In [slightly belated] honor of Canada Day today's Train of Thought takes us north of the border to Ontario for something of a throwback that is distinctly Canadian.
The GMD 1 was manufactured by Canada's GM subsidiary starting in the late 1950s and initially found only two buyers- the Canadian National and the Northern Alberta Railways [which was absorbed into the CN system in 1981- NANESB!]. Unlike the ALCo, MLW or EMD end-cab switchers of the time, the GMD1's slightly off-center cab and overall body style was more reminiscent of the ALCo RS1 than any EMD product. The uniquely Canadian units spent much of their service life toiling away on isolated prairie branchlines in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, hauling grain over rail too light for most other locomotive types on the CN roster at the time.
Beginning in the late 1990s, the Canadian National underwent privatization and began divesting themselves of some of the marginal prairie branchlines while acquiring American Class 1 or regional lines such as the Illinois Central or Wisconsin Central. While Canadian National began retiring and selling off a number of the 1200 HP GMD 1's as switchers for quarries, grain elevators and even Cuba's national railways.
Still, a number of the distinctive GMD roadswitchers not only remained on the CN roster, but were put into service systemwide as yard switchers or powering local freights after the prairie lines had been largely abandoned or sold off.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Ryan Gaynor- aka LocalRailfan- caught Canadian National GMD 1 #1444 out on the mainline in Dundas, Ontario on July 6th, 2012. Here, the #1444 and CN GP38-2W #4776 are seen pushing hard on the rear of Toledo, OH to Toronto mainifest freight, Train 385.
The head end power [a CN C44-9W, C40-8 and GP9R] was having a difficult time ascending the Niagara Escarpment on the line between Niagara Falls and Toronto and the #1444 and wide-cab GP38 were summoned from nearby Aldershot Yard to assist the heavy manifest freight up the grade. Fortunately, LocalRailfan has video evidence of this CN freight's epic struggle against gravity on his YouTube channel.
Not only is the power [both head-end and tail-end- NANESB!] increasingly rare and unique, so are manned helpers on Class 1 lines such as the CN. Lately, railroads prefer to tackle difficult terrain using strategically distributed power (DPUs) that can be controlled from the lead units
Today's Train of Thought takes us to a western Pennsylvania carrier that is sort of the odd man out in the Canadian National system that started out life as an outlet for Andrew Carnegie's US Steel to reach the Great Lakes and the rest of the American Railroad network.
Almost an afterthought in Canadian National's 2004 acquisition of Great Lakes Transportation, the Bessemer & Lake Erie has operated largely unchanged since the CN takeover and still primarily operates as a conveyor belt for ore arriving from the docks at Lake Erie in Conneaut, OH to the steel mills around Pittsburgh, PA. Odds are pretty good that the ore originates along other former US Steel railroads- primarily the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range The line also brings in coal and coke from surrounding areas to fire up the furnaces and occasionally handles aggregates, frac sand and scrap metal. Although some B&LE power has found its way to other parts of the CN system, motive power from other CN line seems to only occasionally make its way to the Bessemer Line.
Here, railpictures.net contributor J Alex Lang caught snow-encrusted B&LE SD40T-2 #902 leading a southbound train of stockpiled ore under Pennsylvania Route 8 in Meharg, PA on the last day of January 2009 with symbol freight 902 S.
Southbound MM&A train with Vermont Railway and Montreal, Maine & Atlantic power seen rolling through a meadow in North Troy, VT on its trek between Farnham, Quebec and Newport, VT on June 15, 2013- a few weeks before the deadly explosion after a runaway MM&A oil train derailed in Lac Megantic, Quebec. Richard Deuso photo
MONTREAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC- After months of speculation and uncertainty, the beleaguered Montreal, Maine & Atlantic has a new owner.
New York-based hedge fund Fortress Investment Group [NYSE- FIG] was announced as the winning bidder in a Jan 23rd bankruptcy auction. Other bidders reportedly included Pan Am Railways and JD Irving, parent company of the New Brunswick Southern railroad and the refinery that the oil being hauled by the ill-fated MM&A train was destined for. Within days of the winning bid being announced, courts in both Canada and the USA approved the sale to Fortress.
Largely shut down in the wake of the July 2013 Lac Megantic derailment that killed 46 people, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic filed for bankruptcy shortly after the disaster, the MM&A ran a test train through the La Megantic in December in anticipation of fully reopening the line. Reports surfaced in September 2013 that the oil being shipped was much more volatile than the manifest indicated. In 2010, the MM&A and the state of Maine agreed to terms on the sale of more than 230 miles of lines in northern Maine. By early 2011, the state of Maine had contracted with JD Irving to operate freight service over the recently sold lines between Madawaska and Millinocket.
Fortress Investment Group has also been the parent company of the Florida East Coast Railway since 2007 and was majority owners of shortline holding company Rail America until their 2013 sale to Genesee & Wyoming. The FEC has won a number of industry awards for safety, a background that could prove useful in persuading otherwise reluctant Canadian officials into allowing oil to once again move over Fortress-owned MM&A trackage. Shortly after the MM&A sale was made official, Great Northern paper of Millinocket, ME announced they would be suspending operations for sixteen weeks, depriving the railroad of a major shipper.
Other assets owned completely or partially by Fortress include private aircraft leasing firm Aircastle [NYSE- AYR], Luxembourg-based reality company GAGFAH, Brookdale Senior Housing [NYSE- BKD] and Canadian ski resort company Intrawest.
Union Pacific SD70M #4884 is seen leading 'Big Boy' locomotive #4014 through Ontario, CA en route to the former Southern Pacific yard in Colton, CA on Jan 25th, 2014. The locomotive was removed from the Los Angeles County Fairground Complex at Pomona, CA using temporary track and its final destination will be Cheyenne, WY. Matthew Griffin photo
UNION PACIFIC- Union Pacific's 4-8-8-4 'Big Boy' is on the move after crews painstakingly moved the giant steam locomotive out of the LA County Fairplex at Pomona on temporary track and onto the mainline to the former Southern Pacific facilities at Colton, CA.
The behemoth locomotive has another 1200 miles to go before reaching its final destination of Cheyenne, WY but will reportedly be on display in Colton for the first two weekends of February. In exchange for the Big Boy, the Rail Giants museum at the Pomona Fairplex will receive Union Pacific SD40-2 #3105 as well as a caboose and boxcar. Although the 4014 was the biggest steam locomotive on display, it was by no means the only one- Santa Fe 4-6-4 #3450, Union Pacific 4-12-2 #9000 and Southern Pacific 4-10-2 #5021 remain on display on the grounds along with restored freight cars.
The largest steam locomotive ever built, the Alco built Big Boys hauled freight and passengers for the Union Pacific over the Wasatch Range between Cheyenne, WY and Salt Lake City, UT in the 1940s up until dieselization in the 1950s. There are several surviving examples of the Union Pacific's Big Boys on static display- most notably in Cheyenne, WY and Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA- but after an exhaustive search, the Union Pacific determined that the #4014 in Pomona was the best candidate for a full restoration.
