Aside from the colloquialism "the wrong side of the tracks", railroads usually don't quite factor into geographic descriptions of a certain area despite many examples of railroads conquering towering mountains, raging rivers and remote wilderness. The Alaska Railroad, which has had to deal with all three plus notoriously brutal winters in it's 100 year history, is proving to be the exception.
While entire European countries can fit into the vast and uninhabited tracts of Alaskan wilderness, the two larger cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks- along with the communities in between are referred to as part of Alaska's Railbelt. The moniker 'railbelt' basically means that the community is accessible by the Alaska Railroad and two of the state's main highways, although even in the more densely populated part of Alaska, this doesn't mean there's a lot of people nearby. Case in point, around Denali National Park, there's nearly 60 miles of track through wilderness that is inaccessible by highway, making the Alaska Railroad one of the last rail lines in North America to operate 'flag stop' passenger service where passengers can flag down a passing train to get on board.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Chad Paulhamus caught Alaska Railroad GP40-2 #3004 heading southbound through Chugiak, AK with a combined work train and mixed freight on March 10, 2012. The 1975-built GP40-2 was purchased new by the Alaska Railroad in the mid-1970s and sent to Illinois in 2008 to be overhauled by National Railway Equipment and given a new paint job. The #3004 is one of fifteen GP40-2s bought new by Alaska and can be seen assigned to anything from yard switcher to the ARR's top of the line Denali Star summertime passenger train.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to the Final Frontier where the days are longer and the conditions are much harsher than the rest of the country.
Summer doesn't last very long up in Alaska, and the state's largest railroad needs to make the most of the warm weather to get things done. It's during this time of year that the railroad often hires seasonal workers such as ticket clerks, conductors, mechanics, on-board guides, engineers, carmen and track workers. Not surprisingly, this is also the busiest time of year on the ARR. In addition to freight to and from the Lower 48, the ARR also hauls a number of passenger trains carrying cruise ship passengers disembarking in Anchorage to Seward, Denali National Park or Fairbanks.
The warm weather months are also ideal for carrying out heavy maintenance on the ARR right of way since the ballast, gravel and rip rap needed for such projects can be excavated fairly easily. Here, railpictures.net contributor Frank Keller caught Alaska Railroad GP40-2 #3102 snaking its way past Turnigan Arm between Fairbanks and Portage, AK with a ballast train in tow in June 2009. The ballast trains are reportedly one of the few trains on the ARR that still regularly draws a caboose. Riding a few cars ahead of the caboose [look for the little dots with safety vests on- NANESB!] are some crew members who will likely get off a few miles up the line when the train stops to dump some of the ballast.
Today's train of thought takes us closer to Santa's workshop than ever before as we visit what is currently the northern terminus of the Alaska Railroad in- appropriately enough- North Pole, AK.
The Christmas-themed town is situated outside of Fairbanks and is home to Eielson Air Force Base and Flint Hills Natural Resources' oil refinery, both of which generate traffic for the Alaska Railroad. However, with the ongoing Northern Rail extension the end of the line is going to be expanded some 80 miles to the east at Delta Jct, AK over the next few years,
Here, in January 2005, railpicturesarchive.net contributor Jeff Barry caught AKRR SD70MAC #4016 leading a cut of tankers for the Flint Hills refinery in the fading winter's daylight.
Iowa Interstate's Chinese manufactured 'QJ' 2-10-2 #6988 is seen passing the former Rock Island Iowa City, IA depot on the return leg of its round trip excursion between Cedar Rapids, IA and Rock Island, IL on June 19th, 2012. Erik Rasmussen photo
IOWA- For the second year in a row, the Hawkeye state and regional Iowa Interstate played host to a large gathering of rail enthusiasts and historians with their 2012 convention in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Like last year's Trainfest in Rock Island, IL, this year's NRHS convention featured steam and diesel powered rare mileage excursions on former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and Milwaukee Road lines that only see freight traffic these days.
In addition to a day out at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion at Mt Pleasant, IA where attendees got to see restored trolleys, interurbans and steam as well as vintage steam powered tractors and farm machinery, the convention featured a steam powered excursion between Cedar Rapids and Rock Island, IL with IAIS Chinese QJ #6988 doing the honors.
