Feature from the President
My Favorite Department

I was recently asked which department was my favorite. I hadn’t really been asked this question in such plain terms before; I really had to ponder such a notion.

Is it Maintenance of Way, laying track and solving problems with precision and grit? Or Operations, whose crews move freight in all of the harsh, relentless Pennsylvania elements – rain, snow, extreme heat, etc.? Perhaps it’s Locomotive Repair or Car Repair, whose expertise keeps our locomotives and railcars rolling safely along. Maybe Signals, who have an expertise in electronics and mechanics that goes way over my head? What about Customer Logistics & Support, whose orchestration keeps our train movements nothing short of symphonic? Perhaps Marketing and PR, with their crazy schedules that are all over the place, in order to not miss that next big opportunity for company growth. Or Accounting, without whom none of it would run on budget? Information Technology is critical in making sure our means of communication remain intact - maybe IT?

The truth is, I don’t have a favorite - because every department, every part of our team, and every individual has their hand on the throttle. The railroad isn’t a hierarchy. It’s a system, and it only works when each part works in harmony with the next.

So, my favorite department? My favorite department is the one that remembers we’re all pulling the same train. It’s the one that collaborates. The one that fixes problems before they escalate. The one that goes above and beyond to get the job done. The one that doesn't say, "That’s not my job," but says, "How can I help?" And I see that department every day, not in organizational charts, but in our people. The people. That’s the soul of this railroad - of this company.

That’s my favorite.

Notes from Marketing
Spring Meeting Season

We have said it before, but we are really “out there!” Our schedules and meetings are all over the place, as we are out and about, attending various industry events. This is a very necessary part of marketing’s job as meeting shippers, suppliers, and other railroads allow us to make connections to advance our railroad and our customer’s business. Spring meeting season is the craziest time of year for us!

We started the “meeting season” with an invite to the Philadelphia Traffic Club Annual Dinner where Todd Hunter was honored to sit at the head table with other transportation industry leaders of Eastern PA. This event hosts more than 400 people.

In March, Todd attended the Pittsburgh Traffic Club Annual Dinner at the Convention Center in Steel City. Attended by over 700 people, this is one of largest traffic club events in the United States.

We followed that up with a trip in April to Colorado for the Annual American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) National Convention. The largest of industry events, it was attended by over 1,800 railroad industry people, including a team of our managers, and we were honored to pick up our 7th ASLRRA Business Development award. This one was awarded to our Union County Industrial Railroad. We were honored to be presented with the award in front of our industry peers.

Next up was the Northeast Association of Rail Shippers (NEARS) conference in Baltimore, MD. Attended by almost 300 shippers, suppliers, logistics firms, car leasing companies, and railroads, it was another successful event. Todd Hunter and Customer Logistics Manager Josh Weisen attended this event. Todd Hunter serves on the Board of Directors of NEARS. NEARS has two events annually - spring and fall.

Following NEARS, several of our company managers attended the Keystone State Railroad Association (KSRRA) conference at the historic Bedford Springs Hotel in Bedford, PA. Our own Loni Martz Briner, as President of KSRRA, did an amazing job of planning and hosting the event of nearly 150 people with many PA-based short line railroads, class one railroads, suppliers, and state employees and politicians in attendance.

Then we went south for a trip to Atlanta, for the Norfolk Southern (NS) Annual Short Line Meeting. Director of Operations Justin Wagner and Todd Hunter attended this one. They not only enjoyed presentations by NS senior managers on their initiatives, but we also had productive meetings with many NS people as well as other short line railroads. Todd Hunter serves on the NS Short Line Caucus Committee - a select group of short line managers that advise NS on various issues and concerns.

Then, in late May we participated in FOCUS Central Pennsylvania’s Industrial Site Selectors Meeting and bus tour. Focus Central PA welcomed several site selection consultants and industrial real estate experts for a tour of multiple rail-served industrial sites and community assets throughout the region. The site selection consultants were members of the Site Selectors Guild - the only association of the world's foremost professional site selection consultants. Guild members provide location strategy to corporations across the globe and for every industry, sector and function. Todd Hunter and Joe Kantz both participated in this event. Joe Kantz sits on the Board of Directors of FOCUS Central PA.

