Step onto the captivating world of Hotrail Productions, where the magic of lights, camera, and trains combines to create an unforgettable experience. I travel all over the country photographing railroad history in the making. My footage dates back to 1995. Whether it's a thrilling action sequence or a heartwarming romantic scene, the railway has long been a favorite setting for filmmakers and TV producers.
A southbound Canandian National freight train passes the Lake Villa
Metra station. Note the UP AC4400CW trailing. The two CN units are an
EMD SD75I and a GE C40-8M.
SEE OUR CN PLAYLIST!
▶️https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBqtxbEoDQZijhVBLUVIrGRGXa7OIZMR&si=eK8I6efmdDoHCdeH
💵 SUPPORT US VIA PAYPAL!
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&
📺 Discover
How to Skyrocket Your Video Views on YouTube! 🟥 UNLOCK AMAZING FREE
TOOLS For Your YouTube Channel: Tubebuddy (For GROWTH on YouTube):
https://www.tubebuddy.com/MR77100
Amtrak's eastbound THREE RIVERS rolls into Fostoria, Ohio, running about
twenty minutes late! Experience the unique sound of the Amtrak Genesis
horn with its distinctive muffled tone, led by GE P42's 77 and 13. Don’t
miss the impressive lineup of roadrailers on the rear and the classic
Heritage coach up front. This footage is a piece of history, showcasing a
routing no longer used by Amtrak. Filmed on May 27, 2000.
Dive into our Amtrak playlist!☛▶️
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBqtxbEoDQZBDDl0nAg2ngBMQ3Bev3VZ&si=7zftgGlD6EAgWH0L
https://youtu.be/JDvoPGCIweE?si=UpDHJLhVNIrgzB7S&t=5
Jim Vena says growth targets and UP-Norfolk Southern merger benefits exceeded initial estimates
Five locomotives power a westbound Union Pacific stack train at Lombard, Ill., on Dec. 20, 2025. David Lassen
OMAHA, Neb. — The 6,692-page merger application that Union Pacific
and Norfolk Southern submitted to federal regulators last week
underscores the benefits of the first U.S. transcontinental merger, UP
CEO Jim Vena says.
Vena came to Union Pacific as CEO in August 2023 with a transcon
merger on his to-do list — and has touted the UP-NS combination as a win
for customers, employees, the nation, and the economy.
Vena read every page of the application. “What popped out was
actually the strength of what’s possible for customers … with this
combined railroad,” he says. “It really popped out.”
The experts UP and NS hired to delve into the growth potential of a
railroad that can provide seamless, coast-to-coast service projected
that within three years the combined system will take 2 million trucks
off the highway annually and, in the process, bring 1.4 new million
intermodal loads and 425,000 carloads to the expanded Union Pacific.
Those figures, Vena says, exceed the expectations that UP and NS had
while in merger talks earlier this year. “When the experts looked at it …
they showed us how it’s even better than what we thought,” he says.
Overall, the railroads are projecting 11% growth by year three of the
merger, compared to the combined UP-NS traffic from the base year of
2023.
The application points out that interline merchandise traffic moving
between 1,000 and 1,500 miles costs customers an average of 35% more
than a comparable move involving just one railroad.
“What people miss is those handoffs — those times that you move
traffic from one railroad to the other — cost you time and money,” Vena
says.
The merger application includes 2,000 letters of support, some 500 of
them from railroad customers. But BNSF Railway, Canadian National, and
Canadian Pacific Kansas City oppose the UP-NS combo, saying it’s not
necessary, will hurt rail competition, and runs the risk of widespread
integration-related service failures.
BNSF last month asked the Surface Transportation Board to review
Union Pacific’s compliance with conditions that the board imposed to
preserve competition after UP’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific.
BNSF argues that UP has sought to block its right to access customers
who were once served by both UP and SP. [See “BNSF asks STB to review…,” Trains.com, Dec. 1, 2025]
If the STB were to take up the case, it would put UP in the awkward
position of simultaneously arguing that the UP-NS merger enhances
competition while also having to defend itself against allegations that
it has engaged in anticompetitive behavior related to its last big
merger.
