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BNSF on March 12 reported celebrating the official groundbreaking of its new Logistics Center North Dallas. Located in Gunter, Tex., an hour north of Dallas near State Highway 289, it will be a 944-acre multi-customer, multi-commodity industrial park. This BNSF-owned facility, like the railroad’s five others in Hudson, Colo.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Fontana, Calif.; Sweetwater, Tex.; and Cleveland, Tex., will “create a speed-to-market advantage for customers by helping them save up to nine to 12 months of development time,” according to the railroad.

The Logistics Centers are described as differing from private business parks by BNSF “investing directly in the development of the facility to create sites in under-served, strategic, and primarily end-user markets.”

Construction of Logistics Center North Dallas’ first phase is slated to take approximately 19 months. BNSF and the City of Gunter “continue to work closely together with plans for future zoning and platting requirements,” the Class I said.

“Gunter is well-placed in one of the fastest‑growing corridors in the country, and this new logistics center positions our customers to take full advantage of that momentum,” BNSF Assistant Vice President of Economic Development and Real Estate Scot Bates noted. “By offering direct rail service and a ready‑to‑build site, we’re helping customers expand their supply chain reach faster and more efficiently.”

“This groundbreaking represents an important step for Gunter’s future,” added Gunter Mayor Karen Souther. “Getting here required hard conversations, meaningful collaboration, and a commitment from everyone involved to find a path that will protect our community while creating opportunities. I am so proud of where we are today and of the partnership that helped make it possible.”

Launched last year as part of our #RoomtoGrow strategy, CPKC’s Site Ready program supports customers with efficient industrial solutions driving economic growth continent-wide. This year we’ve added 14 Site Ready locations to the program, making it 22 across our North American… pic.twitter.com/iTRK3CbRpj

CPKC, also on March 12, reported the certification of 14 new Site Ready rail-served industrial development sites. The sites are located across six U.S. states, three provinces in Canada, and two states in Mexico, and are said to open more than 6,600 acres of immediately developable land to prospective manufacturers, logistics operators, and supply chain partners. Certified in partnership with global engineering and construction firm Burns & McDonnell, CPKC said the locations are “tailored for versatility, scalability and long-term operational success.” The railroad now has 22 such locations across North America.

“Our Site Ready Program supports customers with efficient industrial solutions and drives economic growth continent-wide,” said John Brooks, CPKC Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “Each certified location is designed to streamline development, accelerate timelines, and create new value for both business and communities through unparalleled rail connectivity.”

According to CPKC, the sites are part of its Room to Grow strategy and are “located close to major markets, ports and distribution hubs for optimized logistics”; “pre-certified for rail service”; and backed by CPKC “expertise, from initial site selection to ongoing rail operations”; and their “development drives local job creation, capital investment and lasting economic benefits.”

The NS-served industrial site in Muncie, Ind., has earned Gold REDI (Ready for Economic Development Investment) Site certification, the railroad announced March 12. “Indiana has the highest concentration of manufacturing employment on a per capita basis, twice the U.S. average, underscoring the state’s industrial strength and importance of rail-served development,” NS noted. “The certification reflects the site’s preparedness to support the region’s target industries, including advanced manufacturing, food processing, metals processing, logistics, and industrial operations, with direct rail access and connectivity to key transportation corridors.”

The 80-acre Muncie site is along NS’ high-capacity Chicago to Atlanta corridor and nine miles from I-69.

The Site Selectors Guild’s REDI program is said to evaluates sites on key criteria including:

• “Infrastructure capacity and utility readiness.
• “Environmental due diligence and site control.
• “Transportation access, including rail service.
• “Workforce availability and regional market access.
• “Development timeline and overall project feasibility.”

According to NS, a Gold certification indicates the site meets “rigorous standards and is prepared to support large-scale manufacturing, logistics, or industrial operations.” A total of 18 NS-served sites (NSites) have received a REDI designation.

“Gold REDI certification demonstrates that this Muncie site is ready to compete for significant industrial investment,” NS Director of Industrial Development MaryBeth Flournoy said. “With direct rail service and strong regional infrastructure, the site offers companies the connectivity and reliability they need to grow while strengthening economic opportunity in Indiana.”

“In today’s competitive industrial market, speed and certainty drive location decisions,” added Traci Lutton, Vice President of Economic Development for the Economic Development Alliance of Muncie-Delaware County, Ind. “Through our partnership with NS and the REDI Sites program, achieving Gold certification mitigates risk, accelerates timelines, and positions Delaware County as a rail-served community ready for industrial investment.”

• Building Successful Industrial Development Spaces

The post BNSF, CPKC, NS: Accelerating Industrial Development appeared first on Railway Age.

The Station Inn, a fan-favorite bed and breakfast just steps away from Norfolk Southern’s busy former Pennsylvania Railroad main line in Cresson, Pa., has reopened its popular basement bar after a 20-year hiatus. 

The Station Inn was founded in 1993 by Tom Davis, who purchased a former railroad hotel built in 1866 and converted it into a bed-and-breakfast for rail enthusiasts. Besides offering visiting enthusiasts a place to recharge after a long day trackside, it’s possible to watch trains right from the front porch. The Lang family purchased the Inn in 2022.

A bar had operated in the hotel’s basement as early as 1904. Later, it became a pizza place. Not long after Davis purchased the hotel, he reopened the basement as a bar and ran it until about 2005, when he closed it to focus on the rest of the operation. Owner J. Alex Lang said that, after buying the hotel in 2022 and reestablishing it, one of his next goals was to reopen the bar. That happened earlier this winter, and it’s since become a popular watering hole for railfans and locals alike. The bar offers a variety of small plates and snacks, a cocktail menu, and local beers and wines. It’s presently open Thursday through Saturday, from 5 to 10 p.m. For more information, visit yardofficelounge.com.

—Justin Franz

The post Pennsylvania’s Station Inn Reopens Popular Bar appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Political divisions may cause Democrats to attempt a procedural block on a floor vote as they are infuriated that POTUS 47 has almost exclusively been nominating Republicans for senior government posts while firing Democrats already holding office.

However, Republicans in 2025 reinterpreted Senate rules to allow nominees to move in a large group without a previously typical pairing of Republican nominees with Democratic nominees. This reinterpretation—a practice reducing opportunities for political obstruction—allowed Republican Michelle A. Schultz to be confirmed to a second five-year term in December as one of more than 80 Republican nominees and no Democrats. This contrasts with Senate floor confirmation in May 2024 of Republican Chairperson Patrick J. Fuchs to a second term where he was paired with Democrat Jennifer Homendy, who is now chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Among POTUS-47 fired Democrats—with no cause shown as is required by statute—was STB member Robert E. Primus, in a second term not expiring until Dec. 31, 2027. Primus alleges his August 2025 firing by POTUS 47 was unlawful. A federal district court has yet to rule. An appeal by either Primus or the Administration is likely following that decision. And it is not clear whether a court has authority to order reinstatement should Primus prevail on the unlawful firing claim.

Nor has POTUS 47 taken steps to ensure the STB’s current lone Democrat, Karen J. Hedlund, will remain. Her first term expired in December, leaving her in a maximum 12-month holdover period with no sign she will be renominated or that another Democrat will be named as her successor.

This is concerning. Two of the more significant rail regulatory decisions in generations—a major rail merger and a rulemaking overturning four decades of agency precedent—are on the STB’s voting agenda. They could be decided by just two members—both Republicans—if Kloster is not confirmed, Hedlund departs and a Democratic successor is not nominated and confirmed, and Primus is not returned to office or a Democratic successor to Primus is not nominated and confirmed.

The two sitting Republicans are Fuchs, whose second and final (by statute) term expires Jan. 14, 2029, and Schultz, whose second and final term expires Nov. 30, 2030. The STB governing statute contains no quorum requirement and has twice functioned in the past with but one member while awaiting reinforcements.

If the STB accepts an expected second merger application from Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS)—the first rejected in January as incomplete; a revised version expected by April 30—the agency will be voting by mid-2027 on allowing the first U.S. Atlantic-Pacific transcontinental railroad to be created.

Expected earlier for a final vote is an STB-initiated rulemaking on easing the process by which shippers may obtain, at a currently single-railroad served facility, access to a second railroad to provide competitive rail service. So-called Reciprocal Switching creates, in theory, rate and service competition. It would be available to all rail shippers, not just captive shippers defined as lacking effective transportation alternatives to rail.

