Prototype News

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced Thursday that they are in talks to merge into a single transcontinental railroad. The announcement came just a week after rumors began to swirl about the possibility of a new round of Class I mergers between the two western roads and the two eastern roads. 

“Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern stated that they do not intend to make additional comments or provide an update on this matter unless and until they determine that disclosure is required or otherwise appropriate,” the railroads stated in a press release. 

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that BNSF was considering a merger with CSX. However, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett later dismissed that rumor. However, observers say that if UP and NS pair up, BNSF and CSX would likely follow. 

The news that UP and NS are considering to start what could be the final round of railroad mergers comes just two years after Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern completed what many believed would be the “final” merger. That merger between North America’s smallest Class I railroads was not governed by a stricter set of merger rules drafted in 2001 after the merger mania of the 1990s. However, any future consolidations would need to meet that higher standard to ensure they serve the public interest. At the time of the CP-KCS merger, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board seemed cautious about any further consolidation, especially with Chairman Martin J. Oberman leading. But some believe that Patrick Fuchs, the 37-year-old appointed to the board in 2019 by President Donald Trump who now serves as its chair, might be more open to the idea of additional mergers. 

—Justin Franz 

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The State of Oregon has allocated $100 million to develop a new intermodal port at Coos Bay, Ore., a project that could significantly boost traffic on the scenic short line between there and Eugene. 

The $100 million will help dredge a shipping channel into the Port of Coos Bay to permit larger ships to unload containers there. Once unloaded, the containers will be transferred onto rail cars and transported to the Union Pacific interchange at Eugene via the Coos Bay Rail Line. The Coos Bay Rail Line is 134 miles long and was once part of the Southern Pacific’s vast branchline network in western Oregon. 

“This project is an investment in rural Oregon,” said Melissa Cribbins, executive director of the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port. “Rural Oregon has felt left behind for a very long time when it comes to opportunities, and we have to reinvest not only in infrastructure but in employment opportunities.”

While sizeable, the grant from the state is still only a fraction of the projected cost of the $2.3 billion project. 

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Canadian National is considering discontinuing service on portions of the former British Columbia Railway. In its updated Three-Year Rail Network Plan submitted on July 11, CN has reclassified more than 200 miles of former BCOL mainline from “retain” to “discontinue.” The status change is the first step required for line abandonments in Canada. 

The status change applies to the Squamish Subdivision from MP 43.0 at Thompson, B.C., to 157.6 at Lillooet, and the Lillooet Sub from MP 157.6  to 257.0, north of Edmond, B.C. 

Both sections are scenic but challenging to maintain. In April 2020, CN abolished through freight on the Lillooet Subdivision, between Williams Lake and Lillooet, and the Squamish Subdivision between Lillooet and Squamish. The remaining traffic in Williams Lake and points north, destined for the Vancouver area, is routed via CN’s mainline from Prince George. The only remaining through train is the Rocky Mountaineer in the summer. 

Section 141 of the Canada Transportation Act mandates that railway companies prepare and maintain a plan indicating their intentions for each line on their network, specifying whether they plan to continue operating it or if they intend to discontinue it within the next three years. The discontinuance process includes requirements for providing notice and the potential for sale, lease, or transfer of the line for continued operation. The Act also considers the public interest in the operation of railway lines, particularly in the case of grain-dependent branch lines. 

The line is still owned by BC Rail and is leased to CN. The lease of BC Rail to CN caused a major political scandal known as “RailGate,” when the BC government was accused of lying about the state of BC Rail’s finances to justify the deal with CN in 2004. Other bidders claimed that the bid process was rigged in CN’s favor. In 2010, two ministerial aides pleaded guilty to charges of breach of trust and receiving a benefit for leaking information about the BC Rail leasing process. 

Should the discontinuance be approved, management of the line would revert to the province. It is possible the listing of the line for discontinuance is a strategy to return it to Crown control or to leverage funding from the province or federal government, relieving CN of maintenance obligations.

—David Stowe

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What many considered unthinkable just a few years ago could become a reality. According to multiple reports, Union Pacific and BNSF Railway have hired banks to provide financial advice on potential mergers with their eastern Class I counterparts, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation. 

The slow drip of merger news began on July 16, when Semafor reported that UP had hired Morgan Stanley to explore the possibility of acquiring one of the other five Class I railroads, most likely one of the two eastern roads. Later that day, it was reported that UP had been in talks with NS about a potential merger since the beginning of the year. Then, on July 21, Semafor reported that BNSF had enlisted Goldman Sachs for its own merger bid. Reuters later reported that CSX was its target. 