Motive Power Inc. HSP-46 demonstrator #2100 seen undergoing outdoor testing at the MBTA's South Station engine terminal in Boston, MA. David Hutchinson photo
MBTA- The first units from MBTA's order with Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies [NYSE- WAB] subsidiary Motive Power Inc have arrived and are undergoing testing on MBTA and elsewhere.
In 2010, the MBTA Board of Directors approved an initial 20-unit, $115 million order with Boise, ID-based MPI. However, since then the order has been upped to 40. The new locomotives are designated HSP-46 and are powered by General Electric GEVO engines and clock in at 4600 HP each. So far only one unit is on T property and has been undergoing compatibility testing with the electronic systems in the T's various coaches manufactured by Bombardier and Kawasaki. Two other HSP-46s are currently undergoing testing- one at GE's East Erie, PA test facility and the other at the FRA's Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO.
Oddly, this isn't the first appearance of MPI power on the T- the agency purchased two MP36PH-3Cs from Motive Power, Inc. The locomotives were originally intended for Utah's Front Runner commuter rail before the order was partially cancelled. For commuter rail, the T has been using 1970s built F40PHs along with rebuilt GP40MCs for passenger service along with some GP9s, GP40s and an NRE genset used for maintenance of way service.
MISSISSIPPI- At least 18 cars on a Canadian National train- some of them carrying hazardous cargo- outside of the southern Mississippi town of New Augusta derailed over the weekend. First responders were able set up barriers around some of the cars that had derailed and both lanes of nearby US highway 98 were shut down.
The train was carrying crude oil, liquid fertilizer and methanol- a state department of Environmental Quality official described the site as dangerous, but more dangerous to the first responders than the public.
Westbound Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern freight between Huron and Rapid City, SD seen passing through Wall, SD with CP Rail and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern SD40-2s in June 2007- a year before the CP Rail takeover. JJ Schrader photo
CANADIAN PACIFIC- CP Rail and shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming have reportedly reached a deal to purchase more than 600 miles of former Canadian Pacific (ex Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern, nee Chicago & Northwestern) trackage in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
The price tag for the deal was reportedly $210 million and is Genesee & Wyoming's first transaction since last year's takeover of Rail America. The new name for the line will be the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern and will run from Tracy, MN west to Colony, WY by way of Rapid City and the South Dakota capitol of Pierre. According to a GWR press release, the transaction includes a branch from Rapid City to Dakota Jct, NE as well as trackage rights over CP from Tracy to Mankato, MN to interchange with the Union Pacific as well as trackage right over BNSF between Yale and Watertown, SD and a separate line between Wolsey and Aberdeen, SD where the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern could also interchange with the independent regional Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western. This stretch of the line primarily hauls ethanol, wheat, bentonite clay and cement.
Prior to 2008, the line was part of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern system. The DM&E was reportedly interested in expansion by building a new line in Wyoming to access coal from the Powder River Basin and ship it to power plants throughout the Midwest. However, the line between Pierre and Rapid City featured unstable roadbed as well as aging track and bridges limiting speed limits to 10 MPH over that portion of the line and creating a significant bottleneck. With the 2008 CP Rail takeover, a number of proposed improvements were approved but quickly forgotten after competition from natural gas and regulatory burdens on coal drove prices down and the CP Rail installed Hunter Harrison as its new CEO after a 2012 hostile takeover by the Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund. With the focus shifting to rising oil traffic from Alberta and North Dakota, the former DM&E lines became viewed as insignificant backwater and an increasing burden by CP Rail management.
The DM&E itself was started up after the Chicago & Northwestern announced their intent to abandon marginal and unprofitable lines through South Dakota and parts of Minnesota in the early 1980s. Responding to pressure from shippers and then-US Senator Larry Pressler, the C&NW spun off their lines between Winona, MN and Rapid City, SD to the newly formed Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in 1986 and the railroad began operations with castoff equipment and facilities.
In addition to their Powder River ambitions, the DM&E purchased the 1700 mile I&M Rail Link in 2002. The I&M Rail Link ran between the Twin Cities and Kansas City via the former Milwaukee Road/Soo Line main and also ran to Chicago via Iowa. The newly-formed sister railway- called the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern- gave shippers in South Dakota access to the Twin Cities, Chicago, St Louis and the Great Lakes. Ironically, the Canadian Pacific reacquired most of the lines in 2008 with their acquisition of the DM&E and IC&E that their Soo Line subsidiary spun off in the late 1990s. To hardly anybody's surprise, the former IC&E trackage between the Twin Cities and Kansas City as well as the Sabula, IA to Chicago line weren't on the chopping block.
Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 seen passing a grain elevator in the village of Carland, MI with an excursion on December 13, 2013. Brian Plant photo
MICHIGAN- After a hiatus of nearly four years, Pere Marquette 2-8-4 #1225 is back in service for the Owosso, MI based Steam Railroading Institute. The big Berkshire re-entered service at the end of November, in time for the SRI's Polar Express excursions over the Great Lakes Central Railroad between Owosso and Ashley, MI in December [although some of them were cancelled due to a state of emergency being declared in Shiawassee County, MI due to a snowstorm- NANESB].
The locomotive last ran at the end of 2009, when it was pulled from service for it's FRA-mandated 15 year boiler inspection. A few months prior, the #1225 was one of the marquee attractions at the 2009 Train Fest, which also included fellow Berkshire Nickel Plate #765 and Southern Pacific's colorful 1941-built Daylight #4449.
Appropriately enough, there is another gathering of vintage iron horses- as well as aircraft and autos- within a few months of the #1225's return to service. The gathering is dubbed Locomotives Wings and Wheels and in addition to the #1225, the gathering is scheduled for June 20-22 and will also feature restored WWII era P-51 Mustangs from the Commemorative Air Force as well as SRI's Flagg Coal Company 0-4-0 switcher and visiting steam locomotives from the Little River Railroad.
CANADIAN NATIONAL- Just days after a fiery train wreck and derailment in Casselton, ND, a Canadian National freight carrying crude oil and liquefied propane derailed in rural New Brunswick near the village of Plaster Rock. According to a CN spokesman, 19 cars and one locomotive derailed on the 122-car four locomotive train.
Unlike the Lac Megantic disaster last July of the BNSF oil train explosion in Casselton, ND earlier this month, the CN train involved in the derailment was a mixed freight, meaning it was carrying other commodities besides petroleum and liquefied natural gas. However, the wreck prompted the evacuation of nearby residents and some of the derailed cars burned for four days after the derailment.
Transportation officials believe that a mechanical failure prompted the train to apply the emergency brakes prior to the derailment. There were no reports of injuries to the crew.
Plaster Rock, NB is about 30 miles away from the Canada/US border in the northwestern corner of New Brunswick and has a population of roughly 1100 according to Canada's 2011 census.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for weather conditions best described as a 'winter mix' which is mostly snow, sleet and freezing rain all taking place at temperatures below freezing.
