CN
CN on Oct. 8 reported setting a grain movement record last month. The Class I railroad moved more than 2.91 million metric tons of grain from Western Canada, higher than the previous record set for the month by 80,000 metric tons.
“As the harvest season moves into its final stages, our teams are working closely with customers to keep grain moving steadily through the supply chain,” CN Interim Chief Commercial Officer Janet Drysdale said. “September’s results highlight our continued focus on delivering our customers’ goods safely and efficiently to market.”
CN’s report on grain movement in Western Canada for week 8 of the grain calendar. (Courtesy of CN)
Following are highlights from the railroad’s 2025–2026 grain plan, which was released over the summer:
- Capacity to Meet Demand: CN anticipates moving 27.0 MMT to 29.5 MMT of grain and processed grain products during the 2025–2026 crop year. The railroad said it has “sufficient resources in place to meet demand under normal operating conditions.”
- Supply Chain Coordination: CN said it is changing the way it distributes empty hopper cars originating from West Coast ports to improve visibility and planning with customers. Instead of distributing cars from major rail hubs in the Prairies, CN said it will distribute cars as they depart Vancouver. Customers will also have “enhanced visibility” on tracking their rail shipments through CN’s rail shipment tracking tool.
- End-to-End Transparency: According to CN, stakeholders will have access to weekly updates on car orders, supply chain conditions, and system fluidity through the railroad’s Western Canadian Grain Report and operational dashboards.
Meanwhile, CN in late September published its 2025-2026 Winter Plan, outlining its preparations for meeting customer and stakeholder needs in the months ahead.
Further Reading: CN Debuts Custom EV Shunt Truck Platform in Vancouver
CPKC
“Few things are more vital to a railroad’s success than the health of its locomotive fleet,” CPKC pointed out in an Oct. 7 website article. “Like doctors caring for patients, CPKC’s locomotive shops across the network work tirelessly to keep our engines running smoothly and safely.”
At the heart of this effort, the railroad said, is the Kansas City (KC) locomotive shop, where a dedicated team of 32 railroaders maintain and repair locomotives around the clock. It releases approximately 70 locomotives each month—about three per day—including road and yard units for locations such as Kansas City; Pittsburg, Kan.; Slater, Mo.; East St. Louis, Ill.; and the Quad Cities, Iowa.
According to CPKC, the team’s commitment to safety recently led to a milestone: three years without a single FRA-reportable injury.
“It’s a very prideful, committed team,” said Kelly Roberson, Assistant Superintendent for KC Locomotive. “I feel like this team has written the book on peer-to-peer interaction.”
“Everybody knows everybody, everybody knows each other’s families,” Roberson continued. “They’re committed to each other, as well as themselves to make sure they get home to their families every day … Labor organizations and leadership work side by side toward the same goals, and the results speak for themselves.”
Experience also plays a key role in building a strong “Home Safe” culture, according to CPKC. Many KC shop employees, it noted, have been with the company for more than two decades, and “their knowledge has been instrumental in mentoring new hires, especially during the post-merger transition.”
“We counted on those more experienced employees to introduce our new hires to safe work practices in the shop,” Roberson reported. “These employees went beyond rules and processes to introduce the safety culture in the shop that has made us successful in preventing injuries.”
In related news, CPKC-owned Superior Tie and Timber in April celebrated 2,500 days without an injury. Also, earlier this month CSX Taft Yard marked six years without a workplace injury and BNSF reached a safety milestone at its Havelock Wheel Plant in Nebraska.
UP
“A 95-year-old letter yellowed with age is an excellent starting point for the remarkably long and successful business relationship between Union Pacific and the Nestlé Purina Petcare facility in Denver,” UP wrote in website story posted Oct. 7. The letter, it said, was dated Feb. 18, 1930, and in it, then-UP President Carl Gray recounted the grand opening of the Purina mill and the time he spent celebrating with company founder William Danforth.
“They talk Purina, eat it, sleep it, dream it; I have never seen a more absorbed organization,” Gray wrote. “(A)ltogether I think the new Denver mill got off to as fine a start as could be desired.”
Nearly a century later, UP and the Nestlé Purina plant’s relationship is still going strong, according to the railroad.
“When we’re working with Union Pacific crews, it’s like family,” the railroad quoted Ronald Katzer, Nestlé Purina’s Materials Manager in Denver, as saying. “We know every man and woman who help service this plant, and that’s why this relationship has endured so long.”
The railroad noted that the Denver plant highlights its longstanding service commitment. In fact, it said, UP sold the land to Purina in 1928 so the Denver plant could be built next to the railroad tracks. Today, the plant employees 300 people and produces pet food. UP brings in the raw grains used to make it and transports the final products to key markets in the Northwest, including Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho.
“We have achieved great efficiency over the years in off-loading and on-loading, working together as a team,” Katzer said.
“We are very proud of the relationship we have built with Nestlé Purina over the years and the work we have done together to grow both of our businesses,” added UP Senior Vice President-Marketing and Sales Jason Hess, according to the railroad. “It’s been a great partnership that has only gotten better with age.”
In other UP news, the railroad is readying to serve Manner Polymer’s new solar-powered manufacturing facility in Mount Vernon, Ill.