While the proposed UP-NS merger has received substantial public attention, the pending rulemaking—“Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Competition: Review of Part 1144, Docket No. 788”—is also consequential. If finalized—Fuchs, Schultz and Hedlund expressed their support in calling for public comment—the new rule would repeal an existing one shippers consider the antithesis of a promise made to them by Congress in 1980 (Staggers Rail Act). The promise was to protect against railroad market power abuse. The rule targeted for repeal requires that shippers demonstrate railroads are engaging in anticompetitive conduct before those shippers become eligible for Reciprocal Switching relief. Shippers—agricultural, chemical, energy and manufacturing—have never been able to meet the burden.

While the former Interstate Commerce Commission once had 11 members—reduced in 1983 to five—successor STB was created in 1995 with three members. That number soon collided with the 1976 Government in Sunshine Act prohibiting an agency majority (just two when only three members) from discussing official business in a non-public setting.

The 2015 Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act increased STB membership to five, allowing a minority (two members) to discuss case issues under specific conditions. The provision was co-authored by Thune (then Commerce Committee chairperson) and senior committee Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida, with drafting by Fuchs, who then was a senior committee staff member.

Restoration of a five-person Board would enhance the ability of STB members to learn directly from peers their thought process and logic underpinning their concerns or likely vote. Such ability could be especially productive at the STB as, in this era of extreme political divide, there is remarkable collegiality among Republicans Fuchs and Schultz and Democrat Hedlund. Kloster has shown no inclination to upset that chemistry.

Although STB members—when their number is fewer than five—are still able to communicate second-hand through staff, the one-on-one process is considered most productive. In considering competition enhancing measures, there are complex ancillary issues such as the STB’s non-working rate reasonableness standards, including the Stand-Alone Cost (SAC) and Three-Benchmark processes, and application of a revenue adequacy constraint, all of which are ripe for merger-approval conditions. In many respects, the STB functions much as a multi-member judicial panel where collaboration among decision-makers improves decisional quality.

In this regard, the diversity of STB-member disciplines is noteworthy—Fuchs, with a Senate Commerce staff background; Schultz, an attorney with a small-business background and experience in commuter rail labor relations and lobbying; Hedlund, with a transportation consulting background; and Kloster, skilled in rail equipment supply. 

Kloster is president and founder of rail equipment consultancy Integrity Rail Partners, Inc. He has an extensive career in rail fleet management as well as experience with Class I and short line railroads. He is an executive board member of the National Industrial Transportation League and sits on the board of the Railway Supply Institute. He earned an undergraduate degree in business from Northern Illinois University and a master’s in marketing from the University of Alabama.

Kloster told Railway Age in July 2025 that his strength is “considerable time” working with railroads and shippers. He had early employment with Chicago & North Western Railway (now part of Union Pacific)—beginning, he said, as a “car department apprentice” the same week in 1980 that President Carter signed into law the 1980 Staggers Rail Act.

Kloster was confirmed to a seat vacated by former STB Chairperson and Democrat Martin J. Oberman, who retired in May 2024. With Republican POTUS 47’s inauguration in January 2025, the swing seat became available to a Republican.

Although Kloster and Schultz went before the Senate Commerce Committee together in November 2025, only Schultz was reported-out favorably. No vote was taken on Kloster, with sources saying it had to do with “paperwork delay.” Kloster’s still-open nomination was returned to the White House at the close of the first session of the 119th Congress in December. POTUS 47 nominated him a second time in January 2026. A second confirmation hearing was not held, and Commerce Committee Chairperson Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) scheduled the successful March 12 Commerce Committee vote.

The Commerce Committee on March 12 also favorably reported the nomination of Republican Michael Graham to a second term on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Earlier this year, the Senate confirmed to a first term on the NTSB Republican John DeLeeuw to replace Democrat Alvin Brown, who was fired by POTUS 47. Brown, as Primus, has challenged in court the legality of the firing. Should Brown prevail in court, there would be, theoretically, two people occupying the same NTSB seat.

Also fired by POTUS 47 at the five-member NTSB was Republican member Todd Inam, but his March 6 firing was, according to the White House, for cause, following allegations Inam was, as reported by Politico, guilty of “alcohol use at his job, harassment of staff and a host of other issues.” Inman denies the allegations. Currently serving on the NTSB are Democratic Chairperson Homendy, Republican Graham, Republican DeLeeuw (not yet sworn in) and Democrat John Chapman.

At the three-member National Mediation Board, Democrat Deirdre Hamilton is contesting in court her firing by POTUS 47, leaving that agency with one Republican (Loren E. Sweatt) and one Democrat (Linda Puchalla).

Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner is author of “Railroads & Economic Regulation,” available from Simmons-Boardman Books, www.railwayeducationalbureau.com/product/ railroads-economic-regulation-an-insiders-account/, 800-228-9670. 

The post Kloster Advances; STB Questions Lurk appeared first on Railway Age.

Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Orr was honored as Railway Age’s 2026 Railroader of the Year on March 10 during the traditional dinner hosted by the Western Railway Club at the Union League Club of Chicago. Earlier in the day, he, in a discussion with Railway Age Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak, closed out the Next-Generation Freight Rail Conference.

“Surrounded by family and friends last night, I was deeply honored and humbled to accept the Railroader of the Year award—and grateful for the opportunity to reflect on what this industry and its people mean to me,” Orr said. “Railroading has never been about one person. It’s about people, purpose and continuous improvement. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that if you’re standing still, you’re losing ground—and if you think you’re done learning, you have already lost. At Norfolk Southern, our PSR 2.0 transformation is anchored in safety and stability. Everything else depends on it.

“From there, we focus on building leaders at every level, pushing decision‑making closer to the work, and using data and curiosity to solve real problems—not just talk about them. PSR 2.0 ‘the evolution of railroading in the digital age,’ isn’t ‘either/or.’ It’s safety and service, people and process, reliability and profitability. When you invest in people and treat them as though they are full of capability, they become force multipliers for everyone around them. This recognition belongs to the many railroaders who show up every day to learn, adapt and move this industry forward—together.

“In his distinguished career as a railroader, spanning North America, John started in the field as a train and engine service employee,” Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono noted. “Today, as Chief Operating Officer of Norfolk Southern, he continues to spend most of his time in the field, where the work is performed 24/7. That says a lot. I am honored to have known him in a professional capacity for a long time. I’ve learned a lot from John through the experiences I’ve had accompanying him as he runs a railroad as few people can. But most meaningful to me, I am blessed to have him as a friend. Since 1964, when the first Railroader of the Year, Southern Railway’s Bill Brosnan—now a legend—was honored, few have been as deserving of this award as John Orr.”

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Recognizing his years of dedicated service and leadership to the global heavy haul rail community, the Association said, “Scott Lovelace has been a central figure in IHHA’s evolution, strengthening the Association’s technical programs, global collaboration, and commitment to advancing safe, efficient, and innovative heavy haul operations. The IHHA Board expressed deep appreciation for Scott’s contributions, including his stewardship of major conferences, technical exchanges, and member engagement initiatives.”

“With gratitude and respect, we thank Scott for his remarkable service,” said Kari Gonzales, MxV Rail President & CEO and IHHA Chairperson. “His dedication to IHHA and to the heavy haul industry worldwide has left a lasting legacy.”

Merheb, a long-serving IHHA leader, will step into the CEO role following his acceptance of the Board’s appointment. He brings more than a decade of technical, academic, and executive experience in heavy haul railway engineering.

Merheb holds a PhD, MSc, and BSc in transportation infrastructure and civil engineering, and has served as a researcher in the United States and Brazil.

“We are thrilled to welcome Antonio into the CEO role,” Gonzales said. “His deep technical expertise, global perspective, and long-standing commitment to IHHA’s mission make him the ideal leader to guide the Association into its next chapter.”

As IHHA prepares for upcoming conferences, workshops, and strategic initiatives, Merheb will work closely with the Board, members, and industry partners “to continue advancing heavy haul rail innovation, safety, and collaboration worldwide,” the Association noted.

“I am honored to lead IHHA at this pivotal time,” said Merheb. “Together, we will continue to foster innovation, enhance global collaboration, and ensure that our industry remains at the forefront of transportation excellence. I look forward to working with our members and partners to build on the Association’s achievements and drive new progress in the years ahead.”

