Rail carloads in North America reached 3-year high in the week ending 10/1/11: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-06/north-american-rail-freight-carloads-for-oct-1-table-.html Recession? In other railroad news, Obama appointed a mediation board to avert a labor strike between US railroads and several of their unions: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-06/rail-strike-threat-blocked-as-obama-said-to-create-emergency-review-board.html .