New railroad open at Indiana Ports of Mt. Vernon
Narrow Gauge Day on Colorado’s historic railroad
Michigan Central Railroad Depot in Vassar – Rail Legacy Still on Track
Free train rides and family fun at Alaska Railroad open house May 3 in Anchorage
Railroad members! If you want to be featured in this section, please email us the link. You can also tag us (@ASLRRA) in your social media posts. Interested in seeing your railroad showcased in your local newspaper? Contact Amy Krouse for assistance.
Railroad Day on Capitol Hill is right around the corner, but coordinating an industry-wide advocacy event is only one of the ways ASLRRA’s team has been working in Washington, D.C. on behalf of its members.
Congress will in short order draft bill text for surface transportation and budget appropriations for fiscal year 2026. Also on the horizon is a tax bill – all of which are opportunities for short lines to ensure that our priorities are well-considered. ASLRRA has provided funding requests to appropriators in both the House and Senate, and is scheduling one-on-one meetings with appropriate committee staff members.
On April 10, ASLRRA President Chuck Baker participated in a stakeholder listening session held by staff from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials who are beginning to prepare surface transportation legislation.
Participants had the opportunity to discuss their priorities for surface transportation reauthorization. Baker’s comments highlighted robust funding for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grants, reasonable rail safety regulations, modal equity and rejection of longer, heavier trucks on roads, and funding for other programs like the Short Line Safety Institute, Operation Lifesaver and rail crossing elimination and improvement.
Other organizations at the listening session included the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the National League of Cities, Class I railroad representatives and representatives from ASLRRA member holding companies Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services Inc. and Watco.
The railroad subcommittee will also hold a hearing on May 6 focused primarily on rail grants. While the event has not yet been posted on the House T&I Committee calendar and details are still being finalized, ASLRRA expects a short line industry representative to participate.
ASLRRA’s government affairs team also continues to conduct outreach to build support for H.R. 516, the Short Line Railroad Tax Credit Modernization Act. The bill now has 52 cosponsors, 36 Republicans and 16 Democrats, from 25 states. Maps tracking cosponsor numbers are available on ASLRRA’s short line tax credit policy webpage.
The Association can help those interested in reaching out to their elected officials to encourage support for the short line tax credit and has developed templates and other resources to that end. Contact Richard Sherman or Nicole Brewin for assistance.
You can help ASLRRA advocate for the rail industry in person by attending Railroad Day on Capitol Hill, which will be held May 7 in Washington, D.C. Already, there are 304 individuals registered to participate and over 217 meetings scheduled. Register to attend today!
On April 7 the Federal Railroad Administration’s Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Working Group issued a SOFA Alert concerning a recent fatality.
The incident occurred when a railroad employee was crushed between two railcars during switching operations. Although the SOFA Working Group has not yet analyzed the case, the alert reminds employees to remain vigilant when conducting switching operations; stop movement in times of uncertainty and hold a job briefing when the job or situation changes.
ASLRRA updates its website with various industry notices, including SOFA Alerts, notifications from the FRA Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee and more. Find the Safety Alerts, Reports and Advisories webpage in the Safety & Compliance section of ASLRRA’s website.
A new Safety Advisory from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) aims to bring industry attention to the potential for unintended switch movement of Grand Master 4000 and 4000A switch machines. Improper machine configuration could provide power to the switch machine controller when locking is in effect.
The cause of a recent derailment was an improperly configured Grand Master 4000A switch machine amplifier, which resulted in unintended movement underneath a train. The amplifer was configured in the 3-wire position instead of the intended 4-wire position. Further investigation has shown that the Grand Master 4000 machine has the same design and therefore poses the same risk if improperly configured.
The Safety Advisory describes the machine configurations in detail and explains how errors can occur. Also provided are seven recommended actions railroads can take to reduce the possibility of this mistake occurring. Recommendations include performing locking tests for these machines, ensuring employees are trained to verify correct wiring configuration and more.
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy will hold a Small Business Roundtable on April 30 to discuss repealing or reforming anti-competitive regulations. ASLRRA plans to participate.
The roundtable is intended to collect feedback from stakeholders in response to two requests from federal agencies for information on anti-competitive laws and regulations, such as those that undermine the free market and harm consumers and that reduce entrepreneurship and innovation. One is from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force and the other is a request for information from the Federal Trade Commission.
ASLRRA members that want to identify a particular regulation or point of view for the Association to discuss at the roundtable should contact ASLRRA’s Jo Strang.
Representative Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) attended the grand opening of a new Annandale Millwork/Allied Systems manufacturing facility in Salem, New Jersey, which will be served by ASLRRA member SMS Rail Service.
The event included a tour of the facility, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the presentation of a Congressional proclamation by Rep. Van Drew. There was also a photo opportunity with the first load of lumber being delivered to the manufacturing plant. Annandale makes doors, windows, trim, framing and other components for residential builders.
SMS Rail, Annandale and Mannington Mills, Inc. worked together to bring Annandale to New Jersey, taking advantage of available manufacturing infrastructure at a Mannington Mills facility. The new business will bring 50 jobs to the area and add 120 carloads annually for SMS Rail.