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New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Cog Railway has received the first of two new boilers that will allow the mountain-climbing railroad to continue running steam for years to come. 

From 1869 until 2008, steam ruled the west slope of Mt. Washington. Constructed in the 1860s, the Mount Washington Cog Railway was the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railroad. However, in the late 2000s, diesel locomotives began to replace most steam locomotives. For a few years, only the first run of the day up the hill featured steam. In recent years, the railroad has offered a handful of trips to the summit behind steam, as well as a Mid Mountain Steam Special that travels about halfway up the hill. Presently, there are two steam engines on the active roster: Locomotive 2 Ammonoosuc, built in 1875, and 9 Waumbek, built in 1908. Both locomotives were constructed by the Manchester Locomotive Works, which later became part of the American Locomotive Company.

The new boilers are being built by Maine Locomotive & Machine Works in Alna, Maine. The first boiler is being used on locomotive 9, and officials said they hope to have the engine reassembled and in service this year.

—Justin Franz 

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Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 28, 2026, and Feb. 21, 2026, rose 1.6% and 10.7%, respectively.

U.S. Class I railroads moved 514,996 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending March 7, 2026, AAR reported March 11. Total carloads came in at 231,889, up 5.7%, and intermodal volume was 283,107 containers and trailers, up 1.8% from the same week last year.

For the week ending March 7, 2026, eight of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2025. They included coal, up 4,464 carloads, to 62,480; grain, up 3,656 carloads, to 25,313; and chemicals, up 1,378 carloads, to 34,464. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2025 were nonmetallic minerals, down 297 carloads, to 28,142; and forest products, down 117 carloads, to 8,068.

For the first nine weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,994,393 carloads, a 5.5% increase from the prior-year period; and 2,474,208 intermodal units, a 0.7% fall-off from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first nine weeks of 2026 was 4,468,601 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.0% compared with last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending March 7, 2026, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 337,025 carloads, up 4.6% from the same week last year, and 371,354 intermodal units, up 3.7% from last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America came in at 708,379 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.1%. North American rail volume for the first nine weeks of this year was 6,150,558 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.7% from 2025.

Canadian railroads reported 91,046 carloads for the week ending March 7, 2026, down 0.1%, and 73,037 intermodal units, up 3.5% compared with the same week last year. For the first nine weeks of 2026, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,438,199 carloads, containers, and trailers, up 2.4%.

Mexican railroads reported 14,090 carloads for the week ending March 7, 2026, rising 21.2% from the same point last year, and 15,210 intermodal units, up 56.9%. Their cumulative volume for the first nine weeks of this year came in at 243,758 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, increasing 19.1% from the same point last year.

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RAILWAY AGE NEXT-GEN FREIGHT RAIL CONFERENCE, MARCH 10, 2026: Union Pacific sees end-to-end scale and past merger lessons supporting its consolidation case with Norfolk Southern, but peers flag competition loss and gateway risk. Union Pacific noted that it is talking to several Class I carriers behind the scenes, potentially paving the way for some concessions. The Surface Transportation Board is streamlining environmental permitting and is committed to overhauling switching rules.

In a discussion with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono (who joined via video conference link), the CEOs from Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, Jim Vena and Mark George, expressed confidence that the merger will pass review, citing clear alignment with regulatory criteria and broad shareholder support. Vena expects the application to demonstrate public interest, customer benefits, job protection and stronger competition, arguing that an end-to-end railroad lowers costs and reduces truck congestion, all while preserving union jobs. Operationally, the merger will likely be integrated gradually to avoid serious disruption, drawing on lessons from past rail consolidations as well as leveraging agreements with the other Class I’s. They also noted that they are working with other Class I’s behind the scenes. These discussions are likely to secure solutions for the limited numbers of customers that are slated to lose rail options with the proposed merger and may also be the beginning of Union Pacific offering some concessions. Both leaders also highlighted leveraging best-in-class practices, including tech portals, engineering and operating discipline as standards to scale across the combined network. They also pointed to AI-driven inspection and analytics as key tools to improve safety, efficiency and asset utilization over time.

Peers across the industry, including both Canadian roads (CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City) and BNSF (CSX chose not to participate), argued the merger would reduce competition, unlike prior deals that added capacity and end-to-end options with no overlap. They warned the scale of the transaction would concentrate market power, eliminate shipper choice, and introduce service integration risks at critical gateways like Chicago. With networks already delivering growth through targeted investment, innovation and competition, they questioned the need for a high-risk merger when the current rail network is functioning well.

CPKC CEO Keith Creel (also in a discussion with Vantuono) put it best when he said the truth is found in three places: “Your truth, my truth and the truth,” and ultimately “The truth” will decide this merger. “Too big to fail is said for a reason,” he noted. “If it fails, wer all suffer … Ultimately, is that what’s in our nation’s best long-term interests?”

I conducted a fireside chat with all three sitting STB members—Chair Patrick Fuchs, Vice Chair Michelle Schultz and member Karen Hedlund (nominee Dick Kloster is set to appear at an executive session in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation later today, March 11). The STB is pushing to streamline regulation, with faster environmental reviews and potential categorical exclusions that could reduce project costs and timelines. Clearer federal preemption would limit regulatory fragmentation and support more predictable interstate rail operations. On reciprocal switching, the Board is reconsidering the decades-old framework, as members maintain that the previous industry consensus on switching is stale. They argued that an improved U.S. rail network supports an overhaul. The one thing that struck me was how well all three Board members seemed to work together and generally be on the same page. While they were prohibited from answering any direct questions on the merger, I believe a thorough review of the Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern combination will be conducted and do not expect a resolution until sometime in mid-2027.

There were also separate presentations on technology being used in the industry where railroads highlighted their ability to improve reliability, safety and the customer experience. AI is being used in inspection portals and locomotive-mounted systems to analyze high-resolution images and detect defects without disrupting operations. Intermodal facilities are deploying automation and autonomous vehicles to increase capacity and labor productivity. Digital tools are also improving ETA accuracy and exception management, reducing hidden costs from rail variability.

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Norfolk Southern (NS) and Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, are collaborating to upgrade 96 DC-traction NS locomotives to AC. Deliveries will start in 2027 and be completed in 2029.

Each upgrade from Progress Rail will feature:

• Individual axle control “for superior traction.”
• Diesel Engine Management (ADEM®) “for improved performance.”
• Remanufactured 16‑cylinder EMD 710 engines producing 4,300 horsepower.

The SD70ICC Tier 2+ AC traction conversions from EMD® SD70M-2 DC, NS says, deliver:

• “Stronger productivity: Fewer engines needed to pull a train.
• “Reliability gains: The upgrades improve reliability by 40% and increase haulage capacity by 55%.
• “Each conversion extends a locomotive’s life by at least 20 years, with significant savings compared to the cost of buying new.
• “Fuel savings: The conversions are 3% more fuel efficient.”

NS’s modernization roadmap includes new locomotives, a DC-to-AC program and a “push to reduce engine models from 13 to four over the next decade,” the Class I noted. Fewer models mean “lower maintenance costs, simplified training and tooling, and greater operational consistency,” according to NS, which, in 2025, led the industry in Fly Rate, “a key measure of mechanical performance, achieving a rate of 1.14, well below the industry benchmark.”

Today, nearly 90% of the company’s in service road fleet locomotives are AC traction, and the entire fleet uses energy management software, “making NS the only railroad using the fuel efficiency technology across its entire fleet,” according to the Class I.

“By modernizing existing units, Norfolk Southern is taking a significant step toward a more efficient future. Our SD70ICC conversions deliver the performance and reliability railroads need while helping them meet their sustainability goals. This order underscores Progress Rail’s commitment to providing innovative solutions that help customers strengthen performance across their network,” said Progress Rail Locomotive EVP Jack Zhang.

“These conversions are a tangible example of how we’re modernizing our fleet to drive safe, reliable, and efficient operations for the long term. By upgrading to AC traction, we’re strengthening network resilience, improving fuel efficiency, and extending the life of our assets—while giving our customers greater haulage capacity and the consistent service they need to support their own growth and sustainability goals,” said NS VP, Mechanical and Chief Mechanical Officer Brian Barr.

The post NS, Progress Rail Collaborate to Upgrade 96 Locomotives appeared first on Railway Age.

