News noted

Updates to some railroad-related news I've blathered about.

The Texas State Railroad, saved from drowning, has been contracted out to a private operator.

The mighty Canadian Pacific merges its way into the Powder River Basin coalfield by taking over the persistent little Dakota Minnesota & Eastern, which had gotten regulatory permission to extend its South Dakota trackage into the Powder River Basin but up till now couldn't come up with the capital to do so. CP also acquires a route into Kansas City as part of the bargain. (Map of combined systems here.) UP and BNSF are predictably unhappy with the prospect of a third competitor horning in on their very profitable coal traffic. They're reportedly planning to sue to stop the merger, thereby diverting a substantial amount of all three railroads' revenues into the pockets of lawyers for the foreseeable future.