Cedar Rapids and Iowa City MP15DC #122 seen powering an excursinon on the original interurban line between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City at Cou Lake, IA on June 22nd. FJ Grizel photo.
Attendees also got to ride behind rare mileage excursions over Dan Sabin's Iowa Interstate and former interurban Cedar Rapids and Iowa City- also known as the CRANDIC and owned by Alliant Energy [NYSE- LNT]. In addition to Iowa Interstate's Chinese made QJ, excursions were also powered by F40PH's from Iowa Northern's Hawkeye Express passenger trains that shuttle football fans to and from University of Iowa home football games and some of CRANDIC's yellow and grey EMD endcab switchers.
Interestingly, a few days before the NRHS excursions, the Iowa Interstate operated a series of trips between West Liberty, IA and Durant, IA to benefit those towns' respective fire departments.
The 2013 NRHS convention is scheduled to take place in September 2013 in Anchorage, AK.
Alaska Railroad's former Army 2-8-0 steam locomotive seen returning home from the lower 48 in January at Anchorage, AK. Michael Dinneen- Alaska Business Journal
The Rasmuson Foundation announced the grant to the newly-formed non profit Engine 557 Restoration Company in early July. This is the first substantial donation that went towards the full restoration of Alaska Railroad #557. The unit last saw service in the early 1960s running shuttle trains to the Alaska state Fair before being sold to a scrap dealer in Washington State. However, instead of cutting up the former Army steamer, the scrap dealer took a shine to the Baldwin and displayed it in front of his business. As it turned out, the cool and relatively dry climate of east-central Washington State was almost ideal for preserving a steam locomotive.
Restoration is currently estimated to cost between $600,000 and $700,000. Major costs include initial tooling, asbestos removal and abatement, replacing galvanized steel cladding, new insulation, boiler and tubing replacement and repair, gear inspection and repair, painting and positive train control electronics.
In order to establish a funding mechanism, project supporters recently turned to The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF), which oversees and has helped establish nearly 300 funds and endowments that support philanthropic endeavors that benefit Alaskans. ACF agreed to establish and administer a new fund to accept donations, while the Restoration Company will coordinate the project, including fund-raising, hiring subcontractors, recruiting volunteers and overseeing the restoration work.
While the narrow gauge White Pass & Yukon continues to operate a pair of steam locomotives out of Skagway, Alaska #557 would be the first operating standard gauge steam engine in the Last Frontier on nearly 50 years. While one time roster-mate #556 remains on static display in an Anchorage park, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has a sister locomotive to Alaska #557 & #556- former US Army #610, which was one of the last American steam locomotives made for an American customer.
Soo Line 2-8-2 #1003 seen crossing the Rock River in Edgerton, WI in August 2000 on the Wisconsin Southern. Barry Moore photo.
WISCONSIN- Reports of Soo Line 1003's demise are apparently premature, as the 1913-built Baldwin underwent a series of test-firings in May. The locomotive last operated pulling a Santa Train in November 2010 before her mandatory 15 year FRA boiler inspection.
After being taken out of service, the venerable ALCo steamer was kept on the grounds of the Wisconsin Auto Museum in Hartford, WI. Returning #1003 back to service carried an estimated pricetag of around $400,000, although some of these costs were reportedly picked up by Wisconsin Southern President and CEO Bill Gardner. When in operation, the Soo Line #1003 had operated almost exclusively on the Wisconsin and Southern.
The trains crashed about 11 miles northeast of Valparaiso, on the CSX line, according to David James, assistant highway supervisor with the Porter County Highway Department.
James said one train rear-ended another one, causing it to jack-knife, and a third passing train the "got caught in that jack-knife." All the trains derailed
James said there had been a fire concern since one of the trains was carrying ethanol, an alcohol, but the tanks turned out to be empty. Diesel fuel from the engine was burning, but as of 4:50 p.m. local time, "things are starting to quiet down somewhat," James said.
About 100 to 200 residents evacuated from the area north and east of the crash, James said.