The Illinois Railway Museum has completed construction of its fifteenth equipment storage barn. On February 27, the museum received its occupancy permit for the new building, allowing volunteers to quickly begin moving equipment into the four-track structure. The new Barn 15, completed ten years to the month after Barns 13 and 14, adds an additional 2,000 feet of indoor storage space for the museum, allowing the protection of dozens of locomotives and cars. 

IRM, located in Union, Ill., has one of the largest collections of historic railroad equipment in the United States and was founded in 1953.

—Justin Franz 

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Serviacero USA, described as “one of Mexico’s most comprehensive steel solutions groups, has purchased a rail-served site at Gulf Inland Logistics Park, where it will establish its first U.S. manufacturing operation. Liberty Development Partners manages and develops Gulf Inland Logistics Park.

“One of the few dual-rail-served sites in the region, Gulf Inland Logistics Park offers an unmatched location for logistics, transportation and manufacturing businesses to locate and expand,” the company said. “It features immediate access to BNSF and Union Pacific. CMC Railroad has a planned capacity of more than 2,000 railcar storage spaces, all of which will be open by year-end 2026. The park’s location at the intersection of the Grand Parkway and US Highway 90 also provides expedient access to Interstate 10, Interstate 59, Interstate 45, and State Highway 146. Gulf Inland Logistics Park is also within 100 miles of five Texas ports—Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston and Freeport. Gulf Inland offers spaces for sale, lease, or build-to-suit from 100,000 square feet to 1.5 million square feet.

“Within a 40-minute radius, Gulf Inland has access to a skilled and reliable workforce of more 2.3 million people. Gulf Inland Logistics Park is rapidly evolving into a high-capacity logistics hub, with development moving at an accelerated pace to meet demand. Phase 1, spanning 200 acres, was completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Both rail-served and non-rail-served sites are now available in Phase 2 of the park’s active development. The project’s rail infrastructure is scaling rapidly: Yards 1 and 2 are fully operational, with 1,000 railcar storage spaces. Three additional yards are set to open this year, bringing the total to over 2,000 railcar storage spaces. The park’s rail infrastructure is a key asset, providing businesses with efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions and making the site an essential logistics hub in the region.”

“We’re pleased to welcome Serviacero USA to our growing community at Gulf Inland Logistics Park,” said Marcus Goering, Principal at Liberty Development Partners. “Its decision to launch U.S. operations here confirms the strategic advantages we offer, including direct access to the Union Pacific and BNSF rail networks, proximity to the Greater Houston area and seamless connectivity to its customers and suppliers. Serviacero will be a valuable addition to industrial growth and global logistics in Texas.”

“We’re proud to be establishing our U.S. facility at Gulf Inland Logistics Park,” said Serviacero USA. “The location’s rail access and connectivity will help us serve the U.S. market more efficiently, stay closer to our customers, and continue delivering the reliable supply and service that support our customers’ operations. Over more than 60 years, Serviacero has become one of Mexico’s most comprehensive steel solutions providers. By establishing a manufacturing operation in the United States, the company will further strengthen its ability to deliver local production, reliable supply and expanded capabilities. Serviacero is focused on building long-term partnerships with its customers through exceptional service, and its new presence at Gulf Inland Logistics Park will support that commitment.”

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“Strong full year gross profit growth and more 260 basis points of gross margin expansion despite challenging industry environment,” operating cash flow of $35 million and adjusted free cash flow of $31 million, up 45% year over year” marked FreightCar America Inc.’s results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025.

• Revenues of $125.6 million, compared to $137.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, with railcar deliveries of 1,172 units compared to 1,019 units in the prior year period.
• Gross margin of 13.4% with gross profit of $16.8 million, compared to gross margin of 15.3% with gross profit of $21.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• Recorded $19.9 million of non-cash adjustments related to share price appreciation accounting, partially offset by a $2.1 million non-cash acquisition-related gain, resulting in a net loss of $16.6 million, or $0.52 per share, and adjusted net income of $4.9 million, or $0.16 per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $10.4 million, representing a margin of 8.3%, compared to $13.9 million and a margin of 10.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• Ended the quarter with a backlog of 1,926 units valued at $137.5 million, “reflecting a diversified mix of railcar conversion programs and new railcar builds.
• Completed the acquisition of Carly Railcar Components, LLC, a distributor of railcar components, “to strengthen our aftermarket footprint.”

• Revenues of $501.0 million, compared to $559.4 in fiscal year 2024, with railcar deliveries of 4,125 units compared to 4,362 units in the prior year.
• Gross margin of 14.6% with gross profit of $73.2 million, compared to gross margin of 12.0% with gross profit of $67.0 million in fiscal year 2024.
• Net income of $38.1 million, or $1.09 per share, and Adjusted net income of $18.1 million, or $0.50 per share, after adjusting primarily for non-cash items including a $51.9 million release of valuation allowance on deferred taxes, offset by a $32.2 million non-cash adjustment warrant liability “due to share price appreciation.”
• Adjusted EBITDA of $44.8 million, representing a margin of 8.9%, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $43.0 million and a margin of 7.7% in fiscal year 2024.
• Delivered operating cash flow of $34.8 million and $31.4 million in adjusted free cash flow, up 44.8% year-over-year, and “optimized balance sheet through lower cost refinancing.”

“In 2025, FreightCar America executed with discipline amid a challenging industry environment, delivering revenue in line with our expectations while producing exceptional profitability,” said Nick Randall, President and CEO. “During the year, we capitalized on demand by leveraging our customer-centric approach of tailored solutions, including conversions and customized offerings, while also growing market share in new car deliveries. This execution, combined with our manufacturing flexibility and ongoing implementation of operational initiatives such as our TruTrack program, contributed to improved Adjusted EBITDA margins and strong free cash flow generation, further strengthening our financial position. As we enter 2026, we remain focused on converting backlog into profitable deliveries while continuing to invest for growth. We are deploying capital effectively to diversify our revenue base, expand our aftermarket business and presence in the tank car market to further strengthen our offerings and capture demand, while continuing to evaluate strategic opportunities that fuel future growth. Overall, with a strong commercial strategy, a lean and flexible operating model, and an efficient manufacturing footprint, we are well positioned to perform in the current environment and to accelerate as industry fundamentals improve.”

Mike Riordan, Chief Financial Officer, added, “2025 demonstrated the durability of our operating model. We made continued progress strengthening the quality and consistency of our cash flows while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. During the year, we also advanced our aftermarket strategy, including the addition of Carly Railcar Components, which enhances this growing part of our business and supports more stable, recurring revenue across market cycles. Looking ahead to 2026, our guidance reflects ongoing industry uncertainty while reinforcing our confidence in the underlying strength and resilience of the business.”

The company issued its Fiscal Year 2026 outlook:

The post FreightCar America ‘Projecting Growth in 2026’ appeared first on Railway Age.

The Dollywood theme park in Tennessee is converting two of its former White Pass & Yukon steam locomotives from coal to oil burners this year. The amusement park railroad is just the latest in a long line of operators who have adopted oil firing to ensure that steam can still operate amid drier summers and rising fire danger in forested areas. 

While in some cases — such as on the Durango & Silverton or with Reading Company 4-8-4 2100 — where the conversions involved engines that had always burned coal, the Dollywood conversion is actually a switch back to oil. Although 2-8-2s 70 and 192 were originally built to burn coal, the WP&Y actually converted them to oil in the early 1950s. After being retired in the early 1960s, the locomotives were sold and later converted back to coal burners. 

So far, the conversion of locomotive 70 has been completed, and Dollywood officials said engine 192 should be finished this year. The amusement park sought help from the Durango & Silverton after that railroad changed all of its operating former Rio Grande 2-8-2s from coal to oil.

Dollywood features a 2.5-mile loop-to-loop track that was first constructed in the 1960s and was originally called Rebel Railroad. Later, it was renamed Gold Rush Junction and then Silver Dollar City Tennessee. In 1986, country music legend Dolly Parton became a part-owner of the park, and it was renamed Dollywood. The train is known as the Dollywood Express. The park owns three former WP&Y locomotives, two of which are operational (70 and 192), and a third that is stored (71). It also has the frame and running gear of a fourth WP&Y locomotive, 72, which was damaged in a roundhouse fire in Skagway in 1969.

