Progressive Railroading Reader's Choice Awards 2025

It's time to vote! We want your input on how these products rank as innovative, standing out and meeting rail-industry needs.

Rank your top 3 below from 1 to 3. 1 being the best, 2 your second best pick and 3 your third best pick.
Only subscribers to Progressive Railroading's daily eNewsletter can vote. You can only vote once.

Winners will be announced in Progressive Railroading magazine, the Daily News eNewsletter and on ProgressiveRailroading.com.

Electrolyte Idle Reduction System

ACS Rail Road Solutions - Provides all the functions of a typical AESS system and leverages a 33 kWh L-I based energy module to enable key systems to stay on when the locomotive engine is off. This approach improves fuel savings and GHG emission reductions, by removing the motivation for a manual override, and addressing issues (ex: brake pressure) that are common causes of engine re-engagement.

Rgrapple by Rcrane

Rcrane - Rgrapple turns any crane hook into a grapple. Radio remote controlled to eliminate rigging to handle ties, rails, pipe, poles, piling, and debris against bridges. Can lift 10,000 lbs. Up to 12 large bridge ties. All self-contained to eliminate any cords, cables or hoses to connect.

RailSentry, an advanced monitoring system built to avert accidents on railroad right-of-way.

Herzog Contracting Corp. - Using LiDAR sensors, cameras, and computers, RailSentry prevents train-to-vehicle collisions. Developed in Herzog’s technology lab, the system actively monitors target areas, analyzes threats, and provides instant alerts to train engineers and rail operation centers. RailSentry protects over 280 train movements and 40,000 daily vehicle crossings in Texas and California.

Tilt Flatcar™

The Greenbrier Companies - Greenbrier’s Tilt Flatcar™ efficiently transports wide plates up to 14’-3” and 82’ long. Its moveable tilt arms allow steel plates to load flat and tilt to meet AAR Plate C standards. Featuring a robust screw jack mechanism for smooth operation and a tent structure to distribute impact forces, it eliminates bulkheads, ensuring strength, stability and safety.

CHX35 Hi Rail Excavator & D97 Snow Blower

Vancer - The CHX35 Hi-Rail excavator with the Larue D97 Snow Blower is built to dominate winter. A powerful C32 engine, modified boom, and hydraulic wings clear heavy snow with ease. The boom quickly transitions back with the stick and tilt rotator—transforming it into a reliable, high-performance excavator built for all four seasons and be utilized for your MOW needs.

Kaleris RMS Intermodal

Kaleris - Launched in 2024, RMS Intermodal is a new application from Kaleris that facilitates the full repair life cycle on intermodal containers, chassis, reefers, and gensets. It intuitively translates repair lines to each customer’s preferred coding and maintains separate labor and parts pricing per customer. It tracks full parts inventory and offers both web and mobile access.

Argus® 2.0 Track Inspector

Holland LP - The Argus Track Inspector is a real-time track geometry and rail profile measurement system, equipped with a non-contact encoder. The system can be mounted to any conventional hi-rail vehicle with a standard hitch receiver, converting it to an inspection vehicle within minutes.