Here, railpicture.net contributor John Ryan caught Illinois Central GP40-2 #3110 leading a southbound Canadian National merchandise freight over the Cedar River at Powers, MI on December 28th, 2008. The white stuff is clinging not only to the tree branches, telephone poles and truss bridge, but also the nose of the #3110 and the broom kept on the front of the unit. In the process, the white stuff is also obscuring the 'death star' Illinois Central logo on the nose- a moniker applied to the logo that came with the IC's final paint scheme prior to the 1998 takeover of IC by Canadian National.
NEW YORK- At least four people were killed and 70 injured on Sunday morning when a Metro-North commuter train derailed just north of the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx.
Early reports indicate that the train was travelling at speeds in excess of 80 MPH as it headed into a curve along the Harlem river where the maximum speed limit is 30 MPH. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and has recovered two event recorders from the crash site. At the time, the train was operating in 'push-pull' mode where the train appears to be running backwards with the locomotive pushing from the rear and controlled by the engineer in a specially equipped enclosure in the 'trailing' car. This is fairly common practice among a number of commuter rail agencies as well as some Amtrak routes.
The cellphone records and blood samples of the engineer- who survived the wreck and was released from the hospital- have been taken, but no word on the results from the NTSB yet.
New Mexico State Police released the names of the three on board the Southwestern Railroad freight train which was operating between the massive Freeport McMoran open put copper mine in Santa Rita, NM and the Southwestern yards at Hurley, NM. The eight carloads of iron ore the train was hauling remained upright while the locomotive- a former Conrail GP40- landed on its side after falling roughly 50 feet into an arroyo.
Law enforcement previously reported that all three victims were men, however, one of the victims was a woman, Ann Thompson, 50, originally from Paulden, Ariz. The other two victims were Donald White, 38, of Silver City, and Steven Crose, 60, also of Paulden, Ariz.
Crose and White both worked for the railroad. Thompson was Crose's girlfriend, said Wanda Shepard, Crose's cousin. It is also unknown why Thompson was inside the locomotive at the time of the crash as she did not work for Southwestern Railroad, Shepard said. Both Thompson and Crose had recently moved to the Hurley area just three weeks ago for Crose's job.
"They loved being on the train," Shepard said of White and her cousin. "They loved it. It was their calling, and they were really proud of their jobs and what they did."
Although the train was carrying no hazardous materiel, the fire department from nearby Silver City, NM was called in to contain a diesel spill from the derailed locomotive.
A subsidiary of Western Railroad Builders, Inc, the Southwestern operates two disconnected lines in southern New Mexico. In 1990, the railroad purchased a cluster of former Santa Fe lines radiating out of Whitewater, NM to copper mines in Tyrone and Santa Rita in Grant County, NM. By 1994, the line from Whitewater to the then-Southern Pacific interchange in Demming, NM was purchased from the Santa Fe and by 2002, Western Railroad Builders agreed to a lease with BNSF for the line between Demming and Hatch, NM. To the east, the Southwest began operations on more than 200 miles of former BNSF trackage between Clovis and Carlsbad, NM when they entered into a lease agreement with the BNSF in 2004.
Western Railroad builders also operates the 250+ mile Cimarron Valley Railroad in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado as well as the 40-mile Arizona Central out of Clarkdale, AZ.
ALBERTA- The Canadian National Railway suffered two derailments in the province of Alberta in the span of a few weeks, one of them prompting the evacuation of a nearby town.
On October 19th, a Canadian National train hauling oil and LPG derailed near the village of Gainsford, AB west of Edmonton at approximately 1 AM local time. Witnesses reported hearing a loud series of crashes before seeing a fireball shoot up into the sky. After evacuating nearby residents and shutting down the Yellowhead Highway which runs parallel to the CN line, emergency crews decided the safest option would be to allow the fire to burn itself out.
In the early morning hours of Nov 3rd, a second Canadian Nation freight train derailed outside the hamlet of Peers, AB- also west of Edmonton. That train was determined to be carrying lumber and sulphur Dioxide, a hazardous material but not as volatile as oil or LPG.
According to the Randolph County Sheriff's Office, the driver of the log truck was the sole fatality of the collision and when they arrived on the scene, the gates and flashing lights on the crossing were functioning.
Randolph County Sheriff Mark Brady said two of the train’s passenger cars flipped on their sides after impact at a rail crossing with a mountain highway, the log truck was rendered a “total loss” and the truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The truck driver was not immediately identified and news photographs from the scene at West Virginia’s Cheat Mountain showed large, heavy logs jumbled beside the two toppled train cars amid a chaotic scene of first responders aiding shaken passengers leaving the train.
Brady said the accident occurred at a train crossing on U.S. Route 250 at a bridge on the mountain. The overturned passenger cars lay beside the tracks, roped off with yellow crime scene tape as police, firefighters and others looked on.
Headquartered in Elkins, WV the West Virginia Central railroad operates more than 130 miles of former Western Maryland trackage in the eastern part of the state. Although it does intermittently haul freight, excursion trains such as the New Tygart Flyer, Durbin Rocket and Cheat Mountain Salamander have proven big draws for the line. Future plans for the line include re-opening a connection with the Cass Scenic Railway, a former logging railroad now a state park and tourist hauler as well as establishing a permanent home for the West Virginia Railroad Museum in Randolph County along the WVCR right-of-way.
I gotta say, since the calendar flipped over to springtime last week, I was thinking about shifting to a more 'seasonal' train of Thought. However, even tho the calendar might say its springtime, Mother Nature had other designs for the Great Plains and midwest last week.
Today's Train of thought takes us to a fallen flag that officially ceased to exist earlier this year. Ever since the Canadian National acquired the Wisconsin Central in 2001, the Canadian National had been looking for a way to circumvent the congestion in and around Chicago. That opportunity came in 2009 when after years of speculation, the Canadian National acquired the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern which looped around Chicago instead of heading into the Windy City.
At the time, the EJ&E was one of three railways that looped around Chicago- including the Indiana Harbor Belt and Belt Railway of Chicago- and was the only US Steel Railroad that hadn't been acquired by Canadian National during their 2004 acquisition of Great Lakes Transportation's Bessemer & Lake Erie and Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range.
Like the B&LE and DM&IR- as well as the Illinois Central, British Columbia Railway and Wisconsin Central- the motive power from the EJ&E showed up throughout the Canadian National system, with some units being repainted into CN colors and others getting sold off for scrap or shortline railroads.
Here, railpictures.net contributor R. Scott Marsh caught EJ&E SD38-2 #673 pulling yard duty at the former Illinois Central yard in Waterloo, IA in the middle of a late snowstorm on April. The #673 started out life on the Bessemer & Lake Erie as #890 and saw briefly saw service on the Union Railroad before being moved between US Steel Railroads. As of 2012, the EJ&E #673 was still in "flying J" colors and has occasionally appeared on 'home rails' even though the Joliet ceased to be on January 1st, 2013.