The two hospitalized crewmen were released within days of the collision. Immediately after the wreck, the NTSB was conducting interviews, combing through the wreckage and checking the line's signalling- but the agency warned that it could take months before reaching a finding on the cause of the collision.
Workers seen installing a frame with grapefruit-sized concrete balls dangling from a chain in West Java, Indonesia. The balls are high enough for the train to pass through untouched but would knock down anybody riding on the rooftops. This is the latest measure to prevent 'train surfing' in Indonesia. Achmad Ibrahim / AP Photo
Authorities hope the balls — which could deliver serious blows to the head — will be enough to deter defiant roof riders.
"We've tried just about everything, even putting rolls of barbed wire on the roof, but nothing seems to work," said Mateta Rizahulhaq, a spokesman for the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api. "Maybe this will do it."
Trains that crisscross Indonesia on poorly maintained tracks left behind by Dutch colonizers six decades ago usually are packed with passengers, especially during the rush hour.
Hundreds seeking to escape the overcrowded carriages clamber to the top. Some ride high to avoid paying for a ticket. Others do so because — despite the dangers, with dozens killed or injured every year — "rail surfing" is fun.
The first dozen or so balls were installed Tuesday hundreds of yards (meters) from the entrance of a train station just outside the capital, Jakarta. Painted silver, the balls hung by chains from what looked like the frame of a giant soccer goal.
But there was a glitch: the chains were too short, leaving a gap of about 16 inches (40 cm) between the balls and the roofs of the passing train carriages. Rizahulhaq said adjustments would be made.
If successful, the project will be expanded, with balls also set up near railway crossings.
Asked about worries that the balls could hurt or even kill those who defy the roof-riding ban, he insisted that wasn't really his problem.
"They don't have to sit on top," he said. "And we've already told them, if the train is full, go to the office. We will be happy to reimburse their tickets."
The commuters, known as "Atappers" or "Roofers," meanwhile are hardcore in their determination to stay on top.
"I was really scared when I first heard about these balls," said Mulyanto, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, who rides between his hometown of Bogor and Jakarta almost every day for work. "It sounds like it could be really dangerous."
"But I don't think it'll last long," he said. "They've tried everything to keep us from riding ... in the end we always win."
"We like it up there, it's windy, really nice."
Many of the roof riders — and regular passengers — say the main problem lies with Indonesia's dilapidated railway system. There are not enough trains to meet demand, they say. And there are constant delays in service.
"People have jobs! They can't be late," said Parto, a trader at the Jakarta stock exchange, who can usually be found sitting inside. "If the train is late, they'll do whatever they have to."
Several years ago, paint guns were set up to spray those riding on the top of carriages so authorities could identify and round up the guilty travelers. But roof riders destroyed the equipment soon after. The exhortations of clerics didn't work. Neither did the dogs.
Overcrowding has been an issue with commuter and passenger trains on Java- Indonesia's most populous island. In 2010, Indonesian passenger carrier PT Kereta Api introduced "Women's Only" train carriages in an effort to thwart other passengers who took advantage of the overcrowding to grope and fondle female commuters [similar trains operate in Mumbai and Tokyo- NANESB!].
Secured to a flatcar, Alaska Railroad 2-8-0 #557 passes by the Cook Inlet en route to Anchorage from the lower 48 in December. Photo- David Blazejewski/Columbia Basin Herald
The Baldwin 2-8-0 was built for the US Army in 1944 and went into service for the Alaska Railroad after WWII. The locomotive was in regular service for the Alaska until 1957 and was sold for scrap to a dealer in Washington State in 1962. However, instead of getting cut up, a Moses Lake, WA scrap dealer named Monte Holm took a shine to the old steamer and put it on display and would occasionally operate it on a short stretch of track.
Holm passed away in 2006, and a personal friend purchased the #557 from his estate before donating it to the Alaska Railway. Interestingly, the tender for the #557 never left Alaska and served in Maintainence of Way service along with a former US Army Corps of Engineers steam crane until 1974, at which point the railroad donated the tender to the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry.
The AKRR plans to fully restore #557 to operating condition and use the steam locomotive for excursions out of Anchorage.