—Justin Franz 

The post Dollywood Converts Steam Locomotives Back to Oil appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Railroad history tends to be reductive, or at the very least presented without a great deal of context. Why that is, and what to do about it, have not greatly troubled scholars and writers of popular histories for the past two centuries. There were many reasons. 

By its nature, railroading is complex, multi-disciplinary, dispersed and sometimes devilishly hard to characterize. It was our first truly synthetic technology, in which the whole was vastly greater than the sum of its parts. The extent to which railroad mobility shaped almost every aspect of modern America has never been fully explored. It was merely assumed, or taken for granted.

Railroading was seductive in so many ways. The works themselves could be grand and reflect emerging American values. For many decades it was on the leading edge of what it was possible to do. It was what we might call an “enabling technology”—much like digital computing a century-and-a-half later. And it provided good livings for millions of people.

It also could be rewarding. Railroading made travel and business more accessible and less fraught. Many people found railroad work satisfying, and it was the answer to problems we had never even thought of before. What railroading provided was a lot like the idea of American-style democracy itself. It was a new form, turned old ways of thinking on their heads and opened possibilities that were unimaginable just a few decades earlier.

We too often accept conventional interpretations that railroading was either an import from Great Britain, or some “new” technology (like penicillin or the electric light bulb) that was suddenly “invented” and quickly made the world better. The standard narrative was that mobility in the U.S. was primitive before 1827, when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad sprang into existence as the country’s first fully conceptualized, modern logistics enterprise. Afterward, everything changed. That is lazy thinking of the worst kind.

This year seems particularly apt to pause for some attitude adjustment. I suggest that the 1820s were not merely the dawn of the “Railway Age” (an older expression from which this storied publication takes its name), but the final act in the project to create effective American independence. 

In its first half-century, neither the survival nor prosperity of the new “United States” was assured. At times, its prospects were downright precarious, and everyone involved knew it. The Founding Fathers (we have little idea what the Founding Mothers thought) had profound reservations: How, when everything moved at the speed of an animal, the wind or a current, would it even be feasible to govern a continental nation? Thomas Jefferson imagined it would take a thousand years or so to create a nation stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

In fact, it took roughly 90 years—one long lifetime. Railroad mobility was the reason. There were men and women in 1893 whose lives overlapped the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1784, which officially ended the War for Independence. That was the year railroads mounted massive and celebratory history exhibits at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

America’s earliest railroads were a necessary, although not sufficient, element of the country’s successful independence. Early railroad promoters had a deep understanding of the struggle to create a new, and likewise synthetic, nation. One of the greatest challenges facing the U.S. in the Early National period was mobility. It took a few decades, but railroading answered the need.

It wasn’t coincidence (or a stunt) that Charles Carroll, the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, turned the first spade of earth to mark the beginning of construction for the B&O on July 4, 1828. 

The quote attributed to him—that he considered his involvement in early railroading second in importance only to signing the Declaration of Independence (if even to that)—was not mere politesse. He was a plantation owner, clear-eyed businessman and participant in a revolution that could have turned out very badly for him and his family. Carroll clearly understood that the mobility railroading promised would make the kind of America he (and his fellow patriots) imagined possible.

The great experiment we know as the United States was, and remains, a process and not a fait accompli. Miscalculations by the British, and the apparent freedom engendered by being an ocean away, gave rise to the notion of American independence. A brutal seven-year struggle offered a kind of nascent physical and political independence. But that was never sufficient to ensure its survival.

Railroad mobility provided what I call “independence of creation.” It isn’t the physical reality of the most comprehensive logistics network the world had seen that represents railroading’s accomplishment. Instead, it is the kind of freedom and independence that reliable, all-weather, effective, inexpensive, near-universal transportation confers on a population at continental scale. 

That represents railroading’s contribution to American Independence. By removing barriers of time, distance, cost and effort, railroad mobility unleashed a century of individual and collective creativity never before imagined, much less attempted. The railroad boom of the 1820s and 1830s was, in my opinion, the final chapter in the half-century struggle to create a truly independent and sustainable U.S. It wasn’t merely an enabling technology. It was the technology we needed, at the right time and in the right places.

That is why the Bicentennial of American Railroading is important. It isn’t a single event or year we should be celebrating, but rather a kind of awakening. There is always a before and an after, and somewhere in the middle something changes. It is the same for the American political independence we celebrate this year.

There is much to be gained by nesting railroading’s 200 years deeply within America’s 250, if for no other reason than that the success of each depended on the other. The railroad industry looks forward—as it must. 

But neither should it ignore, or worse yet, underestimate, the richness and importance of its past. It isn’t too late to more creatively recognize, and share, what railroading has meant in the creation of the modern U.S. The short-term benefits of the railroad industry embracing its history may seem elusive. Two centuries of experience suggest otherwise. It would be an astute investment in its future.

John Hankey is a curator and historian with more than 50 years of professional experience in railroad history and preservation. He holds a B.S. from the Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. as a Hagley Fellow at the University of Delaware and did further graduate work at the University of Chicago. His three primary research interests focus on how railroad mobility shaped America, aspects of railroad technology and culture, and addressing myths and misinterpretations of traditional railroad history. He is most proud, however, of the six years he spent in Engine Service on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and his tenure at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, where he served as Chessie Systems Historian and Archivist, and later as the museum’s Chief Curator. Also invaluable was the time he spent doing real railroad work, providing the kinds of insights and experiences unavailable by any other means. As a consultant, he has worked with Class I railroads, major museums and historic preservation projects throughout the country, the Smithsonian, National Park Service, local governments and dozens of smaller railroad heritage projects. He is the fifth (and final) generation on his father’s side to have worked for the B&O.

The post The Final Act of Independence appeared first on Railway Age.

RAILWAY AGE, MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Creating safer rail operations through artificial intelligence applications.

Around 2016, Derel Wust, founder of Australian software engineering provider 4Tel, approached the robotics laboratory at the University of Newcastle to explore how cameras and sensor technology could process and respond to situational information in real-time, according to Wust’s daughter Joanne Wust, 4Tel’s Group CEO. At the university, a special interest group was preparing to compete at an international robotics competition where teams were creating robots that could play soccer and abide by FIFA rules. Wust’s company sponsored the team, and Derel Wust identified that his company could take those robotics concepts and apply them to the railway.

“Learning from the robots’ spatial awareness, how they are aware of their location and proximity to objects and then applying that into the train is quite relevant. It’s a different use case, but the same sort of principles. It’s being able to see and determine where you are and what’s in front of you,” Joanne Wust told Railway Age.

Derel Wust recognized the commercial future of this research combined with the expertise of 4Tel’s core rail systems development and integration staff. This led to the spinoff company, 4AI Systems, formed in 2020 that develops perception systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) “to create better operational outcomes for rail network operators across the world.” Years later, in 2026, “we’ve now got a couple of different pilots and demos out there. And, you know, the future is looking pretty good,” Joanne Wust, who also serves as Group CEO for 4AI Systems, adds.

Indeed, tech companies like 4AI Systems and RailVision are developing AI-informed technology that provides train operators and engineers with an additional set of eyes that’s focused on preventing collisions. These technological tools use sensors that gather real-time data that is analyzed alongside historical data to ensure that the passenger or freight train does not hit something on the tracks.

“From RailVision’s perspective, AI-powered digital twins and perception systems allow rail operators to predict and prevent collisions by continuously analyzing live sensor data and simulating how situations are likely to evolve—not just reacting to predefined rules or fixed thresholds,” says Doron Cohadier, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for RailVision, an Israel-based company that develops tools that incorporate advanced sensors, AI and Big Data for the rail space.

RailVision has been working with Israel Railways to develop and implement its AI-informed sensor technology on Israel Railways’ freight and passenger network. In a pilot project, RailVision’s system combines video analytics and AI to identify objects on railway infrastructure and anticipates potential obstacles on the track based on train speed, according to Hagay Rozenfeld, Chief Innovation Officer with Israel Railways. This obstacle detection—a type of predictive analytics—happens in real time, enabling operations to be more efficient while also reducing accident risk, he says.

Cohadier describes RailVision’s offerings as AI-powered digital twins and perception systems that allow rail operators to predict and prevent collisions. These onboard AI vision systems operate directly on locomotives. “Right now, the rail industry is using technologies like wayside sensors, GPS-based train control, and largely rule-based monitoring systems,” Cohadier notes. “In practice, these tools mostly help railways execute the plan: enforcing procedures, validating expected conditions, and monitoring known, structured scenarios, but they are less effective at identifying truly unexpected, unplanned events in real time, which is exactly where Rail Vision focuses. Looking ahead, the near-term trend is more automation and tighter integration: more sensors, more connected data, more AI-assisted decision support, and faster intervention workflows. The gap that remains—and the opportunity we address—is reliable detection of the unexpected, early enough to enable quicker decisions and intervention.”

