CPKC
“A year ago, our Fuel Centre of Excellence launched with the goal of further improving CPKC’s fuel efficiency, a key driver for both cost savings and emissions reduction,” CPKC reported via social media on March 27. “The leadership and collaboration among this centre for excellence team drove a 2% improvement in fuel use year over year, lowering emissions and delivering millions in cost savings. The Fuel Centre of Excellence at CPKC illustrates the power of teamwork and commitment to innovation, all exemplifying CPKC’s values and foundations. For their efforts, this outstanding group of railroaders received the 2025 CEO Award for Excellence in the Cost Control category.”
CPKC congratulated the Fuel Center of Excellence team members: Tamara Sajic, Assistant Director Fuel Efficiency and Optimization and a 2023 Railway Age Women in Rail honoree; Vinish George, Senior Manager Rail Operations Systems; Cody Fischer, Manager Fuel Analytics; Darryl Perry, Locomotive Engineer; John Brackenbury, Rail Traffic Controller; and Dugan Shry, Quality Assurance Operating Practice Manager.
In its 2025 Climate Mileposts report issued last month, CPKC highlighted the Fuel Center of Excellence as one of the actions its taking to improve sustainability (see below).
Separately, Patriot Rail Company is partnering with CPKC to establish a new multi-commodity transload facility on CPKC’s Alliance Subdivision in Denton, Tex.
CSX / B&O Railroad Museum
The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad Museum on March 26 announced that Benjamin H. Griswold, IV will co-chair with CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs its $38 million capital campaign for restoration work ahead of the 200th anniversary of American railroading in 2027.
“Griswold is the great-great-great-great grandson of Alexander Brown, who in 1800 founded Alex. Brown & Sons, the first investment bank in the United States,” the B&O Museum reported. “It was also at Alex’s son’s house where Baltimore [Maryland] merchants convened [in 1827] to charter the first American common carrier railroad to compete against New York merchants who were investing in the canal system. The B&O Railroad was conceived with the goal to reach the Ohio River from Baltimore to transport goods west. The B&O Railroad reached the Ohio River in 1852 and ultimately expanded over 10,000 miles. Today, railroads facilitate more than $2 billion dollars a day of economic commerce in the country.”
The B&O Railroad Museum is a historic site located on the original grounds of the B&O Railroad. Its campus extends 40 acres into southwest/west Baltimore and features the first mile of commercial track ever laid in the country; five historic buildings, including the 1851 Mt. Clare Station (designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site); and the 1884 B&O Roundhouse.
The museum plans to restore its South Car Works building, which is said to be the oldest, continuously operating railroad repair facility in the United States if not the world, 1869-1990. The 33,000-square-foot building’s transformation will include an Innovation Hall to exhibit the present and future of American railroading technology, as well as educational and historical archive space. Additionally, the building will serve as the new entrance to the museum, which the museum said will allow it to “reimagine its campus flow to face Southwest Baltimore to spark community economic development.”
“I am proud to lend my support to co-lead the museum’s 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign, given both Baltimore’s and my family’s history with the formation of the railroad in this country,” said Benjamin Griswold, who is a partner of Brown Advisory and serves as a senior advisor there. “As proud as I am of our heritage, I am equally excited about the future of Baltimore and the investment being made in Southwest Baltimore as we move toward the city’s renaissance and the celebration of the 200th anniversary of American railroading in 2027.”
“I am pleased to welcome Ben Griswold as Co-Chair of the B&O Railroad Museum’s 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign,” Joe Hinrichs said. “We look forward to benefiting from Ben’s leadership in the Baltimore community. CSX shares his commitment to the enduring vitality of this important institution. Welcome aboard, Ben.”
“We could not be more honored to have Ben Griswold serve as our 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign Co-Chair,” noted Kris Hoellen, Executive Director of the B&O Railroad Museum. “Ben and Joe as co-chairs is symbolic—from the first to the present of American railroading, literally. Plus, they are both extraordinary people who understand the value of preserving the past while preparing for the future.”
In June 2023, CSX reported a $5 million donation to support the museum’s transformation. It will be used to build the “CSX Bicentennial Garden,” an amphitheater and multi-use space that can host local organizations and hold community gatherings. “This installation will serve as a vibrant event space and provide a fresh, new location to welcome visitors to the museum,” according to the railroad, which was the first corporate patron to pledge support for the capital campaign.
The museum was established in 1953. CSX in 1987 officially transferred all land and property for the museum to a non-profit that became the B&O Railroad Museum.
Separately, CSX in May 2023 showcased its first heritage locomotive design in honor of the B&O.
