Norfolk Southern

Gov. Jim Pillen joined Nebraska business leaders Thursday in throwing more support behind the proposed marriage of Omaha-based Union Pacific and Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern as the railroads filed an amended merger application with federal regulators.

Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, will journey to the East Coast for the first time in collaboration with Norfolk Southern, as part of a historic coast-to-coast tour as both railroads celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The tour includes a Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia, major display events in eight cities and more than 50 whistle-stops in 10 states, including stops for the first time in Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. This is the first time Big Boy has steamed across the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley since it was

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are back at the Surface Transportation Board with an amended merger application, again pitching their tie-up as the deal that will create America’s first “transcontinental” railroad — and insisting the revised filing is even more airtight than the first.