At 4AI Systems, the focus has been on developing technology that can be installed on the train, according to Joanne Wust. “How can we help determine where the train is in real time without having to take a feed from the track or the wayside infrastructure?” she says. “When we can pull more technology on board, it starts to open up a lot of efficiencies for operators.” 

Mark Wood, 4AI Systems Chief Technology Officer, describes his company’s offering as providing “better situational awareness so that the engineer is assisted in all conditions to make better decisions.”

The technology, which can be used for freight and passenger rail operations, consists of onboard sensors that detect visuals, movement and positioning. Data from these sensors is compared with information that the software already knows about the track and adjacent infrastructure such as signals or speed signs. The technology compares the real-time data with the reference and historical data, uses AI to detect anomalies that could result in a collision, and informs the train conductor or engineer of any potential hazards on the track.

“The AI is helping us not only perceive the environment from an object detection perspective but also provides input into helping us localize ourselves,” Wood notes. “We use the multi-sensor array to allow us to have confidence in what we’re detecting as the train travels forward. This is one of the things that’s important when detecting an object. So, detecting an object with a single sensor, that’s easy. But validating whether that detection is correct and whether you care about that detection from a collision avoidance perspective is a lot more complex. That’s where a multi-sensor array, allowing overlap of sensor redundancy of different types, allows for those decisions to be more confident so that we’re not creating false alarms.” 

While the integration of AI into onboard sensor technology has already begun, the rail industry overall has yet to maximize AI’s potential.

“MxV Rail remains engaged in work related to onboard sensor technology through the AAR’s Train Control & Communications Oversight (TCCO) Committee. That effort includes collaboration with several suppliers (including 4AI Systems) who are exploring technologies that support increased levels of automation, such as enhanced situational awareness and restricted‑speed collision avoidance,” says Niki Toussaint, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Education. “While some of these suppliers use AI within their systems, our current work is focused on broader sensor-based automation rather than an explicitly AI-driven project.”

Other areas where MxV Rail is exploring AI applications are AI-assisted track geometry monitoring, automated- or AI-enabled visual inspection technologies and AI models supporting ultrasonic rail flaw detection, according to Toussaint.

For the rail industry to integrate this kind of technology into current operations, multiple partners are often involved. RailVision, which has developed AI-driven technologies for main line and switching operations, is partnering with startup Exodigo to carry out advanced underground infrastructure detection across various Israel Railways track segments. Exodigo, which has developed a mapping platform, has incorporated RailVision’s technology to deploy a multi-dimensional visual model or digital asset that allows Israel Railways’ teams to access accurate, high-quality information about existing infrastructure along a railway corridor, according to RailVision. The company says this technology will help prevent damage to infrastructure during construction works, streamline maintenance and development processes, and reduce disruptions to project timelines. The offering involves mounting Exodigo’s AI-powered remote-sensing platform onto railcars, which enables the development of precise 3D digital models of buried utilities and infrastructure beneath the tracks.

“Israel Railways faces challenges similar to those of railway operators around the world, including the need to maintain schedule accuracy and high-quality service while maintaining and expanding the existing network,” Exodigo CEO and Co-Founder Jeremy Suard says. “Our proposed solution will enable the railway to efficiently and systematically map all existing rail assets and introduce new capabilities for digital asset management in a dynamic environment. This will allow future integration of AI tools into infrastructure-related decision-making processes, with the goal of maximizing services for the public.”

Israel Railways also has an Open Innovation strategy that provides innovation partners opportunities to pilot and promote their AI technologies within railway regulations, Rozenfeld says. More than 70 innovation partners are already working with Israel Railways. 

At 4AI Systems, their offerings are not on test trains but rather are on revenue service operations. “In each of those environments, the technology is in various stages of development,” according to Wood.

Even as 4AI Systems is working with rail companies to implement and use the technology on their trains, the company also continues to collaborate with universities and is part of a working group for MxV Rail “to understand the challenges of implementing the technology in different rail environments,” Wood notes. “This is the future. There’s no one that’s actually using this technology in full rail operations. We’re currently going through the program of getting it there. The technology is one step, but the application into an operation is a whole change management process that doesn’t happen overnight.”

But the big benefit that will come as the technology improves over time is helping train crews “manage their jobs in inclement weather or if they’re tired,” Wood says. “If something jumps on the track and you can’t stop the train, well, that’s the laws of physics. But if we can reduce the impact—give a few seconds more to the engineer to apply brakes or perform an action—that may avert an incident.” 

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RAILWAY AGE, MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Norfolk Southern and Watco provide prime examples of how railroads can attract manufacturing plants to their systems and grow business.

Manufacturing has always driven the North American economy—from motor vehicles to heavy machinery to home appliances and many other products. Rail-served manufacturing is on the rise, with business development efforts at Class I’s, regionals and short lines.

Railroad business development departments specialize in identifying potential new customers and working with them on establishing a plant location, which can potentially be an expensive proposition. Often, state or local economic development agencies are involved. 

Railway Age contacted Norfolk Southern (NS) and Watco to find out how they are attracting manufacturing plants to their systems and the factors that come into play.

“Watco has several examples of success in the Industrial Development space,” Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Zachary G. Boehme tells Railway Age. “This is an area of our business that we’re extremely proud of and see as a key component to growth.”

Bartlett, a Savage Company, in 2024, opened its newest soybean processing plant in Cherryvale, Kans. Served by Watco’s South Kansas & Oklahoma (SKOL), this facility, which is one of Watco’s largest Industrial Projects to date, is expected to handle up to 49 million bushels of soybeans annually.

Additionally, the Watco team worked alongside Charlotte Pipe and Foundry from site selection to design, build and rail service startup at its new facility in Maize, Kans. The new $80 million facility, served by Watco’s Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (KORR), celebrated its grand opening in August 2025. The 175,000-square-foot plant houses several plastic extrusion lines to produce PVC pipe for plumbing and irrigation applications, with room for future expansion.

When advancing businesses development efforts, main line sidings, short spurs and in-plant industrial trackage can cost upwards of $1 million/mile, and the question of who pays for it often arises. Watco says it has approached this aspect from all angles and has “found success in each of them.”

“We do utilize all grant funding that is available/applicable to us and the customer. However, I think it’s important to highlight that Watco has invested more than $600 million in customer growth and expansion projects over the past 10 years,” Boehme notes.

Depending on the scope, long-term traffic potential and public benefit, rail infrastructure investments may be shared among the customer, NS and public‑sector partners, GVP Industrial Development Craig Hudson tells Railway Age. “Norfolk Southern’s Industrial Development team works with customers early in the site‑planning process to evaluate rail design, operating requirements and commercial arrangements tied to new or expanding rail‑served facilities,” he says. “Our team also coordinates with state, local and economic development partners to help identify potential funding or incentive opportunities where available, working with communities, economic development agencies and customers to support projects that qualify for public funding or incentives tied to job creation, private investment and infrastructure development. 

“While funding availability and eligibility vary by project, location and program, rail‑served industrial development has supported billions of dollars in private investment across multiple states, demonstrating how public‑private collaboration can accelerate economic growth. In 2025 alone, NS customers advanced more than 60 rail‑served projects representing $7.7 billion in industry investment, often in partnership with local and regional stakeholders.”

Some of NS’s successful industrial development partnerships include an NS-served site in Huntsville, Ala., which will be home to Eli Lilly’s $6 billion advanced manufacturing campus, “a landmark investment for the state’s bioscience sector and a major win for the region’s economy,” Hudson notes. Additionally, an NS-served REDI site in Orangeburg, S.C., will be home to SODECIA AAPICO JV’s new $120 million manufacturing facility serving joint customer Scout Motors.

When asked what the railroad’s expected ROI (return on investment) is with some of these partnerships, Boehme says Watco doesn’t utilize a one-size-fits-all approach for these types of projects: “Each project is nuanced and all vary widely in size and scale. Our focus is to ensure that we reach an agreement with our customers mutually beneficial to both parties, and that promotes a long-term relationship centered on mutual growth and value.”