The Conrail freight was pulling 84 cars and heading southbound along a branchline when the derailment occurred Friday morning. At least one of the cars ruptured, sending a cloud of vinyl chloride into the air and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents nearby- 70 people were also hospitalized with respiratory problems.
Conrail and investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are focusing on the 139 year old bridge- a movable 'A Frame' type span. The bridge was manually operated and had a bridge tender on site until the last decade or so. There was reportedly a minor derailment along the same bridge in 2009 and Conrail was investigating problems with trackside signals near the bridge in the week or so before Friday's derailment.
The veteran two-person crew operating the CSX train Friday was familiar with the route and had run it the three previous nights. They had started their shift at 3 a.m. in Camden and were surprised to get a yellow signal when they approached the bridge at about 7 a.m. They used a keypad device, similar to a garage door opener, to try to get a green light, to no avail. The pair then stopped the train for several minutes, examined the tracks, and got permission from a dispatcher to proceed, Hersman said.
The two locomotives and five tanker cars made it across before the crew looked back to see the bridge “collapse” and a pileup of cars in the creek. The one that ruptured had been struck by another tanker, she said.
Recordings of various data so far support the crew’s account, investigators said. However, authorities are not yet sure whether the bridge deck actually collapsed or shifted.
Officials are also considering tidal surges from the passing of Super storm Sandy may have factored into the derailment, undermining the 1873-built bridge. However, NTSB investigators can't do a thorough on site examination until the remaining chemicals are cleaned up.
Bracketing a Liquified Natural Gas tank car, rebuilt SD40-2s #5262 and #5258 are seen in handout photo from Canadian National Railways. CN is experimenting with rebuilding locomotives to run on LNG
The conversion kits was supplied by Energy Conversions, Inc of Tacoma, WA and Calgary-based natural gas producer Encana [NYSE- ECA; TSX- ECA] will be providing the fuelling and the maintenance. Officials with Canadian National and Energy Conversions say that the move could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30%. While Alberta is a leading energy producer thanks to crude oil and the oil sands, the province also sits on top of considerable natural gas deposits. However, the current glut has driven natural gas prices down- although this would put CN at an advantage should the prices persist as it expands the LNG-powered locomotive program.
Canadian National's LNG project is similar to an earlier natural-gas powered locomotive project from Energy Conversions. Between 1991 and 1996, the Burlington Northern Railroad ran coal trains between Wyoming's Powder River Basin and the midwest with a duo of SD40-2s bracketing an LNG tanker/tender modified by Energy conversions. Although the Burlington Northern program stopped around the same time as the merger with Santa Fe to form BNSF, Energy Conversions would do similar work for the Napa Valley Wine Train, the state railways of Thailand and Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce's [NYSE- VALE, BOVESPA- VALE3 & VALE5] rail operations.
The locomotives used for CN's LNG pilot program are a pair of 1975-built SD40-2Ws that are now sporting flared radiators- like the SD40-2s Burlington Northern used 20 years ago. Both locomotives and the LNG tanker/tender will be assigned to the 480km Canadian National line between Edmonton and the Athabasca oil sands hub of Ft McMurray, AB. Built in the 1920s, the line was originally part of the Northen Alberta Railway until NAR was taken over by CN in 1981. By 1994, CN ceased operations and the line was acquired by Rail Link's Lakeland & Waterways- who were brought into the Rail America fold by 1999. In the summer of 2000, Rail America halted operations on the Ft. McMurray line and within a few months, Canadian shortline operator CANDO contracting acquired the line outright from CN, only to have CN repurchase the line at the end of 2007.
Presently, the Canadian National hauls construction materiel, pipe and heavy machinery up to Ft McMurray and brings oil sands extraction byproducts like petroleum coke and sulphur south.
Wisconsin Southern E9A #101 seen hauling the Toys for Tots train cross the Rock River east of Edgerton, WI on November 3rd, 2012. photo- Brian Allen
WISCONSIN- Just a quick update out of the Badger State. I had earlier reported that Soo Line 2-8-2 Mikado #1003 was scheduled to haul a Toys for Tots holiday train over the Wisconsin & Southern last month.
However, shortly before the scheduled November 3rd departure, the #1003 was sidelined with an unspecified mechanical problem. Wisconsin & Southern E9A #101 handled the Toys for Tots train between Milton and Middletown, WI.
The #1003 was pulled from service two years ago in order to under to undergo her FRA-mandated 15 year boiler inspection. Due to rising costs, there were some concerns from the preservation community that the #1003 would never return to service again.
Colombus-based American Steam Railroad Preservation Association has reached an agreement with the Cleveland-based Midwest Railway Preservation Society to house the restoration of former St Louis-San Francisco 2-8-2 Mikado #1352 at the MRPS' former Baltimore & Ohio roundhouse in Cleveland.
The #1352 was built by ALCo in 1912 and operated on the Frisco for nearly 45 years before her 1956 retirement. The Frisco donated the #1352 to Kansas City where she was on display at Swoop Park, but soon fell victim to neglect and vandalism. A group of concerned preservationists eventually purchased the 1352 and moved her into storage in rural Illinois.
The MRPS is also home to another, slightly newer ALCo 2-8-2 Mikado- former Grand Trunk Western #4070. The #4070 was built in 1918 and most recently operated in 1990 on the nearby Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
Canadian lawmakers are expected to pass a back-to-work bill that would get Canadian Pacific [NYSE: CP- TSX: CP] trains rolling by the weekend and order striking Canadian Teamsters back to work on Thursday.
The striking Canadian rail workers have been working without a contract since December 31st. At issue when the Teamsters Canada workers called a strike last week was a new contract and pension funding reductions of up to 40%. Canada's Conservative government has previously passed similar back-to-work legislation to end strikes at Canada Post and Air Canada [TSX: AC-A] in recent years.
Trains from Canada's second-largest railway ground to a halt on May 23rd, severely curtailing CP Rail's operations on the American side of the border as well as those of shippers and railways that interchange with CP Rail.
The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, which utilizes trackage rights over CP Rail at the western end of the MM&A system near Montreal, has temporarily laid off 59 employees and re-routed some interchange traffic to the Vermont Railway via Newport, VT. Canadian Pacific is responsible for dispatching trackage in and around the St Jean, Quebec interchange. While an agreement to keep commuter trains in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver operating during the strike had been reached shortly beforehand, the MM&A unsuccessfully sought a court injunction to allow the regional railroad to access Canadian National for interchange in Montreal.
Earlier this year, Canadian labor groups were handed a major setback when EMD's parent company Caterpillar [NYSE- CAT] decided to shutter their London, Ontario plant and shift production to Muncie, IN after a months-long labor dispute with workers at the plant represented by the Canadian Auto Workers.
