National Railroad Hall of Fame announces 2025 inductees

Logo of the National Railroad Hall of Fame

GALESBURG, Ill. — Former Norfolk Southern CEO David Goode, 1880s Santa Fe President William Strong, and former Santa Fe CEO John Reed are the 2025 inductees to the National Railroad Hall of Fame, the Galesburg-based organization has announced. The honorees were selected by the Hall of Fame’s national Rail Industry Advisory Group from among nine […]

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BLET, New York, Susquehanna & Western reach tentative contract agreement

New York, Susquehanna & Western GP40 No. 3040 switches an industry in Utica, N.Y. Bill Stephens

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has reached a tentative agreement with the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway on a new contract, the union has announced. Terms were not disclosed. The union said the agreement includes wage increases and work rule improvements, and would see union members covered by the […]

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ASLRRA to induct Corman, McCaffrey, and Smith into short line hall of fame

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association logo

WASHINGTON — The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association has selected three inductees to the Short Line Railroad Industry Hall of Fame: Richard Jay Corman (posthumously), R. Lawrence McCaffrey, and Michael V. Smith. Each has left indelible marks on the short line industry, the ASLRRA said this week. “The Short Line Railroad Industry Hall […]

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CSX grounds its corporate jet fleet

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX has shut down its aviation department, which flew corporate jets to whisk railroad executives around the system and elsewhere. The department, which had been in operation for 84 years and employed pilots and mechanics, was disbanded on Dec. 1, the railroad confirmed. A spokesman declined to release any details about the […]

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Norfolk Southern to serve new $6 billion pharmaceutical plant in Alabama

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern will serve a new $6 billion Eli Lilly and Co. manufacturing campus that the pharmaceutical company will build in Huntsville, Ala. The project, which was announced on Tuesday, is the largest single initial investment in Alabama history, Gov. Kay Ivey said. NS will provide carload service to the plant, which is […]

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Lake State Railway purchases four SD70ACe-T4 locomotives

SAGINAW, Mich. — Lake State Railway Co., the Michigan regional railroad, today announced that it is purchasing four SD70ACe-T4 locomotives from Progress Rail. LSRC received an emissions grant to replace five older locomotives with four newer Tier 4 locomotives. The railroad says it chose the SD70ACe-T4 built by EMD successor Progress Rail due to several […]

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BNSF rolls out locomotive-based track inspection system

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway will dramatically increase its track inspection capabilities early next year with the systemwide deployment of locomotive-based sensors that analyze track geometry while pulling trains in revenue service. BNSF developed its ODIN system — which stands for Onboard Defect Identification & Notification — entirely in-house in 2023. The system relies […]

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Navy seeks new flatcars to move missiles

Overhead view of long string of flatcars

WASHINGTON — The Navy has begun the process of acquiring new flatcars to replace those currently used to transport missiles between military facilities. In a request for information issued last month, with responses due today, the Navy is seeking to replace the current DODX 40000 series flatcars, designed and built for the Army in 1981 […]

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Steam locomotive profile: 2-6-6-4

Seaboard Air Line twin smokestack 2-6-6-4

During the latter half of the 1920s the single expansion articulated locomotive had evolved into a very capable machine. It could lug a heavy train over mountain grades, and in flat terrain it could run at the same speed as a 2-8-2. But railroad locomotive superintendents grappled with an unanswered question. Could a simple articulated […]

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Ghayad, AAR’s chief economist, announced as keynote speaker for AAR Research Review

Head-and-shoulders shot of man in blue coat and tie.

PUEBLO, Colo. — Dr. Rand Ghayad, the Association of American Railroads’ senior vice president of policy and economics, will be the keynote speaker at the 31st annual AAR Research Review, hosted by MxV Rail in Pueblo on April 28-30, 2026. Ghayad will open the conference by addressing policy and economic issues shaping the rail industry […]

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Metra launches online merchandise store

Bilevel commuter train led by cab car at station

CHICAGO — Metra will open an online merchandise store on Wednesday, Dec. 10, offering Metra-branded merchandise such as replica station signs, T-shirts and hoodies, and mugs and water bottles. It is the first time the commuter rail operator has offered such products for sale. “This new store is part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen […]

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