Miscellaneous

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Miscellaneous

Rail Freight Traffic Remains Down from Year Ago

April 30, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads remained sharply down from a year ago during the week ended April 25, the Association of American Railroads reported. U.S. railroads originated 260,652 cars during the week, down 22.4 percent from the comparison week in 2008, although up 2.1 percent from the previous week this year. In comparison with last year, loadings were down 20.7 percent in the West and 24.7 percent in the East. Eighteen of 19 carload commodity groups were down from last year, with only the catch-all category of all other carloads defying the trend and showing a 12.8 percent
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Miscellaneous

AAR: Sharp Decline Reported in Rail Freight Traffic

April 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was off sharply during the week ended April 18 in comparison with a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported April 23. U.S. railroads originated 255,269 cars during the week, down 24.3 percent from the comparison week in 2008, although up 2.8 percent from the previous week this year. In comparison with last year, loadings were down 20.6 percent in the West and 28.6 percent in the East. All 19 carload commodity groups were down from last year, with declines ranging from 9.3 percent for grain mill products to 63.6 percent for
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Miscellaneous

Freight Rail’s New Carbon Calculator Touts ‘Green’ Advantage

April 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Shipping freight by rail instead over road not only eases traffic congestion, but drastically reduces CO2 emissions, as evidenced by the Association of American Railroads’ new interactive carbon calculator. For all shipments measured, the CO2 footprint was significantly smaller when moved by rail rather than by truck. One calculation reports that 1,088 tons of CO2 would be eliminated by moving 100 cars of fresh and frozen food from Washington, DC to Portland, OR by train instead of by truck. The calculator estimates that it would take 25,323 tree seedlings 10 years to remove the same amount of carbon
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Miscellaneous

Weather, Slow Economy Produce Rail Freight Traffic Decline

April 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Bad weather in Wyoming and the Upper Midwest combined with the slow economy to produce another down week for U.S. rail freight traffic during the first week of April, the Association of American Railroads reported today. U.S. railroads reported originating 262,624 cars during the week, down 20.5 percent from the comparison week in 2008, with loadings down 19.4 percent in the West and 22.0 percent in the East. Intermodal volume of 184,845 trailers or containers was off 14.7 percent from last year, with container volume falling 9.0 percent and trailer volume dropping 34.0 percent. Total volume was estimated
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Miscellaneous

STB Vice Chair, Rail Marketing Chiefs are 2009 NARS Meeting Attractions

April 7, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
CHICAGO — Surface Transportation Board vice Chairman Charles D. Nottingham and a panel of railroad marketing chiefs will highlight the 2009 North American Rail Shippers meeting. The meeting will be held May 26-28 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Chicago. James R. Young, chairman of the Association of American Railroads and chairman, president and CEO of the Union Pacific, will offer his perspectives about the railroad industry. “The annual NARS meeting — ‘On Track for the Future’ — is an excellent opportunity to hear the top marketing officers from all eight major North American railroads,” said NARS Executive Director Leo
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Miscellaneous

Wabtec Forms Joint Venture to Manufacture Brake Equipment for Chinese Rail Market

April 7, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Corp. has formed a 50-50 joint venture in China to manufacture brake equipment for the Chinese rail market. The joint venture is owned by Wabtec and Shenyang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Railways Brakes Co. Ltd., the largest manufacturer of locomotive and freight car brake equipment in China. “This investment builds on our existing presence in China, the largest rail market outside of North America,” said Albert J. Neupaver, Wabtec’s president and chief executive officer. “Our capabilities and technology will be valuable assets in this rapidly growing market.” The joint venture company, Shenyang CNR Wabtec Railway Brake
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Miscellaneous

AAR: Rail Freight Traffic Down in March

April 6, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down again during March, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported April 2. U.S. railroads originated 1,082,514 carloads of freight in March 2009, down 17.3 percent (226,279 carloads) from March 2008. U.S. intermodal rail traffic, which consists of trailers and containers on flat cars and is not included in carload figures, totaled 729,033 units in March 2009, down 14.9 percent (127,371 trailers and containers) compared to March 2008. For the first three months of 2009, total U.S. rail carloadings were down 16.3 percent (636,192 carloads) to 3,259,097 carloads, while intermodal traffic was
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Miscellaneous

Train Show Features Models, Memorabilia and More

April 4, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
NORCROSS, Ga. – The Great Train Expo hit town this weekend, offering everyone from avid railfans to first-timers the chance to peruse an assortment of railroad memorabilia, model trains and everything in between. Atlanta resident Ruth Mitcham attended her first train show. She enjoyed the show’s atmosphere, especially the model train layouts. “It’s just interesting to see this many people doing what they love,” she said as she watched a Florida East Coast locomotive pulling a mixed freight train on the Georgia Division of the Atlantic Coast S Gaugers’ layout. “Everybody seems to take such joy in it.” The Great
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Commuter Rail

10.7 Billion Trips Taken on U.S. Public Transportation in 2008

March 27, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
Despite falling gas prices and an economic recession, increasing numbers of Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, the highest level of ridership in 52 years and a modern ridership record, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This represents a 4 percent increase over the number of trips taken in 2007 on public transportation, while at the same time, vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the nation’s roads declined by 3.6 percent in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. “Even as gas prices fell for the second half of