A pair of former Quebec, North Shore & Labrador SD40-2s are seen on the Wellsboro & Corning at Tioga Jct, PA hauling a cut of empty sand hoppers north to the Norfolk Southern interchange in Corning, NY in June 2010 Dave Seitzer photo
The deal is worth an estimated $18 million and gives Jacksonville, FL-based Rail America a 70% stake in the northern Pennsylvania railroad. Previous owner Tom Myles and his family retain a 30% share of the railroad, which has benefited considerably from increased drilling and exploration for natural gas along the Marcellus shale- a formation that stretches from southern Tennessee to the Adirondack foothills in Upstate New York.
Formed in 1992 from an abandoned Conrail (nee New York Central) line, the Wellsboro & Corning operated with a single SW8 for the lines sparse traffic. The end-cab switcher was eventually sold to another Pennsylvania railroad and the WCOR would end up leasing power from the Norfolk Southern. While the first natural gas wells were being drilled in Northern Pennsylvania, Myles had just purchased the line and reportedly pinned the Wellsboro & Corning's future on shipping outbound wood chips and lumber from Tigoa County, PA. However, increased natural gas drilling in the area led to 60+ unit sand trains meant the Wellsboro, PA based shortline would need additional horsepower. In early 2010, that horsepower arrived in the form of four 3000HP SD40-2s that last saw service with Quebec ore hauler Quebec, North Shore & Labrador.
Pan Am GP9 #52 was released from the Waterville, ME shops as the second unit in Pan Am's 'Heritage' program towards the end of 2011. Painted in vintage Maine Central colors, the #52 is seen leading local SAPPI-3 freight back into the Waterville, ME yard in December 2011. Justin Franz photo
PAN AM RAILWAYS- Following up GP9 #77 being repainted in the Boston & Maine's maroon and gold 'Minuteman' paint scheme over the summer, Pan Am released a second 'heritage' unit from their former Maine Central Waterville, ME shops in December.
Pan-Am GP9 #52 was painted in a green and yellow paint scheme and lettered for Pan-Am/Guilford predecessor Maine Central. The unit was immediately put into service on Waterville-based local SAPPI-3.
There are unconfirmed reports that Pan Am may release an additional 'heritage' painted unit in Boston & Maine's McGinness-era paint scheme known as 'bluebirds'.
Marquette Rail SD40-2 #3001 is seen with two lease units idling at White Cloud, MI with a northbound freight from Grand Rapids to Baldwin awaiting a re-crew in August 2011. Michael Biehn photo
The employee-owned Marquette Rail operates between Grand Rapids and Manistee, MI with a branch to Ludington, MI. Traffic include chemicals, paper and pulp. The company purchased the lines from CSX in late 2005.
Marquette Rail will become the 5th shortline or regional railroad in the Wolverine State to fall under the Rail America umbrella, joining Mid Michigan Railroad, Grand Rapids & Eastern, Michigan Shore and Huron & Eastern.
Norfolk Southern's Southern Railway-painted 'Heritage' GE ES44AC is seen leading Chattanooga, TN to Harrisburg, PA mixed freight 38Q north/east through Telford, TN on March 23rd. Tony King photo.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN- Not to be outdone by Pan Am or Union Pacific in the 'retro' department, Norfolk Southern recently announced an amibitous 'Heritage' program of their own.
The first three locomotives from the Norfolk Southern heritage program- painted for Conrail, Southern and the Nickel Plate- were unveiled earlier this month and put into revenue service.
The Class 1 carrier plans a total of 18 units being painted into 'Heritage' colors, including Erie, Norfolk & Western, Central New Jersey, Wabash, Lehigh Valley, Illinois Terminal, New York Central, Virginian, Savannah & Atlanta, Delaware, Lackawana & Western, the original Norfolk Southern, Interstate Railroad, Central of Georgia, Reading Railroad and`the Pennsylvania Railroad. The first three NS Heritage units were GE ES44AC GEVOs, but Norolk Southern anticipates applying the Heritage colors to nine brand new GE locomotives and nine new EMD SD70ACE locomotives.
Interestingly, both Norfolk Southern and CSX still have a number of locomotives in service that are still in Conrail blue that were never repainted from their 1999 takeover of Conrail. Consolidated Rail Corp- better known as Conrail- was formed in 1976 by cobbling together struggling northeast and rust belt carriers Penn Central, Erie Lackawana, Lehigh Valley, Reading, Central New Jersey and the Lehigh and Hudson River.
New England Central GP38 #3857, Providence & Worcester GP38-2 #2008 and E9B #668 lead a joint NECR/P&W/CN office car special south across the White River in W. Hartford, VT on February 7th 2012. The train is approaching White River Jct and will continue south to Worcester, MA. Shaun McGinniss photo
NEW ENGLAND CENTRAL/PROVIDENCE & WORCESTER- The Providence & Worcester and Rail America's New England Central and operated an Office Car special between St Albans, VT and Worcester, MA in February. The special was to highlight the potential for officials from the Canadian National to utilize the two New England regional railroads to access shippers in the Boston area and operated on the NECR line south of Palmer, MA to P&W's Willamantic Branch before returning north to Worcester on P&W Rails. Officials from the three railroads are hoping the route can help them compete with CSX's former Boston & Albany mainline between Selkirk, NY and Beacon Hill yard in Boston, MA and Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railway's joint Patriot Corridor between Mechanicville, NY and Ayer, MA.
Ironically, the St Albans, VT to New London, CT NECR mainline used to be operated by Central Vermont- a subsidiary of Canadian National- before the line was spun off to RailTex (later Rail America) in the mid 1990s. However, the Central Vermont didn't enjoy the close degree of cooperation with the Providence & Worcester that the NECR does today.
This would be the second Office Car Special with officials from a Canadian class 1 carrier to operate over the NECR and P&W in the last few months. An OCS between Whitehall, NY and Worcester, MA via Rutland VT and the Vermont Railway was supposed to take place over the 2011 Labor Day weekend, but serious damage to the Vermont Railway and NECR lines in the wake of Hurricane Irene meant that the OCS was postponed until October. That OCS also had officials from the Vermont Railway and Canadian Pacific to highlight the VTRR's Green Mountain Gateway between Whitehall, NY and Bellows Falls, VT. Canadian Pacific already sends unit ethanol trains from North Dakota to Providence, RI via the Green Mountain Gateway to the NECR and Providence & Worcester. Additional traffic could be sent through the Green Mountain Gateway as Pan Am is starting a project to improve clearence for double-stack containers at the 4.75 mile Hoosac Tunnel.
OTHER NEW ENGLAND CENTRAL NEWS- By late December 2011, all Florida East Coast GP40-2s and SD40-2s on NECR property had their FEC markings removed. The FEC 'Hurricane' nose logo was replaced by a New England Central herald and lettering on the sides of the units.
Soo Line 2-8-2 #1003 seen passing through Fairwater, WI with vintage freight cars in October 2010, about a month before being pulled from service for her FRA-mandated 15 year boiler inspection. Tom Binger photo
WISCONSIN- After being taken out of service for her 15 year boiler inspection in late 2010, the owners of Soo Line 2-8-2 #1003 have announced that the 1913-built Mikado will return to steam.