The railroad has eight years to put it in service but Aadnesen is aiming for as early as 2013.
“We have a business case to put it back in a restricted kind of passenger service as a tourist attraction during the summers,” he said.
The project will depend on volunteer and foundation donations — money from the railroad can’t pay for it. It will cost more than $500,000 to refurbish the locomotive and get it back into service, then it will need to pay for itself. All that remains is to finish the regulations of establishing a foundation to receive such funds.
“We have no doubt that it can be done,” Aadnesen said.
Engine No. 557’s needs concern cosmetic issues like cleaning and painting. It will be completely disassembled and put back together to satisfy survey and inspection requirements for federal agencies.
After that, 557 will require annual maintenance plus periodic Federal Railroad Administration recertification, which will also have to be covered in the business case.
Last month, the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, AK donated the 1700 gallon tender for the oil burning #557 back to the Alaska Railroad.
Sister Baldwin 2-8-0 #556, also a former US Army unit, remains on static display at a public park in Anchorage.
A pair of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic B39-8s are seen hauling freight westbound between St Leonard, New Brunswick and Madawaska, ME near Keegan, ME in March 2009. Photo- Kevin Burkholder
The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic announced a tenative deal to sell off 25 miles of track between Madawaska, ME and St Leonard, NB. The northernmost portion of the MM&A was left isolated from the rest of the system after the railroad sold the 230 miles of track between Madawaska south to Millinocket, ME that were slated for abandonment to the State of Maine last year.
If the Federal Rail Administration and Maine Department of Transportation approve, J.D. Irving subsidiary Eastern Maine Railway will purchase the Madawaska-Van Buren-St. Leonard railroad line for an undisclosed amount. The governmental agencies have liens on the property. The sale could be completed next month, said Robert C. Grindrod, MM&A’s president and CEO.
“We have an isolated piece of railroad there that doesn’t seem to be generating a lot of traffic,” Grindrod said Tuesday of his reasons for the sale, “and there seemed to be little or no prospect of regaining traffic from Twin Rivers.”
Twin Rivers Paper Co. executives claimed a year ago that the Madawaska mill’s future was threatened by MM&A’s failure to maintain its railroad tracks and by its missed delivery and pickup deadlines — often forcing the coated and uncoated papermaker to hire trucks on the fly to make shipments — because of miscommunication or an insufficient number of railroad runs.
MM&A officials countered that they were trying to meet demand but that the use of trucks and declines in production by Twin Rivers and its predecessor, Fraser Paper, made running more trains uneconomical and helped create the conditions that led to the company’s loss of $4 million to $5 million annually.
Shortly after the sale, the state of Maine subcontracted operations of the line to New Brunswick Southern- a Canadian company owned by J.D. Irving. New Brunsiwck Southern's subsidiary, Eastern Maine Railway, operated the section of the former Canadian Pacific line between the US/Canadian border at Vanceboro, ME to the current MM&A interchange at Brownville Jct, ME. New Brunswick Southern/Eastern Maine also interchanges with Pan-Am Rail at Mattawamkeag, ME.
Birmingham Southern GP38-2 #704 leads a southbound taconite train at Ensley, AL on Dec 30th 2011- Just days before WATCO assumes operation of the Alabama steel hauler. Photo- David Stewart
Birmingham Terminal Railway has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Birmingham Southern Railway, which operates more than 75 miles of track in the region.
The railroad has access to the area's steel-making and manufacturing operations and connects to several major railroads, including Norfolk Southern [NYSE- NSC], CSX [NYSE- CSX] and Berkshire-Hathaway's [NYSE: BRK-A] BNSF.
Transtar is a holding company for some of the former United States Steel railways such as Pittsburgh's Union Railroad or Detroit's Delray Connecting. Transtar will still handle in-plant switching at US Steel's [NYSE: X] Fairfield, AL works and retains ownership of the Warrior & Gulf Navigation company
A pair of Iowa Northern gensets bracket a GP38 while hauling the IANR's first train on the former Union Pacific Garner sub in Garner, IA in November 2011. Photo- Craig Williams
FOREST CITY — The 28 miles of former Union Pacific railroad track from Forest City to Belmond has seen more traffic in the last three weeks than in the past five years, according to new operator Iowa Northern Railway Co. President Dan Sabin.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Gov. Terry Branstad and other local and county officials was held Monday afternoon in Forest City.
