These short line projects in Maine, requested by the Maine DOT, are highlights of the big CRISI awards announced today! It’s a significant $37M investment by the @USDOTFRA into rehabilitating 90 miles of railroad tracks in northern Maine. These improvements include replacing aging rail, crossties, and ballast, along with renovating a key railroad bridge. The rail system in Aroostook County provides the only rail connection linking northern Maine’s forest products and agricultural industries to the national freight rail network. @SenatorCollins is one of the key architects of the infrastructure bill that funded CRISI and has been a consistent strong supporter of the program and of Maine’s rail infrastructure because she knows the importance of those investments to Maine’s industrial shippers. We are so grateful to Senator Collins and @SenAngusKing for their support of these CRISI grants!

This is a great example of one of the big CRISI awards announced today! It’s a major $49M investment by the @USDOTFRA into a $100M+ project in Kansas called Unleashing the American Heartland Rail Upgrade Project by Kyle Railroad (Genesee & Wyoming Inc.). Senator @JerryMoran of Kansas is one of the true stalwarts of short line freight railroad infrastructure support because he knows the importance of those investments to Kansas agriculture shippers. As a leader on the Appropriations Committee and Senate Commerce Committee, plus an early bipartisan negotiator on the infrastructure bill that funded CRISI, short line railroads and our tens of thousands of shippers have no stronger supporter than Senator Moran. moran.senate.gov/public/inde…

This is BIG! The @USDOT and @USDOTFRA have announced the fiscal year 2025-2026 CRISI grant awards and the numbers for short lines are OFF. THE. CHARTS. We are immensely excited for all of our members receiving CRISI funding and thankful to USDOT and FRA leadership and program teams for their steadfast commitment to America’s local railroads and to the communities and businesses that depend on them. These awards will go far in helping boost safe operations across the short line freight rail industry!

We are pleased to welcome the newest members of the ASLRRA board! They were elected at the Fall Super Regional Meeting. 🔹Central Region Vice President - Danny Robbins, President, North Louisiana & Arkansas Railroad 🔹Pacific Region Vice President - Ross Lane, Assistant Vice President, Government Affairs, San Joaquin Valley Railroad / Genesee & Wyoming 🔹Southern Region Vice President - Kate Bourgeois, President & CEO, Mississippi Export Rail Company 🔹Regional Director, Eastern Region - Charles Hunter, Asst. Vice President, Government Affairs, New England Central Railroad Inc./ Genesee & Wyoming 🔹Regional Director, Pacific Region - Robert Pinoli, President & CEO, Mendocino Railway 🔹Regional Director, Southern Region - Curtis Sloan, VP, Policy & Sustainability, Alabama Southern Railroad / Watco We are also very grateful to all our outgoing board members for their dedicated service to the Association! They are Otis Cliatt II, President, Pacific Harbor Line; Ben Tarbutton, President, Sandersville Railroad Company; Cathrin Banks, President & General Counsel, Chesapeake and Delaware LLC and Jason Bradt, VP of Operations, Coastal Division, G & W Railroad Services, Inc. At the fall meeting, Ben Tarbutton III (pictured left) received a certificate of thanks from ASLRRA Chair Justin Broyles for his years of service on the Association's Board of Directors.

Welcome to new member JWilliams Contracting! JWilliams Contracting LLC is a railroad construction contractor specializing in railroad bridge construction. They provide experienced crews and equipment for railroad bridge projects throughout the United States, with a strong focus on safety, quality workmanship, and dependable project execution.

