U.S. rail traffic a mixed bag in Week 44

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11/9/2023

Rail News: Rail Industry Trends

U.S. rail traffic a mixed bag in Week 44

U.S. carload traffic fell 5.2% to 224,415 units, but intermodal volume climbed 1.5% to 260,342 containers and trailers in the week ending Nov. 4 compared with the same period in 2022, according to Association of American Railroads data. ... Combined, U.S. railroads reported 484,757 carloads and intermodal units for the week, down 1.7% year over year.

Three of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks every week posted increases compared with the same week in 2022. They were motor vehicles and parts, 2.5%; petroleum and petroleum products, 2.9%; and farm products, excluding grain, and food, 1.6%. ... Commodity groups that posted decreases included grain, -14.6%; coal, -4.4%; and nonmetallic minerals, -7.6%.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads in the week transported 97,307 carloads, up 2.5%; and 67,421 intermodal units, down 10.7%. Mexican railroads moved 15,467 carloads, up 24.2%; and 11,670 intermodal units, up 29.6%.

For the first 44 weeks of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022:
• U.S. railroads reported 20,586,243 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7%;
• Canadian railroads posted 7,008,124 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.4%; and
• Mexican railroads logged 1,239,496 carloads, containers and trailers, up 3.4%.

[cachukis]

1. Appreciate. Did not know of this tracking.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. There was (or is) an instructor at Virginia Tech who tracked (or tracks) pallet manufacturing.

It was an indicator of where the economy was headed.

There used to be a DUer who followed the Baltic Exchange Dry Index.

No, I don't know what that is. But it's important.

And good afternoon. Rain is moving in here.

[cachukis]

3. I listen to the rail traffic bringing cars from the port

to the distribution center. Love the minutiae.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Where do you live? You might be able to watch the trains on TV. NT.

[cachukis]

5. In Tampa. One of the coolest places I've ever been

was at the Golden Spike in North Platte, NE. It is the largest switching station in the world. Trains get dismantled and reassembled by gravity. The cars are separated at the top of a hill and are rolled down and switched to their next destination track.
I grew up in Boston and my childhood friend's father worked for the T. Occassionally, on weekends, he would take us into the yard where they repaired the cars. They would be backed into a housing and lifted to attend to the trucks.
My friend and I put together a repair station in his basement and we would redesign our pull wagons. We would assemble 5 of them and pull them up and down my street picking up passengers and dropping them off. Right out of the Little Rascals. 1950's fun.
Have a fascination with trains and their impact on American history.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. I waste a lot of time watching Virtual Railfan and Railstream on the TV.

https://virtualrailfan.com/

They have several locations on YouTube.

https://railstream.net/

Not on YouTube, but still a few locations.

Enjoy.

[cachukis]

7. Cool. Thanks.