This past month, Joe Kantz made a trip to Toledo, Ohio for Norfolk Southern’s 22nd Annual Night at the Mud Hens (AAA minor league baseball team affiliate of the Detroit Tigers). There, Joe met with shippers from across the United States. This outdoor event featured America's favorite pastime and brought railroads together to discuss and collaborate on ways to help the shippers get their products to market. The event proved to be a home run!

And that is the wrap on the spring meeting season! Events will start back up again in the fall and we will be “out there” once again.

Can we meet you “out there” somewhere to discuss your business opportunities?

Notes from Maintenance of Way
In the Blink of an Eye

Quarter two always goes by in the blink of an eye, and 2025 was no different.

In quarter two we were able to complete the construction of two siding tracks in New Columbia, complete roughly a mile’s worth of rail replacement in Northumberland, and have ties installed on six different branches throughout Central PA (…just to highlight a few projects).

All of this work is completed while still performing our monthly inspections and maintenance repairs. It’s just another day in a track man’s life, I guess.

What impresses me the most is how everyone in the MoW Department has the “buy in” mentality; meaning, they go the extra mile with our work and with contractor work. This is to keep us on our ever-changing schedule.

The willingness of our guys to also come in on schedule days off for storm patrols, 911 call outs, or to provide protection for a contractor - never goes unnoticed and is so appreciated. I don’t believe you can put a value on it.

Quarter three will be more of the same, but with our group of guys, I know we will get through it just fine. As you can tell we have a very good team here at North Shore Railroad and I’m proud to be a part of it!

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Tartaglia Railroad Services
Stay Positive - Like Brandon

Since joining the Tartaglia team, nine months ago, I realized how much I've missed being part of a "fast-paced" environment.

As a construction service provider, safety, quality of work, solid logistics, and speed are the key components to turn good profits. The railroad contractor pace must be fast, or we won't succeed.

I recently heard an auto shop owner come up with a profound spin on the 1983 lyrics of "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. It went something like "Every move you make, every step you take, it be costing you...." Our crews appear to understand that as we've been doing very well completing projects on or ahead of schedule.

This quarter, I'd like to profile our construction crew, headed up by Brian Burke and led in the field by Harry Townsend. This crew and the entire company suffered a very tragic event a few months ago. April 11th marked the untimely passing of Brandon Graham - one of Harry's seasoned men. Brandon was one of the first employees I met and shook hands with when I joined the company. He frequently posted his work locations on social media in the mornings and shared his positive attitude for the day. He was a true company man who enjoyed what he did. Brandon was also very active with his family and friends. He lived life to the fullest. He is and will remain sorely missed, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with his fiancé and his children. I would like to challenge anyone reading this to stay positive and live life to the fullest like Brandon.

Despite the loss of Brandon, and being short-handed, this crew has been moving and grooving. It is a smaller gang that handles all the emergency work, new construction, and railroad customer siding rehabilitations. Unlike our production tie gang and surfacing gang, this group moves around from one job to the next on a frequent basis – and they don’t miss a beat.

Recently, they wrapped-up one of their larger jobs of the year in Scranton, PA, at the Steamtown National Historic site. For anyone who has been there will know there are numerous tracks, numerous people, and multiple train moves each day. If working around that wasn't difficult enough, we also rehabilitated track and a grade crossing that paralleled the park's beautifully built boardwalk by only inches. Lots of finesse and care was put into this project and we are proud of the final result. You can see for yourself in the pictures below.

I look forward to profiling our production crew, our full-service shop, and our surfacing crew in future issues of On Track.

Contact us for any track project or hi rail/equipment needs you may have.

Tartaglia Railroad Services
5867 East Molloy Road, Syracuse, NY 13211
315.455.0100