Welcome to new member Hedemora Turbo & Diesel! Hedemora Turbo & Diesel is a Swedish turbocharger manufacturer with more than 120 years of engineering heritage serving the rail, marine, and power generation industries. Hedemora turbochargers are trusted in thousands of heavy-duty engine applications worldwide, helping operators improve reliability, fuel efficiency, and lifecycle performance. They work closely with railroad operators and OEMs to deliver compact, proven turbocharger solutions backed by responsive technical support and short lead times. hedemoratd.com/

The Staggers Act is 46! This critical piece of legislation gave birth to our modern short line railroad industry, enabling entrepreneurs to buy lines set to be sold or discarded by big corporations. It helped sustain rail service to small businesses and rural towns across America, not to mention lowered shipping costs and led to improved reliability, efficiency and safety. When we talk about the importance of advocacy and the need to work with lawmakers on common-sense legislation that works for our industry, this is why! And though we celebrate this anniversary every year, we're always looking to the future -- working to advance measures for the good of the short line freight rail industry

Welcome to new member Weston Solutions! @WestonSolutions is an employee-owned environmental and infrastructure services firm providing innovative solutions to Class I and short line railroads, government agencies, and other commercial clients. Backed by 65 years of experience, Weston’s nationwide team helps solve complex challenges and deliver lasting value. westonsolutions.com/

Pssst...confession time. The Fall Super Regional Meeting was the first time we've ever combined all our fall events into one big gathering. So, we had no idea...Would you love it? Would you hate it? Would you show up? Well, it turns out, we had an AMAZING time! We are so grateful to everyone who helped make this event a success, from the sponsors to the speakers and especially to the attendees. Our goal is to offer our members the chance to learn, grow and connect, and this meeting did all that and more. Thank you, thank you, thank you for always supporting our events in all their forms. We couldn't do anything without all of you!

Today's General Session featured another round of fantastic insight from a great group of speakers! In the top row are Short Line Leaders Panel speakers (L to R): 🔹Fort Worth & Western Railroad President & CEO Kevin Erasmus 🔹Sierra Northern Railroad President & CEO Ken Beard 🔹The Wheeling CEO Jonathan Carnes In the bottom row are more representatives from Class I railroads (L to R): 🔹@CPKCrail Managing Director, Business Development & Transload Eric Goodman 🔹@nscorp Southern VP Business Development and First and Final Mile Markets Stefan Loeb 🔹@BNSFRailway Shortline Development & Forecasting Mark Ganaway The quote of the day? Ganaway saying "Best four years of my life have been working with short lines." Also heard a lot about short line growth and the desire of Class Is to continue working with short lines to build business. And the leadership panel offered pearls of wisdom covering all sorts of industry topics. Thank you to everyone for an amazing final day of the Fall Super Regional Meeting!

And congratulations also to the winners of the ASLRRA President's Award in the General Category - Train Miles! Thanks to those from TGS-Cedar Port Railroad, Arkansas Southern Railroad, Central Railroad of Indiana and Luxapalila Valley Railroad for joining us! We were glad to have the opportunity to recognize your accomplishments in person.

Congratulations to all the winners of the ASLRRA President's Awards in the Yard and Switching Operations category! Very glad to have representatives from The Indiana Rail Road Company, Port Terminal Railroad Association and Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad on hand to accept their awards!

Yes these are yesterday's photos today, but how could we not share them with you? Because check out (clockwise from top left): ▪️The dynamic Didelius duo! Father Paul (left) president of ASLRRA member Columbia Rail with son James, ASLRRA's government affairs intern. ▪️The best darn meeting crew in the history of ever! ▪️Attendees getting their learning on during the AI for Executive Leadership session ▪️A hail and farewell with incoming Environmental Committee Chair Kayden Howard (right) and outgoing chair Sean Strong. Grateful to Sean for all his hard work on the committee, and excited to have Kayden taking the reins. We'll be sharing additional pictures and news today, including more President's Award Winners. Be on the lookout!

Congratulations to all the winners of this year's President's Awards in the General Category, Employee on Duty Hours! We were privileged to be able to honor some of these railroads in person during our General Session this morning, including representatives from Texas North Western Railway (TNW Corporation), Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad. Thank you to everyone for joining us today!