Union Pacific intended to abandon the line because it was reluctant to operate trains with fewer than 100 cars, making access to businesses along the 28 miles of track difficult.
The North Central Iowa Rail Corridor LLC purchased the track for $1.5 million and signed a 10-year lease-to-own agreement with Iowa Northern Railway to operate the line.
“Most of us know in this day and age when you lose a railroad you never get it back,” said Dave Kingland, manager of the North Central Iowa Rail Corridor and president of Forest City Economic Development Group.
The 30-mile line is isolated from the rest of the IANR, but Canadian Pacific has granted the regional trackage rights between Nora Springs, west through Mason City and on into Garner.
The first IANR train on the line ran on November 4th with a pair of new gensets bracketing an Iowa Northern GP38-2, with 35 empty grain cars and a single auto-rack for the Winnebago [NYSE: WGO] plant in Forest City. Besides the grain elevators in the communities located along the ex UP line, Iowa Northern is hoping the RV manufacturer will be a regular shipper.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to the state of Alaska, where according to railpictures.net contributor David Blaze, the peak fall foliage season lasts all of a day or two.
However, those rather severe limitations on autumnal photography in the Last Frontier didn't prevent him from heading trackside.
With clouds scraping the peaks of the Chugach Range in the background and flanked by brilliant golden aspen trees, Alaska Railroad GP40-2s #3001 and #3011 head north past the lengthy siding at Indian, AK with a 27 car train picked up from the barge at Whittier. The cars are from Canadian National's 'Aqua Train' barge terminal in Prince Rupert, BC and are enroute to the ARR yard in Anchorage.
As a bonus, the lead unit- ARR #3001- is still sporting it's as-delivered 1970s era paint scheme while the trailing #3011 is showing off the latest paint scheme. Apparently since that ARR has no painting facilities of its own, locomotives can only be repainted while being sent to the lower 48 for rebuilding, overhaul or other heavy maintenance.
Providence & Worcester B40-8W #4005 traverses the P&W Willamantic branch in Lisbon, CT pulling a joint office car special with officials from Canadian Pacific, Vermont Railway, New England Central and the P&W on October 19, 2011. Photo, Tom Nanos.
NEW ENGLAND: Some of you might recall back in late August that officials from Guilford/Pan-Am and Norfolk Southern [NYSE: NSC] observed progress on the Patriot Corridor project and using a joint office car special, inspected intermodal facilities in Ayer, MA and one under construction in Mechanicsville, NY before Hurricane Irene struck.
Powered by a General Electric locomotive from Providence & Worcester and with two passenger cars from the Vermont Railway in tow, the OCS got underway departing east out of Whitehall, NY and continuing on towards Bellows Falls, VT on October 19th over the recently-reopened Green Mountain Railway line which was pummeled in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene. From there, it continued south over the New England Central to Willamantic, CT via Palmer, MA. At Willamantic, the train continued east over Providence & Worcester's Willamantic Branch to Plainfield, CT.
Reopened in 2007, the Willamantic branch was plagued by a series of derailments in 2010 and the FRA ruled that the line would be downgraded to 'excepted', limiting speeds on the line to 10 MPH and preventing more than 5 cars of hazardous materiel from travelling the line. At Plainfield, CT, the Willamantic Branch intersects with the P&Ws Worcester, MA to Groton, CT line and from these, the OCS headed back north into Massachusetts. Since the derailments, many of the unit ethanol trains that traverse the Green Mountain Corridor simply travel all the way south to the NECR/P&W interchange at New London, CT before continuing on to Providence via Worcester, MA.