Vena finds it hard to believe that the STB would opt to reopen a deal
that was decided nearly three decades ago. “It’s just not gonna
happen,” he says.
“I think it’s a tactic that they’re using,” Vena says of BNSF. “The facts aren’t there.”
Any railroad, Vena says, can go to the STB and say UP is not living up to its promises to maintain competition.
“And people have done that,” he says, noting that BNSF failed to
convince the STB that it should be able to access a pair of UP-served
quarries. BNSF has asked the board to reconsider in light of additional
information it dug up related to the quarries it wants to serve in Texas
and Arkansas. [See “BNSF questions Union Pacific’s compliance…,” Trains.com, Nov. 25, 2025.]
By and large, UP and BNSF get along well, Vena says. “Most things we
agree on. We operate railroads together. We operate terminals together …
And we do that every day,” he says. “And then, once in a while, we
disagree with what some agreement said.”
Vena expected that other Class I railroads would oppose the UP-NS
merger. “They know competitively they have a competitor that’s going to
be able to provide a high level of service at a better price,” he says.
Rival railroads will have to drop their rates in order to compete
with UP, Vena contends. “I feel sorry for them — and not,” he says.
Other railroads are free to seek their own mergers, Vena says. “They
can afford it, especially Berkshire,” he says of BNSF owner Berkshire
Hathaway, which has a cash stockpile of around $350 billion.
But Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett has said the company is not interested in pursuing a rail merger.
The STB is reviewing the UP-NS merger to ensure that it satisfies
regulatory requirements. Once the application is accepted, the board
will review the $85 billion deal under tougher rules adopted in 2001,
which require mergers to enhance competition and be in the public
interest.
Additional power will help bolster the newest Class I's roster
Less
than 1-month old, new KCS ET44AC No. 5022 leads a train into East St.
Louis, Ill., on April 2, 2019. The new CPKC ET44AC order beginning
delivery in 2025 will increase the number of ET44ACs on the roster to
203 units. Chris Guss
CPKC will receive some much-needed motive power help starting next year in the form of a 170-unit order of new locomotives from Wabtec.
The railroad has been heavily
spending on capacity work across its combined system to support new
traffic and motive power has been in short supply to move tonnage across
its network. The order consists of 170 ET44ACs with delivery expected
to be spread across a number of years considering the large amount of
rebuild orders Wabtec already has committed to. Road numbers and
reporting marks for the new power hasn’t been disclosed yet.
The ET44ACs will join an existing
fleet of 33 ET44ACs, eight of which have recently joined the roster.
These eight were a canceled Baffinland Iron Mines order in Canada
that were selected from General Electric’s field test units. The other
25 ET44ACs were purchased new before the merger by Kansas City Southern
in 2019. The 25 former Kansas City Southern units are the most reliable
power on CPKC’s roster and are performing very well.
Prior
to the merger in 2023, Canadian Pacific had been the lone holdout
across Class I railroads in adding Tier 4-compliant locomotives, not
purchasing new units for over a decade before the CPKC merger. It
instead opted to rebuild existing GE and EMD AC traction locomotives,
the latter of which were long stored on the railroad. Canadian Pacific’s
SD9043MAC fleet was rebuilt to SD70ACUs in 2019 and 2020, adding 60
additional units to Canadian Pacific’s active roster. Canadian Pacific’s
last new power purchase was in 2012 when it bought 30 ES44ACs from
General Electric.
🛩️Drone For Lofty Railfanning! https://geni.us/drone720
===============================================================================
At New Underwood, South Dakota, a trio of RCP&E SD40's bring a grain train past a derailment site and an FRA inspection truck. Filmed on October 20, 2020.
================================================================================ 📸
These images were taken on May 25, 2023 at Hanna, Indiana, and document the mock-up PRR Position Light Signal that replaced the original eastbound home signal. This was the Pennsylvania Railroad's Chicago-Pittsburgh mainline that was once double-track and featured over 100 trains a day! Now it has been truncated to a single-track dark railroad that is owned by CSX and leased to G&W. This signal guards the diamond with former C&O (Perre Marquette) branch line from Wellsboro to La Crosse, which is now owned by Indiana Boxcar,
.png)