Today's General Session featured important takeaways from engaging speakers including (L to R) 🔹@US_TRANSCOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Jered P. Helwig 🔹@UnionPacific AVP, Marketing and Sales Operations Dan McLaughlin 🔹Short Line Safety Institute Executive Director Tom Murta 🔹@CSX Transportation Director, Short Line Development & Customer Relations Earnest Clark 🔹@CNRailway Director, Interline & Industrial Development Jim Gunther 🔹@CNRailway Sr. Manager, Interline & Industrial Development Amy Homan All four Class I representatives provided a general industry update, discussing short line growth, volume and network reach while also emphasizing additional opportunities to connect and grow with Class I partners. Murta gave an update on SLSI's projects, including its Safety Train, while Lt. Gen. Helwig offered his perspective on transportation, logistics, infrastructure and supply chain resilience. Many thanks to all these speakers for taking the time to join us and share their expertise with meeting attendees!

Ok, we've been keeping this one close to the chest but we're so excited to finally be able to announce that Kern Schumacher, chairman and founder of A&K Railroad Materials, is the winner of the inaugural Short Line Industry Catalyst Award! This award honors those whose out-of-the-box thinking has changed the industry for the better, or has changed how short lines and their stakeholders do business. Kern got his start as a teenager, re-selling railroad ties he had acquired when they were being removed from California's Oakland Bay Bridge. Before "reduce, reuse, recycle" was even a thing, Kern was walking miles of track to find railroad materials that could be salvaged. Having a more affordable option for track and infrastructure supplies was often a lifeline for smaller railroads. Since those humble beginnings, A&K Railroad Materials has grown to 13 locations across the nation. Congratulations to Kern and thank you for many years of innovation and service to the short line freight rail industry!

The first day of our Fall Super Regional Meeting is in the books! Here's a brief snippet of the day's activities: Far left, top: Many thanks to Surface Transportation Board Member Dick Kloster for stopping by to chat with ASLRRA staff and members! Pictured L to R is ASLRRA's Mike Ogborn, Kloster, and ASLRRA's Chuck Baker. Center top: Attendees learned a great deal about how to leverage their online presence to capture opportunity during a panel discussion featuring John Hatfield, Laura Mellem and Akeem Anderson. Far right, top: ASLRRA's Amy Krouse poses with Benjamin Franklin, this year's guardian of the ASLRRA legislative affairs table. Center: Meeting attendees join an evening networking reception to close out the day. Is there any better venue for a railroad event than this historic hotel? Bottom: We zoomed in close in this photo to focus on the esteemed industry experts in this panel, moderated by Chuck Baker. Everyone wanted to hear stories from New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway's James Bonner, Iowa Interstate Railroad's Joe Parsons and Twin Cities & Western Railroad Co.'s Mark Wegner, whose panel was titled "Failed Projects: How to Land a New Customer, Wrong Answers Only." If you ask us, that's what makes the short line industry special -- people willing to help others grow and rise, no gatekeeping! Tune in tomorrow for even more awesome photos. We'll be honoring some special award winners and hearing from even more industry experts. It's going to be amazing!

The Fall Super Regional Meeting is a fantastic opportunity for railroaders to connect with each other and with ASLRRA staff, suppliers, federal agency experts and Class I partners. It's a place to gather and share knowledge and we are confident there is lots of knowledge to be had! Many thanks to all of our generous Bronze Sponsors for helping make this first-ever combined meeting a success! We are grateful for all you do and we are so happy to have your support. Lincoln Transportation Insurance Brokers, Inc. Mullins Law Group PLLC Ogborn Consulting Group, LLC U.S. Lubricants Remember, if you're in the area, it's possible to register at the event. aslrra.org/events/fall-meeti…

Next week we're welcoming hundreds of railroaders and suppliers to our Fall Super Regional Meeting in St. Louis and we know there will be so many good takeaways and connections made! Making an event like this happen -- especially bringing all four regions and our Finance & Administration Seminar and General Counsel Symposium together in one place -- requires a lot of robust support. Thankfully, we have amazing members! Thank you to all our Silver Sponsors for helping make this meeting possible. We are grateful for your generosity! Railhead Corporation Railpower, LLC Siemens Mobility, Inc. Simple Tech Innovations, Inc. The TGB Group Unipar, LLC United Shortline / Hub International Viance