The announcement was made on the 1003's website and credits Wisconsin & Southern president William Gardner with a significant donation towards the #1003's eventual return to service- the #1003 would often haul excursions over rails operated by the WSOR while she was in service. The total cost of the neccesary boiler work is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $400,000.
Things are looking quite promising for steam in the upper Midwest. In addition to the Soo Line #1003's scheduled return to service, the nearby Mid Continent Railway Museum has announced plans to restore Chicago & Northwestern 4-6-0 #1385 to service and has already recieved a $250,000 challenge grant towards the full restoration of the 1907-built ten wheeler. Over in the Twin Cities, the Milwaukee Road #261 could return to service as soon as this fall and the Minnesota Transportation Museum is currently restoring Northern Pacific 4-6-2 #2156.
CEFX SD9043MAC is seen leading sister #130 and two dead-in-transit Vermont Railway EMDs past the entrance of Okemo ski resort outside of Ludlow, VT with Rutland-Bellows Falls train #263. Kevin Burkholder photo.
VERMONT RAILWAY- The Vermont Railway System is currently testing a pair of SD9043MACs on their Green Mountain route to evaluate their ability in hauling heavy freight trains over the Rutland-Bellows Falls Green Mountain line.
The Vermont Railway, New England Central and Providence & Worcester have been promoting the Green Mountain Gateway in recent years with some success, resulting in heavier unit coal and ethanol trains moving through the Green Mountains to and from the Canadian Pacific/Vermont Railway interchange in Whitehall, NY. However, the advent of unit ethanol trains from Canadian Pacific destined for Providence, RI in March 2010 highlighted the VTRR's need for bigger locomotives and additional power when the initial 80-car train required most of the Vermont Railway roster to clear the Green Mountains. Currently, the 80-car trains are split in two at Rutland and moved to the NECR interchange at Bellows Falls, VT in 40-car sets while the empties return to Canadian Pacific with 80 cars.
The SD9043MACs are rated at 4300 HP each and features AC Traction motors and radial steering trucks. CEFX #125 was previously in service with Four Rivers Transportation's Appalachian & Ohio and wears an A&O hearald on its long hood.
Interestingly, this is not the first time VTRR has tested CEFX SD9043MACs on the Green Mountain route. In 2000 CEFX #138 and #139 also underwent evaluation on the Green Mountain line, although it was 10 years before heavy unit trains would regularly appear on the VTRR.
Should the Vermont Railway purchase the new EMDs, they would join the Indiana Railroad and Montana Rail Link as shortlines or regionals who have purchased late model EMDs new from the manufacturer in recent years.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to a frigid and snowy Hawkeye State to a line that's changed hands no less than three times since 1996.
In 1985, the Illinois Central Gulf spun off a series of lines throughout the Midwest and Deep South that they deemed redundant. Many of these lines exist today as regionals like the Indiana Railroad or Paducah & Louisville. Around that same time, the ICG's former Illinois Central Chicago to Omaha, NE line went to the newly-formed Chicago Central & Pacific. In addition to the main line across northern Iowa, the CC&P also had a branch to Sioux City, IA and the Cedar River line, which went north from Waterloo, IA to Albert Lea, MN and south from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids, IA.
The CC&P lasted a little more than 11 years when the Illinois Central made the somewhat unusual move of reacquiring the railway lock, stock and barrel in 1996- about two years before the Canadian National would acquire the IC.
Here, railpictures.net contributor R Scott Marsh catches Canadian National local freight L575 with Illinois Central SD40-2 #6201 leading and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern SD38-2 #678 trailing along with a Canadian National GE trailing. The train is seen just outside of St Ansgar, IA with a lengthy cut of grain cars for a customer on the Osage sub north of Waterloo at daybreak on Jan 30th, 2012.
Today's train of thought takes us to Northern Minnesota's Iron Range and is something of a blast from the past.
While many people have no doubt associated Minnesota with terrible football, Garrison Keilor and seemingly endless, flat farmland, the northeastern corner along Duluth and the western and northern shore of Lake Superior is both hilly, forested and home to iron ore and taconite mines.
Throughout most of its history, the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range has essentially acted as a conveyor belt for hauling ore and limestone from the mines to the west of Duluth, MN and Superior, WI to the massive loading docks along Lake Superior in Two Harbors, MN.
After Canadian National's 2001 purchase of the Wisconsin Central, a short 10-mile gap existed in the Twin Harbors area between the former WC line between Superior, WI and Chicago and CN's Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific between the Twin Harbors and Winnipeg, MB. In May 2004, Canadian National purchased the DM&IR as well as Pennsylvania's Bessemer & Lake Erie from Great Lakes Transportation, closing the 10-mile gap between Winnipeg & Chicago (while still continuing to operate ore trains between the mines and docks).
Here, railpictures.net contributor Dave Schauer caught DM&IR SD38-2 #213 and a pair of maroon SD40T-2s trailing while coasting down Proctor Hill in Duluth, MN with a loaded ore train bound for one of the docks amid peak fall colors in October 2004, a few months after the CN takeover.
Such scenes are impossible to repeat today, as the SD38s have been sold, retired or scrapped and although some of the SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors remain, they gave since been repainted into CN colors.
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.
Today's train of thought- perhaps unsurprisingly- brings us not only north of the border, but about as far north as one can get on the North American standard gauge railroad network (while Fairbanks, AK would be further north, railcars moving to and from Alaska actually have to travel by ship). Around a hundred years ago, it was determined that the Peace River region in northwestern Alberta was one of the few places remaining for settlers which could support agriculture under the dominion of Canada's land grants. The only problem was that there was no rail link to the rest of Canada, so a series of competing lines were awarded charters to build lines radiating north and west out of Edmonton. After WWI, many of these lines were struggling financially or incomplete and after a series of lease agreements with the province. Alberta would then continue to group these railroads under the Northern Alberta Railways umbrella and the line to Dawson Creek, BC would serve as the railhead to the Alaska Highway construction project following US entry into WWII. The NAR would see some postwar traffic, but it began to taper off when Pacific Great Eastern (BC Rail's predecessor) built a line into Dawson Creek from the south.
Already half owned by Canadian National, the NAR would cease to exist as a separate entity when CN purchased a controlling interest in NAR in 1981. In the late 1990s, much of the NAR lines were targeted for divestiture by the CN, only to have the separate entities (mostly operated by Rail America, Savage Rail Services and CANDO) be reacquired by 2007.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Tim Stevens caught CN SD40 #6001 leading a pair of battered GP40-2LWs as they cross a trestle in Peace River, AB with a slightly overpowered local bound for the Daishowa Paper mill west of town on August 29, 2008.
Also to the west of town is the junction where the line to Hines Creek, AB meanders west while the line to Hay River, NWT heads north. Hay River is terminus for the northernmost standard gauge line in Canada.
