CSX begins operating New England regional Pan Am Railways

PanAm_Fs_Hartley

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pan Am Railways is now a fallen flag. The New England regional officially became part of CSX Transportation on Wednesday, six weeks after the Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition. “We are excited to welcome Pan Am’s experienced railroaders into the CSX family and look forward to the improvements we will make […]

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West Virginia Alco-powered short line has Ukrainian ties

Blue end-cab switcher moves coal hoppers across river

ALEXANDER, W.Va. — West Virginia’s coal history is a cyclical tale of boom-and-bust periods driven by the world’s appetite for the state’s most abundant fossil fuel. Agility and resiliency have carried coal and its closely linked partner, railroading, through periods of prosperity and dispersity. Today in one of the state’s most rural dwellings is a […]

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Kansas announces grants for rail infrastructure work

Logo of Kansas Department of Transportation

HUMBOLDT, Kan. — The state of Kansas is awarding $11.5 million in grants for 17 railroad infrastructure rehabilitation and construction projects, Gov. Laura Kelly and Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced. The projects, involving seven railroads and eight shipper locations, will be funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s State Rail Service Improvement fund. Grants range […]

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Federal grants announced for rail projects in Pennsylvania, Kentucky

Federal Railroad Administration logo

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress have begun announcing Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant awards from the Federal Railroad Administration, with funding for projects in Pennsylvania and Kentucky announced Thursday. Two awards announced in Pennsylvania U.S. Sen Bob Casey (D) announced CRISI awards of $14.7 million for the Berks County Rail Project […]

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Canada to fund expansion at Port Saint John, short line New Brunswick Southern

Container train on bridge

OTTAWA, Ontario – The Canadian government said on Wednesday that it will spend $42 million to help fund capacity expansion projects at Port Saint John, New Brunswick, as well as to upgrade rail facilities in Saint John and McAdam on short line New Brunswick Southern. The New Brunswick Southern and its sister short line, Eastern […]

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Genesee & Wyoming railroad to serve new Hyundai plant in Georgia

Map of the Geogia Central Railway

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Genesee & Wyoming’s Georgia Central Railway will serve a new Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle and battery manufacturing in Bryan County, Ga., the railroad has announced. The plant, a $5.5 billion project, is scheduled to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025, with Georgia Central delivering materials for production as […]

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News photos: Another trip with freight cars for Reading & Northern 2102

Steam locomotive pulling hopper cars

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern accumulated more break-in mileage for its former Reading Co. T-1 steam locomotive No. 2102 on a short freight movement Friday (May 20, 2022), ferrying 100 empty coal hoppers to be delivered to an anthracite shipper near Tamaqua, Pa. It was a follow-up to the April 26 break-in run […]

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Reading & Northern takes delivery of first frac sand train

blue and yellow locomotive moves train of frac sand railcars

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern took delivery of its first unit train of frac sand on May 15. Norfolk Southern delivered the 75-car train to R&N’s North Reading Yard, where R&N crews were on hand with a five-unit set of SD40-2s to bring the train 120 miles north to R&N’s Sand Storage facility […]

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Buckingham Branch Railroad founder Robert E. Bryant dies at 87

Man and woman standing near passenger car

DILLWYN, Va. — Robert E. Bryant, founder and chairman of Virginia’s largest short line, the family-owned Buckingham Branch Railroad, died May 8 at his home. He was 87. After a long career with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and its successors, Chessie System and CSX Transportation, Bryant formed the short line in 1988 by acquiring […]

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Watco opens expanded training facility in Alabama

Watco logo, new version as of 2022

FAIRFIELD, Ala. — Watco has completed expansion of its training center, the Safe Performance Center in Fairfield. The $3 million project including a new 11,000-square-foot building with classrooms, a conference room, and space for a locomotive simulator. The expansion of the original facility built in 2017 increases the number of individuals who can receive training […]

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Genesee & Wyoming christens new Gulf of Mexico rail ferry

Ship loaded with railcars at dock

MOBILE, Ala. —  With the sound of shattering glass and a big splash of champagne, Genesee & Wyoming short line CG Railway on Wednesday christened one of its new rail ferries that can haul up to 135 freight cars across the Gulf of Mexico. Virginia Reeves, a 34-year G&W employee who works in corporate communications, […]

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Second RS1325 may be preserved

Orange locomotive passes brick building

SANFORD, N.C. — One of just two RS1325 locomotives built by EMD, which had been in danger of being scrapped, may be saved following a Facebook post from a local railfan sounding an alert about the diesel’s status. Former Chicago & Illinois Midland No. 30 has been at North Carolina’s Atlantic & Western Railway since […]

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