April 2025 – Railfanning.org

San Joaquin Valley Railroad to Continue Leasing 101.5 Miles of Rail From Union Pacific

April 18, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

San Joaquin Valley Railroad Co., a Class III railroad, filed a notice with the Surface Transportation Board to continue leasing and operating 101.5 miles of rail lines from Union Pacific Railroad.

NJ Transit Locomotive Engineers Reject Tentative Contract

April 17, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

NJ Transit locomotive engineers, represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, have overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract offer from the railroad.

Class III Carrier Files to Extend Trackage Rights Agreement in Oklahoma, Texas

April 17, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

Grainbelt Corporation, a Class III rail carrier, has filed a verified notice of exemption with the Surface Transportation Board to extend the term of the previously amended local trackage rights on trackage owned by BNSF Railway.

CSX Files to Abandon 7.5-Mile Rail Line in Bergen County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York

April 17, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

CSX Transportation has filed a notice with the Surface Transportation Board to discontinue service over a roughly 7.5-mile rail line in Bergen County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York.

CSX Reports Lower First Quarter 2025 Operating Income

April 16, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

CSX Corp. announced its first quarter 2025 operating income of more than $1 billion, down 27% from more than $1.3 billion in the prior year.

Feds Ending $60 Million Grant for Texas High-Speed Rail Project

April 16, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak to terminate the $63.9 million grant awarded to Amtrak under the Corridor Identification and Development Program for the Amtrak Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor, previously known as the Texas Central Railway project.

Amtrak, NJ Transit Highlight Infrastructure and Equipment Improvements and Future Work

April 15, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

Amtrak and NJ Transit joined New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy for a working summit ahead of the busy summer 2025 travel season in New Jersey and hoping to avoid another “Summer of Hell.”

Measure Would Create a Coordinated Federal Response to Organized Retail Crime

April 15, 2025 Railfanning.org News Wire

U.S. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and U.S. Rep. David Joyce introduced the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) to create a coordinated federal response to the mounting wave of sophisticated attacks against the nation’s supply chain and retailers.

Let’s start by defining what constitutes a railroad oddity

April 14, 2025 Todd DeFeo

I’ve been thinking about what oddities happened on the rails — and how to define oddity. In all the talks that I’ve given, something interesting has emerged.