Today's Train of Though takes us to the nothern reaches of Minnesota and iron ore country in the grip of one of their notoriously frigid winters.
For nearly 70 years, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range earned its keep hauling iron ore and later taconite from the mines to the north and west of Duluth, MN to the massive ore hauling ships waiting at the Twin Harbors. There also has been significant limestone traffic on the DM&IR as well.
The Canadian National reached the Twin Harbors from the west by way of its Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific subsidiary. In the 1990s, both Canadian railroads were looking to expedite traffic from Western Canada to Chicago. The CP had an advantage in that it had a wholly owned subsidiary in the Soo Line, which ran from the US/Canadian border at Portal, ND to Chicago by way of the twin cities.
Until 2001, Canadian National had to rely on agreements with American railroads to compete with Chicago-bound traffic from CP. In October of that year, the now privately-held Canadian National purchased super-reigonal Wisconsin Central, giving CN nearly direct access to Chicago from the Duluth-Superior area. The only hinderance at the time was a gap of roughly 10 miles on the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range between the end of the DW&P trackage and beginning of the former Wisconsin Central rails.
For CN, this problem was resolved nearly three years later with the May 2004 Purchase of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range's parent company, Great Lakes Transportation (itself a spinoff from US Steel). The Canadian National's acquisition of Great Lakes Transportation not only gave them the DM&IR, but also the Elgin Joliet & Eastern in Chicago and western Pennsylvania's Bessemer & Lake Erie.
The CN still serviced the mines, ore docks and steel mills on its respective former Great Lakes Transportation property, but it was becoming increasingly interested in increasing capacity on the DM&IR and EJ&E.
And like other railroads purchased by Canadian National, the locomotives and rolling stock bearing the DM&IR colors would be on their way out, either sold off or repainted into Canadaian National colors (see Wisconsin Central, BC Rail). However, railpictures.net contributor Scott Carney snapped Iron Range SD38 #205 leads two bretheren dutifully charging uphill and around Spirit Mtn Curve (featuring a commanding view of Superior, WI) with a load of empty ore cars heading back to the mines on a snowy March 2007 day.
Most of the SD38s would be gone from Iron Range property by the end of 2009, replaced by power from elsewhere on the CN system.
Officials believe that a signalling error one one of the trains was what led the Jakarta-Surabaya train to collide with the rear cars of the stopped Semarang-bound train.
That same day, another accident in nearby Solo resulted in at least one fatality.
Officials from Ukraine's interior ministry said eyewitnesses reported that the bus ignored warning lights and bells from the level crossing in the town of Marhanets in the Dnipropetrovsk region that indicated an approaching train.
UNION PACIFIC: Aside from it's regularly featured stint of hauling visitors between Denver, CO and Cheyenne, WY for Cheyene's annual Frontier Days, Union Pacific's 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 also got to stretch its legs hauling the Ringling Bros. Circus train from Cheyenne southbound to Denver at the end of September. The #3985 then continued on with the scheduled Missouri River Eagle excursion to Kansas City and St. Louis after briefly returning to Cheyenne.
Here, the 3985 is seen racing southbound through Platteville, CO with the circus train on its way to Denver on September 28, 2010.
FT. WAYNE RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY: The gem of the FWRHS's collection, 1944 Lima-built Berkshire Nickel Plate 2-8-4 #765, has been pretty busy since Labor Day. In September, she was deadheaded over the Norfolk Southern and Wheeling & Lake Erie to Akron, OH where she operated a series of excursions over the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
In October, the 765 powered a series of excursions out of Owosso, MI for the Steam Railroading Institute while their own Berkshire- Pere Marquette #1225- is being disassembled for it's 15 year FRA boiler inspection.
Upon completion of her whirlwind tour through the Buckeye and Great Lakes State, the 765 returned to the FWRHS facilities in New Haven, IN where she'll go into storage for the winter.
NORTH CAROLINA: The Aberdeen, Carolina & Western has acquired a pair of former Canadian National, nee Wisconsin Central SD40-3 locomotives for service on it's line between Gulf and Charlotte, NC.
CONNECTICUT: Six cars of an 80 car unit ethanol train derailed in the late night hours of November 9th at the Providence & Worcester yard in Willamantic, CT. The derailment took place within yard limits, which meant that the train was travelling at a slow speed. None of the derailed cars ruptured, and the contents of the tank cars were transloaded from the two that had actually hit the ground. The train had arrived from Rail America-affiliated New England Central and Brattleboro, VT.
There were no injuries and the FRA continues to investigate the cause of the derailment.
NORTH DAKOTA: Officials from the Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western are disputing the FRA's findings regarding a March 2010 derailment in Washburn, ND that killed DMV&W conductor Jeff Heitzmann and injured the train's engineer. The FRA's report stated that an obstructed drainage ditch contributed to that saturation and undermining of the roadbed which in turn sent the lead two locomotives down an embankment.
The DMV&W, however, said that the stretch of track where the derailment took place had been inspected regularly in the weeks prior to the derailment and hasn't been a problem in their nearly 20 years of operating the line between Bismarck and Max, ND. Railroad officials insist that it was an underground spring located some 6 or 7 feel below the roadbed that undermined the track, causing the derailment.
Shortly after Halloween, a shrill whistle pierces the quiet afternoon of a crisp autumn afternoon as a pair of Canadian National steam engines chuff past with a short freight train.
You might assume this scene took place some 50-60 years ago, but this was actually snapped by railpictures.net contributor Christian Signorelli on in the fall of 2007 on the 4 ½ mile Strasburg Railroad. The Starsburg operates in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, literally across the street from the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA. The present-day Strasburg was established by a group of rail enthusiasts in 1958 after the original Strasburg fell on hard times when traffic began drying up after WWII and a series of storms washed out its right of way throughout the 1950s.
Although compact, the Strasburg's roster is primarily steam powered, with at least four operating examples of locomotives from Baldwin or the Canadian Locomotive Company. And with restored vintage equipment available from the museum, the Strasburg also operates occasional 'photo freights' alongside their year-round excursions (and infrequent revenue freight- the line still does have some customers). Here, Mr. Signorelli caught the Strasburg's two ex-CN steamers- CLC 2-6-0 #89 and Baldwin 0-6-0 #7312- on a rare doubleheaded photo freight making it's way past the pumpkin patch on an Amish farm at the Cherry Hill station site on November 5th, 2007.
The Strasburg also has an operating former Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 and an ex-Great Western 'decapod' 2-10-0 available.
SWITZERLAND: A Japanese tourist was killed and 40 others were injured when the last three cars of the 6-car Glacier Express derailed on July 23rd in Fiesch Switzerland. Sometimes known as 'The Slowest Express Train in the World', the Glacier express travels between Zermatt and St. Moritz, Switzerland at an average speed of 30km per hour with coaches featuring specially designed panoramic windows.