According to Hudson, NS evaluates ROI through “long‑term, sustainable freight growth, network utilization and customer retention rather than short‑term gains.” Rail‑served industrial projects are designed to generate recurring rail traffic over decades. NS currently has a pipeline of more than 500 manufacturing projects in the site‑selection phase, positioning us for future growth with customers both current and prospective.

When it comes to how a railroad makes using its services attractive to the customer, Boehme says he believes that Watco “offers a superior value to its customers.” 

“Speed to market, flexibility, multiple connectivity options to the larger North American rail network, and tailormade services for the customer are a few of the selling points that set us apart from other organizations in the space,” Boehme said. “Watco is unique in that in addition to our 48 railroads, we are one of the largest private terminal and port operators in North America and also have an expansive logistics business segment that allows us to build a complete supply chain solution for our customers.”

Watco notes it has served customers “safely and efficiently” since 1983. “We believe that walking alongside our customers in every aspect of their business will allow us to continue to grow well into the future,” says Boehme. “Having said that, we take the approach that we adapt our operating plans around our customers’ needs, not the other way around. We pride ourselves on listening to what our customers’ needs and pain points are and then developing solutions to exceed those needs.” 

“Shipping with NS offers customers a strategic supply‑chain advantage, enabling shippers to move high‑volume or heavy commodities in a safe, sustainable and cost-effective way,” Hudson says. “Through our NSites platform, customers can access information on hundreds of development‑ready properties, customized track planning and end‑to‑end industrial development support. By shipping on rail, customers can improve efficiency and reach new markets with a transportation solution that supports long‑term growth.” In 2025, NS brought on projects that support industries ranging from automotive and metals to paper, aggregates and emerging biotech, “demonstrating rail’s flexibility across sectors.”

According to Hudson, NS integrates new customers through a structured industrial development and operations planning process that begins “well before the first railcar moves.” The railroad’s Industrial Development team, he adds, collaborates with customers on site design, rail access and operations needs “to ensure new facilities can be efficiently served within the existing network.” 

The post Building Successful Industrial Development Spaces appeared first on Railway Age.

RAILWAY AGE. MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Now the No. 8 U.S. port by volume and still looking to grow, South Carolina Ports Authority boasts the deepest harbor on the  East Coast and “can handle any ship, any tide, any time.”

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), with two rail-served intermodal inland ports with daily, overnight service, delivers the benefits of a coastal marine terminal many miles inland and allows shippers to reduce carbon emissions up to 80% vs. all-truck service. SCPA, served by Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX, is investing $3 billion in capacity, trying to stay ahead of growing demand. Recently appointed SCPA President and CEO Micah Mallace late last year detailed a “pledge for aggressive growth” to 1,100 port customers and stakeholders during his first State of the Port address.

SCPA’s Port of Charleston “enjoys the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast, has secured a path to 10 million TEUs at its marine terminals, and has invested to ensure its rail capabilities match the growth occurring in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast,” the Authority noted. “Companies invested $8.19 billion in new and existing businesses in South Carolina over the past year. Of that, Port customers invested more than $786 million into new and expanding manufacturing facilities and distribution centers, adding 1,200 jobs and bringing new volume to the Port’s inland and ocean terminals.”

Ocean carriers also showed “a vote of confidence” in SC Ports’ capabilities within the U.S. Southeast market, SCPA said. The Port of Charleston grew its weekly services to 29 in 2025, including first-in-calls from key markets in Asia and Europe, and expanding coverage of the growing India market to six weekly services. 

The Authority noted that, combined, its eight freight terminals—Inland Port Dillon, Inland Port Greer, North Charleston Navy Base Intermodal Facility, Wando Welch, Leatherman, Columbus Street, Veterans and Union Pier—“outpace the U.S. market and other South Atlantic ports for growth in the Northeast Asia-U.S. trade lane. Post-COVID, the Port of Charleston’s volume has increased by 9% in this trade lane, compared to a decline of 2% at other regional ports.”

“SC Ports was the fastest growing U.S. container port for nearly a decade,” Mallace said. “We have done this before, and we can achieve it again. Generating growth necessitates a momentum change, and momentum change requires bold initiatives. This is a region where one can engineer above-market growth, and that is exactly what we intend to do.” Mallace said a multi-year effort includes plans to use SCPA real estate to “facilitate growth projects for businesses, help support projects with partners who generate growth, focus on revenue-generating infrastructure, and offer creative solutions and white-glove service to BCOs (Beneficial Cargo Owners).”

In July 2025, SCPA opened Navy Base Intermodal Facility (NBIF), a near-dock, rail-served cargo yard located on a 118-acre site on the former North Charleston Navy Base. NBIF allows import and export traffic to move between the Port of Charleston and Inland Ports Greer and Dillon, and on to inland markets throughout the Southeast and Midwest. NS and CSX serve NBIF.

NBIF, in which the State of South Carolina invested $550 million, features 78,000 linear feet of railroad track that can handle 14,000-foot-plus trains, and six electric rail-mounted gantry cranes to transfer containers between CSX and NS trains and trucks. A one-mile dedicated drayage road is used to truck cargo to and from Leatherman Terminal, and a planned barge service will transport containers between the Leatherman and Wando Welch terminals. Annual lift capacity is one million containers.

SCPA has also expanded Inland Port Greer to enable it to handle longer trains and 50% more cargo. 

SCPA’s shorter-term growth prospects are somewhat uncertain, though. Despite the strength of the U.S. Southeast market, “challenges persist,” and the Authority saw “tempered container volumes and stable growth in its 2025 fiscal year.” 

“As the three-year freight recession persists, spot rates are down, and volatility has become the new normal. The port market will continue to have to operate in a challenging environment,” Mallace told State of the Port attendees. “We see the same challenges as our competitors, but we are not satisfied with 3% year-over-year growth in the container segment.” 

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RAILWAY AGE, MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Improved carbody materials and innovative designs are transforming these long-lived warhorses into state-of-the-art railcars.

The general-purpose, open-top gondola has been a part of freight railroading since its beginnings nearly 200 years ago. But if you think these gondolas are “run of the mill” railcars, think again. New designs and new materials are helping these rugged, mostly all-purpose cars meet shipper demands for efficient, damage-free loading and unloading.

For this report, Railway Age asked The Greenbrier Companies, TrinityRail® and FreightCar America for their viewpoints on short- and long-term market conditions, including current and projected demands for new railcars (i.e. replacement of cars aging out of the North American interchange fleet; design improvements (i.e. types of steel or aluminum, carbody construction, etc.); and current R&D initiatives. 

“We continue to view the North American railcar market as operating below replacement levels—currently under 40,000 builds—as fleet owners largely remain on the sidelines amid ongoing trade and tariff uncertainty,” The Greenbrier Companies Vice President of Marketing and General Manager Tom Jackson tells Railway Age. “That said, we are beginning to see early signs of growth in select end markets, including biofuels, metals and certain specialty chemicals. Overall, the industry is entering a multi-year replacement cycle, as significant railcar builds from the 1980s approach the end of their service lives. This dynamic is most evident across core freight car types such as grain hoppers, boxcars and gondolas.

“As part of Greenbrier’s continuous improvement culture, our engineering teams evaluate railcar designs throughout the entire product lifecycle. We work closely with customers to tailor solutions that address their specific operational challenges and objectives. From a design and innovation standpoint, our engineers focus on increasing efficiency, improving aerodynamics, reducing tare weight, and optimizing loading configurations. To support these efforts, we explore alternative materials—including advanced steel grades—to reduce weight, increase payload capacity, and enhance durability. This is evident in the success of our high-strength steel gondola portfolio. In parallel, we continuously refine our facility layouts and production processes to drive efficiency while maintaining industry-leading safety standards.”

Jackson adds that Greenbrier “maintains a robust product development pipeline, with multiple prototypes currently in service and generating strong test results. These include several gondola configurations, CO₂ tank cars, boxcars utilizing alternative materials for doors and roofs, and new specialty railcar designs. Leveraging our global engineering footprint, we have incorporated proven design concepts from Europe and Brazil into North American offerings, allowing us to accelerate innovation and apply best practices across regions. That’s our integrated strength success, which separates us from other railcar suppliers.”

