]

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How PTC came to Union Pacific’s Big Boy

Editor’s note: The January 2026 issue of Trains Magazine includes author Greg Richardson’s article on the development of positive train control, “The road to PTC,” viewed primarily through the lens of his time in Union Pacific’s PTC program. Space limitations precluded inclusion of his look at development of PTC for Big Boy No. 4014; we […]

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CB&Q turntable to be installed at Silvis shop

Steam locomotive cab being lifted by overhead crane. CB&Q turntable to be installed at Silvis shop.

SILVIS, Ill. — More than 70 years ago, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific worked from a 45-stall roundhouse located on its 90-acre facility in western Illinois. That building has long since been demolished. Now, Railroading Heritage of Midwest America has broken ground to install a 135-foot turntable and build a six-stall roundhouse on the […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic remains below 2024 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic was down by a narrow margin for the week ending Nov. 22, the seventh straight week where traffic has been below 2024 levels. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, volume for the week was 516,110 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9% from the same week a year […]

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News Photos: Norfolk Southern reunion

More than 20 years after he retired as Norfolk Southern’s CEO, David Goode still draws a crowd. Goode and his wife, Susan, and an informal host committee held a reunion of NS Thoroughbreds in the Norfolk, Va., area on Oct. 9. More than 100 NS alumni and friends from the Goode era gathered in Virginia […]

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Intermodal pioneer David DeBoer, 1938-2025

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — David DeBoer, an intermodal pioneer who was instrumental in the development of the now ubiquitous double-stack well car, died on Nov. 17. He was 87. He began his transportation career with the New York Central, and later spent time at Trans World Airlines. He joined the Federal Railroad Administration after the bankruptcy […]

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CPKC disputes NS and UP complaints over Meridian Speedway service levels

Map of eastern U.S. highlighting route between Meridian, Miss., and Shreveport, La.

WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has told federal regulators that Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific complaints about its train-length restrictions and handling of their intermodal trains on the Meridian Speedway have no merit. On Sept. 30, the eve of the federal government shutdown, NS and UP wrote separate letters to the Surface Transportation Board, […]

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