Besides unit ethanol trains, the railroads that make up the Green Mountain Gateway hope to compete against Norfolk Southern/Pan-Am's 'Patriot Corridor' and CSX's Boston line for autorack and intermodal traffic. In 2006, the Green Mountain Gateway saw unit trains of imported coal from South Africa being offloaded in Providence, RI with a final destination of Johnson City, NY- just west of Binghamton, NY- via Canadian Pacific's former Delaware & Hudson Bridge Line for a few weeks as the power plant there was test burning various grades of coal. While there is no more unit trains of imported coal for Johnson City, the P&W does still handle unit trains of imported coal to First Light's Mt. Tom, MA power plant and Northeast Utilities [NYSE: NU] Bow, NH plant.
LIRR commuter trains meet at Huntington Station- Photo, Jospeh Meade
Janice Fedarcyk, the head of New York’s FBI office, called it a “game where every retiree was a winner.” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the disability pension program was not designed to be “a feeding trough for the truly dishonest,” but authorities say that’s what happened.
Hundreds of LIRR employees falsely declared themselves disabled to collect more pension money from the ages of 50 to 65, when they would otherwise qualify for full benefits, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The complaint said a retired engineering manager who complained of severe hand, knee, shoulder and back pain often played tennis and golf while collecting about $105,000 yearly in combined pension and disability payments.
Another former employee said she suffered neck, shoulder and hand pain from computer work and couldn’t stand more than five minutes without leg pain. She was “surveilled shoveling heavy snow for approximately one and a half hours,” the complaint said. She gets about $108,000 a year in combined pension and disability payments.
The complaint said many workers who retired with disability benefits worked unusually high amounts of overtime in the five years before retirement because pensions are calculated based on earnings during that period. The heavy workloads often continued “right up until the very day when they and their physicians claimed they were utterly unable to continue doing their railroad jobs,” the complaint said.
The complaint also seemed to place some of the blame for the scandal on the pension system itself, saying the “exceptionally high rate of occupational disability applications for the LIRR can be attributed to the fact that the LIRR, and the LIRR alone, offers a pension to employees as young as 50 years old.” The complaint said unscrupulous employees lie about their physical condition so they can retire at an earlier age with a salary almost equal to what they got when they were working.
Three doctors, one of whom has since died, were responsible for 86 percent of the railroad’s disability applications before 2008. One doctor recommended at least 839 LIRR employees for disability from 1998 to 2008, the complaint said.
Authorities said the doctors collected $800 to $1,200 in fees from each patient as they built disability cases by prescribing unnecessary medical tests and physical therapy. They said the doctors then fabricated or grossly exaggerated medical assessments and built illness narratives to show the employees were unable to work.
The charges stem from a September 2008 investigative report in the New York Times which pointed out that nearly 90% disability attriton rate of the LIRR personnel. The claims were not just limited to engineers, conductors or track workers, either- the former deputy general counsel and claims manager were seeking disability according to the New York Times report.
The MTA claimed that it had no say-so in awarding the fraudulent disability payments and that the RRB was acting as a rubber stamp for any claim that came before it. The FBI and RRB's Inspector General have filed charges against the 11 participants in the scheme where they feel they have the strongest evidence. Since its creation in the 1930s, the RRB is the government agency that administers disability, unemployment, retirement and survivor benefits to railroad workers and their families.
The first phase of the project includes the construction of a 3300 ft bridge and 11,000 foot levy. The construction is expected to cause intermittent delays and congestion for the next two years (no work will be done in the dead of winter) but project managers are hoping some 75 truckloads of firewood donated to area residents will offset any inconvenience. The new extension will give the Alaska Railroad access to the US Army's Fort Wainwright as well as potential shippers in the agricultural, mining and petrochemical sectors.
New England Central Rock Train passing Winooski Gorge with Toldeo Peoria & Western GP40-2LW #4053 in the lead at Winooski, VT on November 1, 2011. Photo, Matt Powell
VERMONT: While the railroads throughout the Green Mountain state have reopened in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, the same can't be said for the state's road network. Hit particularly hard was Vermont Route 107 to the west of Bethel. Surging floodwaters from the nearby White River have obliterated sections of the road.
The rocks are loaded onto the side-dump gondola cars on the Vermont Railway outside of Burlington and then handed off to the New England Central, where they turn south at Essex Jct and continue about another 50 miles over the newly reopened former Central Vermont mainline to Bethel, where they're dumped down an embankment for trucks to haul the rest of the way to the construction site.
