Whoever thought railroads had hit a roadblock was in for a huge surprise in 2016 as railroad stocks gathered steam despite sluggish end markets. Take Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP), for example. The behemoth was among the top performers in the industry with nearly 33% gains, second only to CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX), which clocked 39% gains during the year. Interestingly, Union Pacific’s run-up doesn’t quite match up with the double-digit declines in the company’s freight revenue and net income during the first nine months of 2016.