Authorities have yet to determine a cause of the derailment, although there is speculation that a heat kink (where a small portion of the track is warped by a dramatic change in temperature) could've played a role. The line remained shut down while authorities continue to investigate the scene. This is the most serious rail accident in Switzerland since 2006, when three people were killed in a collision with a runaway train.
Photo: Xinhua
CONGO: At least 76 people were killed and more than 700 injured when a passenger train travelling PointeNoir and Brazzaville in Congo (the marginally more stable and less strife torn Congo as opposed to the much larger and more dysfunctional People's Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately to the South and formerly known as Zaire) derailed and four cars plunged down a ravine. According to a state radio broadcast, the cause of the derailment was excess speed while the train was entering a curve.
There are only a limited number of highways linking Congo's main port of PointeNoire and the capital city of Brazzaville. The 502km Cheminde Fer Congo-Ocean (Congo-Ocean Railway) was completed in the 1920s using conscripted labor. To this day, the line sees significant freight and passenger traffic through the mountains and equatorial rainforest while a Chinese-backed $500 million highway project is in the planning stages. This is the African nation's worst rail accident since 1991 when a collision between a freight train and passenger train just east of PointeNoire killed at least 100 people.
SPAIN:13 partygoers were killed on June 23rd in Castelldefels, Catalona, Spain while en route to a St. John's Eve beachfront party. The deceased, identified as immigrants from different parts of South America, were struck by a high-speed train passing through the station when they tried crossing the tracks between platforms to avoid using a crowded pedestrian underpass. At the time of the collision the high-speed RENFE train was travelling at 85 MPH, which was actually below the speed limit.
Photo: The Hindu
INDIA: A collision between two passenger trains in West Bengal on July 19 left 66 dead and 165 injured. The UttarBanga Express slammed into the rear of the slower moving Vanachal Express in Sainthia station. Eyewitnesses estimated the UttarBenga express was travelling anywhere from 80-90 km per hour upon impact when the station's track speed was only 30 km per hour. The impact sent the three rear cars of the Vanachal express crashing into an adjacent pedestrian bridge over the tracks.
At this time, investigators are still attempting to determine a cause. One theory was that the crew in the locomotive was drugged or unconscious, although a post mortem didn't indicate any traces of drugs. Eyewitnesses at the UttarBenga Express' previous stop- just 10km away- saw nothing out of the ordinary with the crew there. However, the head end crew did not apply the brakes or attempt to jump when a collision was imminent.
An India Railways investigation found that the brakes were in working order. Some media outlets have speculated that the Vanachal Express was running behind because the crew was offloading some off-the-books freight at Sainthia. However, this would not account for the UttarBenga Express travelling nearly triple the speed limit and making no attempt to stop immediately before the collision. The Sainthia station master unsuccessfully attempted to contact the head end crew of the UttarBenga Express via radio, but that was only 30 seconds prior to impact.
More recently, investigators are looking at whether or not the signals immediately before the Sainthia station were working properly.
BRAZIL: ALL Logistica[BOVESPA: ALLL11] and Cosan ltd. [NYSE: CZZ] have announced a joint venture in RumoLogistica, a multimodal logistic system for the storage and export of bulk quantities of sugar (and byproducts such as ethanol) produced by Cosan to export at the port of Santos in São Paulo state. To accommodate the anticipated increase in carloadings, Cosan and ALL have purchased some brand new GE C44-9Ws painted in this striking sliver and blue scheme.
The Brazilian government has also entered into talks with ALL Logistica, MRS Logistica and VALE S.A. [NYSE: VALE] over proposed rules designed to increase capacity and competition and cut freight costs. Transportation minister Paulo Passos says President LuizInacio Lula Da Silva plans on issuing a decree calling for an increase sharing of assets and put idle or abandoned right-of-ways back in operation in order to sharply reduce the price of hauling freight. Under this agreement, the Brazilian government would be responsible for building any new right of way. The transportation said that President Lula's plan would further reduce the nation's dependence on freight hauled by truck [No word on if any of VALE, ALL or MRS's representatives sent a Portuguese-language edition of Atlas Shrugged off to Lula's office in response- NANESB!]
SOUTH AFRICA: A Father's Day steam-powered excursion train derailed on a branch line between Pretoria and Cullinan, South Africa. None of the 627 passengers on board were seriously injured and were subsequently bussed to their destinations from the derailment site. Investigators and railway officials almost immediately noticed some 50 ties missing from the tracks near the Cullinan station and believe that to be the cause as the train was operating at low speeds on the branch.
South African Preservation Group Friends of The Rail is putting forward an appeal for funds towards repairing some of the coaches involved as well as 4-8-2 #3117, built in 1947 by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, Scotland.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first accident of the year involving restored rolling stock and equipment in South Africa. Three workers were killed when coaches from the Rovos Rail luxury train rolled away from the locomotives that were being swapped at a station stop in Pretoria back in April.
More recently, an ore train on the Saldhana line in Western Cape province derailed on July 24, closing down the iron-ore hauling route until repairs could be made. There were no reports of injuries, although it was anticipated the mishap would affect iron ore output over the next several days.
Photo: Jim Spears
CANADA: In a surprise move, the Canadian National purchased 35 GE C40-8s secondhand from Union Pacific. Canadian Railway Observations reports that the CN paid near-scrap prices for the 20 year old six-axle 4000 HP units and they will be repainted and overhauled in the former Illinois Central shops in Homewood, IL and Centralia, IL for DPU service systemwide. This was followed up by the purchase of 30 former Santa Fe/BNSF C40-8Ws that had been idle for nearly a year with the downturn in traffic. The purchases of the secondhand GEs coincides with the retirement of most of the ex-IC SD40-2s that CN 'inherited' with their 1998 acquisition of the Illinois Central.
USA: 'Endless Mountain Rails', the 2010 NRHS convention in Scranton PA, has wrapped up [which doesn't make it so endless, I guess- NANESB!]. A series of excursions were run out of the Steamtown National Historic site in downtown Scranton, although complications arose on June 24th when a truck collided with the Delaware-Lackawana bridge south of Moscow, PA, bending the rails prior to a Delaware Water Gap excursion. The excursions were initially powered by former Canadian National 2-8-2 Mikado #3259- Steamtown's workhorse- but the decision was made to use diesels like the Delaware-Lackawana RS3s and a duo of restored former Reading Railroad FP7s (neither of which were too far removed from the steam era themselves) which would've made it easier to pass the affected trackage than with the #3259. Here, Reading FP7 #902 is seen charging past the former Delaware, Lackawana & Western depot in Moscow, PA with one of the Delaware Water Gap excursions on June 26th.
Not one to be outdone, the Reading and Northern also ran concurrent excursions out of their Jim Thorpe, PA depot to wrap up the end of the NRHS convention and in preparation for the busy 4th of July weekend. Here, the R&N's stunning #425 is getting ready to head out over the former CNJ line out of Jim Thorpe and through Lehigh Gorge State Park on the 4th of July.