Knoxville Locomotive Works Photo
TENNESSEE: Gulf and Ohio has officially entered the low-emissions diesel market with the unveiling of their KLW20B prototype in October. The Knoxville Locomotive Works website claims a fuel savings of up to 30%, lower rate of oil consumption and compatibility with already-existing components from EMD (the locomotive was made from the frame and carbody of a Norfolk Southern GP38).
Reportedly, the locomotive underwent testing on Gulf and Ohio's Knoxville and Holston River, which is also home to the G&O's 1890 built 2-8-0, Southern #154 that had been fully restored in 2010.
TVRM's Southern 2-8-0 Consolidated #630 leading an excursion on Norfolk Southern's Atlanta North District at Chattanooga, TN over the Labor Day weekend. Doyle Massey photo
ELSEWHERE IN TENNESSEE: Norfolk Southern's 21st Century steam program began in earnest over the Labor Day weekend with Tennessee Valley Railroad Musuem's Southern 2-8-0 #630 powering mainline excursions over the Norfolk Southern's North Atlanta District
The Labor Day excursions over the Norfolk Southern also coincided with the TVRM's 50th anniversary, which featured a number of static displays and some diesel excursions [as well as the largest Moon Pie; no foolin'- NANESB!]. Although Tropical Storm Lee put a damper on some of the celebrations, the TVRM's Labor Day railfest was well attended and the #630 is expected to power another mainline excursion over the Norfolk Southern- this time to Knoxville, TN on November 14th.
Even though Alaska is by far the biggest state in the Union, big trains are something of a rarity in the Big Dipper State, as the Alaska Railroad is isolated and disconnected from the rest of the rail network in the USA and Canada.
The link is provided instead by rail barges between Seattle, WA- where the cars are interchanged with BNSF or Union Pacific- or Prince Rupert, BC where the cars are interchanged with the Canadian National Railway.
The barges can typically accomodate anywhere from 40-55 cars each, but there are intra-line unit coal trains that can measure 75 cars in length. Although some of this coal is bound for on line customers like Fort Wainright, University of Alaska-Fairbanks or Eileson AFB, a good deal of the coal (mined at Healy, AK) travels to port at Seward where it is loaded onto ships for export to South Korea or Chile.
Railpictures.net photographer (and Alaska Railroad employee) David Blaze explains that on December 10, 2010, one of these 75 car trains was in the middle of unloading at Seward, but had to stop halfway through because of high winds. The train ended up leaving with 4 units and half of it's consist. The following day, another coal train showed up at Seward and was able to successfully offload its coal along with the other half of the train that had to stop on account of the wind.
For the return trip to Anchorage, the consist was successfully doubled up on December 12th, resulting in a 10 unit, 113 car, 7000 ft behemoth of a train- essentially 1½ trains. Here, David Blaze catches SD70MAC #4016 in charge of nine other EMD Behemoths as it snakes its way northward around the Turnagain Arm at Indian, AK on December 12, 2010.
CHINA: Passengers stranded on a train that was stuck on a partially collapsed bridge Guanghan, Sechuan were successfully evacuated shortly before at least two of the cars plunged into the river below this week. Amateur video shot inside one of the cars shows passengers making frantic calls to loved ones as the bridge starts to buckle, and later on shows another train passing in the background on a separate bridge immediately in the background as the passenger cars are plunging into the river. Rescuers and railway officials were able to get the passengers out of the cars minutes before the first passenger car toppled into the floodwater-swollen river and came to rest at the abutments of nearby bridge that was still under construction.
Severe flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have battered southern China leaving hundreds dead and hundreds missing this month alone.
HOLLAND: An out of control maintenance-of-way train crashed through a barrier and tore its way through 300 feet of parking lot and slicing a watersports shop in two before coming to a stop in the town square in Stavoren, Holland on July 26.
IOWA: The volunteer fire departments in Atlantic and Anita, Iowa held a fundraiser that featured Iowa Interstate's Chinese made QJ 2-10-2 #7081 powering an excursion between the two southwestern Iowa towns. The excursion ran on the western portion of Iowa Interstate's former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific between Blue Island, IL (Chicagoland) and Omaha, NE (across the river from Omaha, NE) line.