Greenbrier’s gondola portfolio spans a wide range of applications and is available in high strength, advanced high strength, and ultra high strength steel grades. “These materials are also being deployed across other railcar components, including boxcar structures, resulting in improved reliability, lower maintenance costs and extended service life for fleet owners,” notes Jackson. “In addition, we are launching a new family of advanced high strength rotary gondolas that are gaining strong traction in the mining sector. These designs deliver payload increases ranging from approximately 6,000 to 15,000 pounds while further enhancing durability. Our gondola offerings currently range  from 2,300 to 7,100 cubic feet, and we are actively developing one of the industry’s largest wood chip gondolas—8,200 cubic feet.

“We see tremendous upside in the mill gon market in both the short and long term,” TrinityRail® Chief Commercial Officer Charley Moore tells Railway Age. “The growth in Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel production has created a very efficient use of rail by enabling producers to load inbound carloads of scrap and outbound carloads of finished goods in the same car.”

The railcar market is constantly changing. One shift TrinityRail® has seen in recent years is the changing variety of mill gondolas in demand. “Shippers want to optimize their mill gons for the varying density of their products, which could include making the car lighter and creating more capacity with taller interior walls,” says Moore,” says Moore. “At TrinityRail®, we offer many different mill gon designs of varying length and capacities ranging from 2,743 to 6,400 cubic feet. With our design engineering expertise, we work directly with our customers to create a railcar specification that meets the customer’s needs and maximizes the safe loading capacity for the products that they ship. 

“Some of the markets served by gondolas demonstrated strength last year with Iron & Steel Scrap carloads up almost 10%, and Nonmetallic Minerals (Aggregates) up almost 2%. Attrition will also continue over the next few years, showing a need for railcars to serve both market growth and replacement of aging railcars. There have been more than 25,000 gondolas built in the past five years, with most of them serving the metals markets (mill gons and coil cars). With attrition and growing demand, we expect that trend to continue into the near future.”

“Similar to the demand environment we see with many car types, gondola deliveries are largely tied to the replacement of aging fleets, FreightCar America Chief Commercial Officer Matt Tonn tells Railway Age. “This is also supported by inquiry levels. There are indicators that the demand for gondolas will remain consistent with what we have seen in the past few years, driven primarily by strong retirements expected through 2030 and largely tied to scrap steel demand.”

Higher-yield steels “are more acceptable for customers today than at any time in recent history,” Tonn notes. “Collaboration with customers to gain deeper insights into their operating environment, as well as fleet planning and maintenance challenges, continues to drive our focus on new railcar designs and enhancements. Gondolas are a staple car type in the rail industry that serve multiple industries and market segments. From steel and metal products to aggregates, coal and construction materials, gondolas represent one of the largest carload segments in our industry. 

“Over the decades, FreightCar America has introduced multiple enhancements to its gondola designs, starting with the all-aluminum Bethgon coal car. With nearly 300,000 coal cars delivered, these lightweight designs vastly increased carload capacity over the older generation steel car designs. On our conventional mill and aggregate gondolas, we’ve introduced increased use of high-strength steels, which have become more acceptable to customers in today’s market. The use of these materials, along with refined designs, including reinforced top chords, side sills and corner connections, not only delivers a more robust ‘purpose-built’ car design, but also reduces weight and enhances capacity, efficiency and utility.” 

For the aggregate market, FreightCar America has developed a new line of railcars that Tonn says “are specifically tailored to customers shipping highly corrosive commodities. Our patented Gold, Silver and Bronze Aggregate cars incorporate high-strength carbon and stainless-steel materials in select areas, assuring long life of the rail asset, even in the harshest carload environments. The VersaCoil gondola has benefited from many of the standard gondola design enhancements, resulting in a class-leading lightweight design that provides maximum configurability of loading coils from 30 to 108 inches (2.5 to 9 feet). The VersaCoil gis are available in 5, 7, 9 and 10 trough configurations and are customizable to meet specific car owner load configuration requirements, including an optional insulated coil cover.”

FreightCar America’s Engineering team “is foundational to who we are—driving railcar design development, continuous enhancements and the disciplined innovation that keeps our railcars performing in the field,” adds Tonn. “We partner closely with customers to understand real operational challenges and translate those insights into practical design improvements and fit-for-purpose features. That collaboration, combined with deep technical expertise, allows us to deliver railcar solutions tailored to specific commodities, loading practices and maintenance requirements. The result is a railcar design that’s not only robust and reliable, but purpose-built for each customer’s operation.” 

The post Not Your ‘Run of the Mill’ Gondolas appeared first on Railway Age.

ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2026 ISSUE: Short line railroading is a growth-focused industry, and ASLRRA’s primary goal is to provide opportunities to promote that growth through engagement, education, training and connections. As this column goes to print, we are in between the two events that offer the very best of those opportunities: Railroad Day on Capitol Hill and ASLRRA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition.

To keep America’s freight moving the rail industry needs strong public policies that help railroads invest in infrastructure, improve safety, and create value for customers. That was the message more than 350 Class I, Class II, Class III and rail supplier industry representatives delivered to 300-plus Congressional offices during a highly successful March 4 fly-in advocacy day in Washington, D.C. 

For short lines and regionals, the specific message was about securing the much-needed update of the 45G tax credit to account for inflation, securing continued robust funding of the CRISI grant program, opposing the never-ending effort to increase truck size and weights, and streamlining federal permitting to allow investment grant dollars to be put to work faster. In today’s oversaturated digital world, the opportunity to talk face to face with elected officials about the real-life impact of a 45G track rehabilitation project that reduced derailments for a local shipper or a CRISI project that saved a local bridge from collapsing is truly a golden opportunity. 

Nobody tells the story of short line railroading better than the people who live it!

And nowhere is the successful result more apparent than in the growing number of House and Senate co-sponsors of our 45G tax credit update bills. Every one of these co-sponsors has been earned one at a time by an individual short line contact with his or her individual congressperson. Going into Railroad Day on Capitol Hill, we had 149 House co-sponsors and 37 Senate co-sponsors. The numbers ultimately needed will be higher, but even today, both bills are among the most co-sponsored in this Congressional session. Importantly, they are also two of the most bi-partisan legislative efforts navigating the difficult terrain of a bitterly partisan landscape.

Railroad Day on Capitol Hill is an important educational tool, but equally important is a show of force that demonstrates our geographical reach and our ties to thousands of small business customers and local communities that would otherwise be cut off from the national rail network and the U.S. economy. I am grateful for the many short line and supplier members that took the time and effort to make that show as impressive as possible, and hope that even more will do so in
the future.

On April 12-14, more than 1,700 individuals will converge on Minneapolis for ASLRRA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition. This three day event is the most efficient and productive way to learn, to connect, and to focus on understanding the forces driving change in our industry. It is the short line industry’s premier event featuring top tier speakers, more than 40 hours of educational workshops, an exhibit hall with more than 200 industry suppliers showcasing their wares, and dozens of opportunities to network with colleagues and potential
business partners.

This year’s keynotes speakers include Federal Railroad Administrator David Fink, BNSF President and CEO Katie Farmer, and Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark George. The educational workshops will feature nearly 50 breakout sessions led by industry experts on 12 subjects—everything from engineering to finance to marketing to technology to safety, and many more. It will literally cover the bases from A to Z on running a modern short line railroad and will be as good a tool as a short line can get in advancing the knowledge and skills of its workforce and in understanding the newest and best practices being used to build a better short line industry. 

Rounding out this excellent program, which ASLRRA staff has worked tirelessly to develop, will be presentations of our annual awards, including the Business Development Awards, our Hall of Fame inductees, the Distinguished Service Award, and Safety Person and Professional of the Year—projects and people who represent some of the best of our best. 

While there is always much to discuss and learn at this annual short line event, this year’s meeting will be held in the shadow of the proposed Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern transaction application. It goes without saying that no other 2026 industry gathering will have such a large number of attendees who have a detailed understanding of the regulatory process, are well versed in the details of the proposal, and are stakeholders critically impacted one way or the other by the outcome. 

ASLRRA’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition is a unique opportunity for every short line to do a deep dive into the merger issues and to discuss the potential pros and cons with your colleagues. It is an opportunity not to be missed and there is still time to get in on the action. www.aslrra.org/events/conference/ provides registration and hotel information and is constantly updated with late-breaking program information.

See you there! 

The post We Need Strong Public Policies. It’s Up to You! appeared first on Railway Age.