So far, none of the railroads have publicly commented on the matter, although some observers believe that the news tips are coming from within the railroads themselves to see how the stock market and government regulators respond to the idea. 

The news that UP and BNSF are planning to start what could be the final round of railroad mergers comes just two years after Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern completed what many believed would be the “final” merger. That merger between North America’s smallest Class I railroads was not governed by a more strict set of merger rules drafted in 2001 after the merger mania of the 1990s. However, any future consolidations would need to meet that higher standard to ensure they serve the public interest. At the time of the CP-KCS merger, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board seemed cautious about any further consolidation, especially with Chairman Martin J. Oberman leading. But some believe that Patrick Fuchs, the 37-year-old appointed to the board in 2019 by President Donald Trump who now serves as its chair, might be more open to the idea of additional mergers. 

—Justin Franz

The post Report: BNSF, Union Pacific Eye Transcontinental Mergers appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Steam preservationist and entrepreneur Ross Rowland passed away on July 19 following a brief battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. 

Rowland made his money in the commodity trading market, but his true passion was steam railroading, and in the 1960s and 1970s, he was responsible for some of the biggest steam-powered spectacles of the preservation era. Through his High Iron Company, he operated excursions across the Northeast and Midwest using an eclectic fleet of steam locomotives, including Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 759, Reading Company 4-8-4 2101, and Canadian Pacific G5 4-6-2s Nos. 1238, 1278, and 1286. In 1969, Nickel Plate 759 led the Golden Spike Centennial Limited to mark the 100th anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. 

That tour planted the seed for an even larger one a few years later, when Rowland helped lead the ambitious American Freedom Train tour in 1975 and 1976. Over two years, three steam locomotives (Reading 2101, Southern Pacific 4-8-4, and Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 610), along with a few diesels, pulled a 26-car exhibit train featuring artifacts from U.S. history to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. More than 7 million people visited the train in 48 states, and tens of millions more watched it pass trackside. 

After the American Freedom Train, Rowland teamed up with the Chessie System to run a series of excursions behind former Reading 2101 in 1977 and 1978. When locomotive 2101 was damaged in a roundhouse fire, Rowland was compensated with Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 614, which returned to service in 1980 to lead the Chessie Safety Express. 

In 1985, Rowland again used 614 to gather data for a proposed coal-powered locomotive called the ACE 3000. That project never took off, but it resulted in an impressive month of steam-powered coal trains through West Virginia’s New River Gorge in the middle of winter. In the late 1990s, C&O 614 led a series of successful excursions between Hoboken, N.J., and Port Jervis, N.Y., on New Jersey Transit. Those would turn out to be Rowland’s last act with 614, and the engine would spend the next quarter century out of service. 

Rowland made multiple attempts in the 1990s and 2000s to replicate the success of the Golden Spike Limited and American Freedom Train, but none of those efforts ever took off. Among them were the 21st Century Limited to mark the turn of the century, the Yellow Ribbon Express to honor veterans after September 11, the Greenbier Presidential Express to bring people to the famous West Virginia resort, and a second American Freedom Train to celebrate the upcoming Semiquincentennial. In 2000 and 2001, he also led the short-lived Pacific Wilderness Railway on Vancouver Island. 

In November 2024, Rowland sold C&O 614 to RJD America, a private company that plans to restore the locomotive to operation. In June, the locomotive was moved from its long-time home in Clifton Forge, Va., to the Strasburg Rail Road, where work on it has since begun. Rowland was along for the ride.

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

The post Ross Rowland, Steam Entrepreneur, Dead at 85 appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The Grand Canyon Lodge, a hotel built by the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1930s, was destroyed in a wildfire, the National Park Service announced on July 13. The structure is one of 50 to 80 that have been lost in a 20-square-mile wildfire on the north side of the Grand Canyon. 

The Union Pacific, through its subsidiary Utah Parks Company, built a lodge at North Rim in 1928, but it burned down four years later. A new one was quickly built on the site of the original, with some modifications, and opened in 1937. Utah Parks Company operated in Canyon, Zion, and Grand Canyon national parks, as well as Cedar Breaks National Monument, from the 1920s until 1972. After Utah Parks shut down, UP donated most of its park properties to the National Park Service. 

Grand Canyon Lodge isn’t the first railroad lodge to fall victim to fire in recent years. In 2017, the Great Northern Railway-built Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park was destroyed, although it was later rebuilt. In 2024, the Jasper Park Lodge, built by Canadian National, was nearly destroyed in a fire but sustained only minor damage.

—Justin Franz

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