Two trips were initially planned, but a third was added due to increased demand.
ALASKA: The Alaska Railroad announced that Kiewit Pacific Co. has been awarded the contract to provide general contracting and construction management services for the first phase of their planned 80-mile extension from the current end of the line between Fairbanks, AK and Delta Jct.
ELSEWHERE: The trailer for Unstoppable is now available online. The movie was flimed along portions of the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and Western New York & Pennsylvania in western New York State using locomotives from Canadian Pacific and Wheeling & Lake Erie (modified to portray the fictitiousAllegheny & West Virginia)
OK....I'm about a day late with this but on July 7th 1958, the Alaska Statehood Act was passed into law- even though statehood wasn't made official until January 3rd of the following year.
(History Channel)
So besides giving the rest of the USA oil, timber, gold, King Crabs, Native Corporations that subcontract no-bid, set-aside contracts, Sarah Palin, yodeller/songwriter Jewel Kilcher and tomboyish Lisa Kelly, Alaska is home to a one of a kind railroad- which would be none other than the Alaska Railroad. To start off with, the Alaska Railroad has no land connections with other railroads. While it does a robust business hauling sightseers between Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali National Park, freight cars have to be brought in by barge from the Canadian National at Prince Rupert, BC or BNSF at Seattle, WA. They also have to be retrieved or put on the barge not by the locomotive, but a long string of empty flatcars coupled together that are pushed (or pulled) by the locomotives so they won't redistribute the weight on the barge suddenly or unevenly.
The extreme temperatures and remoteness of the state present its own set of unique challenges to the 470 mile railroad that connect the ports of Seward and Whittier with Anchorage and Fairbanks. In April 2009, a massive rockslide cut off the highway into the town of Whittier AK while the Alaska Railroad line was undamaged. With so many large boulders to clear, it took the Alaska DOT several weeks to clear the highway. In the meantime, the Alaska Railroad offered a free passenger service to shuttle the stranded residents to and from the town. There was also the problem of garbage accumulating in Whittier while they were waiting for the highway to re-open, since the company responsible for doing that was located on the other side of the rockslide. The ARR was able to help out by loading a few garbage trucks onto flatcars before offloading them in Whittier, have the garbage men make the rounds after bringing them in seperately by hi-rail vehicle and then load the garbage trucks back on the flatcars and return to Anchorage.
And while the ARR is fairly small and remote, they have managed to update their motive power, including new EMD SD70MACS and a Colorado Railcar self-propelled DMU. While they purged their roster of the GP49s, MP15DCs and vintage self-propelled Buddliners, they still reatain a number of older EMD GP40-2 and GP38-2s.
A good deal of the ARR's online traffic is aggregates such as gravel and ballast. Much of this is destined for in-state projects and even the Alaska Railroad's right-of-way. Railpictures.net contributor mtgteam2 caught Alaska Railroad GP40-2 #3012 in charge of a work train hauling just such a commodity in some old ARR hopper cars crossing Twenty Mile River at Portage, AK on June 2, 2009. The aforementioned railpictures.net contributor points out that it's not unusual for the ARR to run three work trains a day in the summer months, since it's important to get the major projects finished in the warmer weather.
Today's Train of Thought comes to us from Alaska. That's right- Land of the Midnight Sun, Sarah Palin, Lisa Kelly and yodeller/songwriter Jewel.
Photo- John Burcham
Do I have your attention? Okay...I'm going to ramble on about railroads for a little bit, so feel free to scroll back to these images if your attention starts to wander.
Railpictures.net contributor Dave Blaze captured this image of Alaska Railroad's Hurricane Turn flagstop train, powered by a pair of Budd RDCs (Rail-Diesel Cars, basically self-propelled passenger cars) as they creep across the 300ft high Hurricane Gulch trestle at Hurricane, Alaska in September 2008. By the end of December, all of Alaska's vintage Budd RDC's had been withdrawn from service and were awaiting disposition.
