U.S. freight railroads are hunkering down to wait for better days, whenever those come. CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. have taken hundreds of locomotives offline in recent weeks, reduced the number of trains in their networks and sent workers home, the WSJ’s Paul Ziobro reports, as the declining shipping economy tests the rail lines’ ability to align their networks with freight demand . Both carriers are using creative labor arrangements to keep workers on staff without furloughs or layoffs, measures they say will allow them to call back workers quickly as demand warrants. Both railroads reported higher first-quarter profits as labor and fuel costs dropped faster than the decline in shipments and revenue. They’ll be pressed to maintain that efficiency: Union Pacific expects rail volumes to fall 25% in the near term, and industry-wide figures show demand across a range of commodities is already falling close to […]