Inviting elected officials like Rep. Van Drew to these types of events allows them to see how railroads serve local businesses and how partnerships between railroads and public and private entities can boost economic development. Railroads can also take advantage of such visits to talk more with lawmakers in attendance about short lines and ways to support them.
During government recesses, when many elected officials are back in their hometowns, ASLRRA encourages its members to reach out to their representatives and schedule a visit or meeting. Contact Crystal Gitchell for assistance in these efforts.
Representative Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) attended the grand opening of a new ASLRRA-member-served manufacturing facility in New Jersey. During the event Rep. Van Drew (far right) presented a congressional proclamation to company representatives.
Mansfield Energy is the trusted partner to fleets and organizations across North America – solving their most-demanding energy procurement, supply, and logistics challenges. Founded in 1957, Mansfield Energy is a family-owned organization headquartered in Georgia and operating in every U.S. state and all 10 Canadian provinces. It provides reliable fuel supply, logistics, DEF, additives, and strategic solutions. In addition to owning dedicated assets, Mansfield represents the largest independent fuel distribution network in the country, the DeliveryONE Network, which enables it to deliver products and services exclusively to more customers in extremely efficient ways. Mansfield Energy delivers over 3 billion gallons of fuel and complementary products annually to 8,000+ customers across the U.S. and Canada. Strategic Account Executive Scott Witt is our primary contact and can be reached at (770) 842-2899. ASLRRA thanks Mansfield for exhibiting at our annual conference & exhibition in Denver earlier this month.
What are the latest ways Association members can engage with ASLRRA? What is ASLRRA’s most recent call-to-action? Below are some of the different types of information the Association would love to gather.
ASLRRA’s two newest Member Discount Program Preferred Providers, Wi-Tronix and Aon, offer valuable products and services to Association members.
Wi-Tronix provides digital onboard solutions. Short line railroads can use the company’s Violet Edge system to operate locomotives smarter, safer and more efficiently. The Violet Edge solution includes locomotive installed hardware with options for adding video and compliance tracking.
Violet 830 hardware provides real-time locomotive tracking capabilities along with live monitoring of fuel usage, fuel monitoring, and excess idle reporting. The Violet 800 series hardware includes all the functions of the Violet 830 and is also an FRA-approved event recorder (ER), digital video recorder (DVR), and PTC recorder.
Aon provides workforce assessments. Association members have access to discount pricing from Aon and exceptional solutions and service from Aon’s Talent Assessment team.
Aon is the world’s leading enterprise solution provider for the most accurate and fair pre-hire talent assessments at scale and has assessed more than one million candidates for North American railroads over the past decade. Aside from the delivery of talent assessments and candidate scores and reporting, other solutions and services available to ASLRRA members include job analysis, test development, predictive analytics/validation, implementation, continuous improvement on assessment performance and analytics to evaluate return on investment.
For more on Wi-Tronix and a full listing of products available, members can login and click here. For more on Aon, click here. To join ASLRRA’s Member Discount Program, contact ASLRRA’s Senior Vice President, Education and Business Services Sabrina Waiss.
Six training seminars remain in 2025, offering rail industry professionals the opportunity to bolster leadership skills and improve understanding of various federal regulations.
Provides an overview of the federal agencies that regulate railroads in addition to federal regulations 101 and leadership qualities for managers.
Includes classroom and hands-on field training covering compliance requirements of locomotives and railcars from a mechanical employee’s perspective.
Offers an in-depth review and discussion of Part 243 Minimum Training Standards to ensure railroads have a complete understanding of the requirements, tools and resources, as well as available templates, plans and policies.
Provides railroad managers with training on DSLE responsibilities, including application and administration of 49 CFR Part 240 and Part 242 similarities and differences, and Part 217 railroad operating rules.
Offers an in-depth review of Part 225 to ensure railroads have a complete understanding of the rule and available resources related to accident/incident reporting, includes classroom discussions of requirements.
Intended for railroads that have adopted the GCOR as their operating rules and may be used to meet operating rules training as required by 49 CFR Part 240, 242 and 214 Subpart C.
Follow the links above to learn more about each event and register.
In order to help employees of small railroads attend these seminars, ASLRRA offers two scholarships, the Doug Golden Scholarship and the Jake Jacobson Memorial Scholarship.
Doug Golden Scholarships award up to $1,200 to help cover registration, travel and lodging fees for industry-specific training, while the Jake Jacobson Memorial Scholarship awards $500 to cover registration for an ASLRRA training seminar. Use the links above to apply for a scholarship online.
Amy Westerman and Lauren Schlechte traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota this week to conduct a site visit for next year’s Annual Conference, which will take place April 12 to 14, 2026.
Chuck Baker and Nicole Brewin participated in the Hill Day on the Railroad event featuring a congressional visit to ASLRRA member Maryland Midland Railway. The event was hosted by Maryland Midland Railway parent company Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services Inc.
ASLRRA has offered webinars addressing Part 219, control of alcohol and drug use, and offered valuable information on regulatory requirements, testing programs and issues and available educational materials. Recordings of these important webinars are available any time to ASLRRA members. Look for the following titles in ASLRRA’s On-Demand Webinar Library:
Visit ASLRRA’s webinar homepage and log in to view all the on-demand offerings in the Association’s webinar library.
Views & News is published by American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Please contact Mariel Takamura, associate editor, with questions or comments.
